The deepwater well 1-SHEL-14-RJS (block BM-C-10 in theCampos Basin offshore Brazil) was successfully drilled byShell Brazil in May/June 2003. The well was drilled to beyond5200m total depth in 2887m water by the Stena Tay, adynamically positioned (DP) semi-submersible, using aSurface BOP system. Subsequent to this well in Brasil, afurther drilling campaign with the same SBOP system on theStena Tay, has commenced in Egypt in late November 2003.At the time of writing the first well has been drilled to TD.The SBOP system included a Surface mounted BOP(SBOP), a high pressure casing riser, a Seabed DisconnectSystem (SDS), and control systems for these components. Inorder to utilize this equipment on the Stena Tay, a number ofrelatively minor rig modifications were completed prior to thestart of operations.Throughout the project planning phases, an intense andcomprehensive risk management process was followed. Theresults of this work concluded that SBOP operations are assafe, if not safer than conventional operations in terms ofHealth, Safety and Environment. The operation wassuccessfully completed without any significant HSE incidents.During the operations with the SBOP system a largenumber of learning’s and ideas for improvements to thesystem were gathered. These improvements will be prioritizedand implemented for future SBOP drilling campaigns.Overall, the SBOP operation on BM-C-10 was extremelysuccessful, particularly when considering that this was the firstapplication of a new technology in an extreme environment,conducted from a dynamically positioned vessel in recordbreaking water depths for Brazil. This heralds a new era forsuch operations and provides a strong basis for planning forfuture operations with SBOP in many areas of the world. Italso gives Shell the capability of drilling beyond the 10,000ftwater depth barrier making use of the existing worldwide rigfleet.
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