SubSea MudLift Drilling Joint Industry Project: Delivering Dual Gradient Drilling Technology to Industry

摘要

In early 1996, a consortium of deepwater drilling contractors,rnoperators, service companies and a manufacturer gathered torndiscuss potential approaches to "riserless drilling", also knownrnas "dual gradient drilling". This technology overcomes arnsignificant deepwater drilling challenge: eliminating some ofrnthe casing strings necessitated by the relatively high porernpressures and low formation strengths found in areas like therndeepwater Gulf of Mexico.rnThat initial workshop led to what has become one of thernlargest and most significant joint industry projects (JIPs) in thernhistory of our industry: the SubSea MudLift Drilling JIP. ThernJIP's overarching goal became to provide a total solution forrndual gradient drilling, that is, both hardware and thernmethodology to safely and efficiently use that hardware.rnFive years and nearly 50 million dollars later, this JIP hasrnsucceeded in that goal.rnThis paper, the first in a series of three on SubSea MudLiftrnDrilling (SMD), will present highlights of the history of thernproject, its organization and its management (see also SPErn71358 and SPE 71359). The information presented hererndemonstrates the level of effort necessary to produce a ready-for-rnapplication technology, and will assist anyone planning arnmajor JIP to deliver a complex new technology.rnAdditionally, it will discuss the development of the SMDrnequipment, the preparation of SMD-specific drilling and wellrncontrol procedures and the complementary relationshiprnbetween those procedures and the equipment design. Thisrnpaper will verify the integrity of the process used to developrnthese procedures, and it will help the reader understand thernSMD system and techniques developed by the SMD JIP.