Proven technologies match hookloads with ideal ultra-deepwater well designs

摘要

The continual development of the Gulf of Mexico's Lower Tertiary Trend, and similarly deep and less understood ultra-deepwater horizons has stretched the limits of current drill-ships. Indeed, with often salt-canopied targets lying more than 30,000 ft TD below the mud line, the most efficient well design typically involves the landing of large-diameter casing deeper into the formation, thereby providing a more accessible conduit for installing submersible pumps and conducting post-completion intervention. However, the daunting combination of ultra-deep water depths and heavyweight casing strings may require hookloads well beyond the capacities of contemporary drillships. Operators, therefore, are left with no choice, but to compromise optimal well designs to accommodate the prevailing hookload restrictions.