Course Outline

Introduction to offshore drilling rigs, marine drilling activities and floating production

• Introduction and background
• Trends in offshore drilling and production
• General arrangement, operational capability and drilling equipment facilities on typical fixed platforms, jackups, barges, drillships and semi-submersibles
• Review of fields developed with floaters and subsea production systems

Global energy review

• World oil reserves and production
• World gas reserves and production
• What oil price? World energy consumption
• The important future for gas and LNG
• Alternative energy approaches

DRILLING TECHNOLOGIES | PART A: OFFSHORE DRILLING RIGS
Jack-up rigs

Background, jacking mechanism, spud cans, moveable cantilever, drill derrick and several examples of jackup drilling rigs including general layout and storage capacity and rig regulations

Semi-submersible drilling rigs

Background, vessel details and semisubmersible examples including general layout for equipment and storages, vessel motions and motion compensation devices and rig regulations

Drill ships

Background, vessel details and drill ship examples including general layout for equipment and storages, vessel motions and motion compensation devices and rig regulations

Drilling barges & tender assisted drilling

Background, vessel design and drill barge examples. Tender assisted drilling vessels. Self errecting tender assisted Drilling vessels

Position and station keeping for floating drilling rigs

Mooring: mooring requirements, mooring regulations for drilling vessels, mooring system design, setting and moving the mooring pattern.

Dynamic positioning: background, dynamic position concept, basic feedback and control, position measurement, thrusters and dynamic position rig design

Drilling rig components (rig equipment/drill strings/muds)

Drilling power system. Hoisting systems. Rotating systems. Pipe handling system:

Drill pipes, collars and stabilisers, bottomhole assembly etc.

Background and requirements. Mud formulations. Circulation equipment. Mud cleaning equipment

Jack-up rigs

• Background, jacking mechanism, spud cans, moveable cantilever, drill derrick and several examples of jackup drilling rigs including general layout and storage capacity and rig regulations

Deepwater drilling rigs

• Semisubmersible drilling rigs and drillships
• Vessel details including general layout for equipment and storages and vessel motions
• New advanced deepwater rigs, mooring systems – dynamic positioning
  Case examples

Drill Vessel Operations
Offshore drilling components

Drilling template, temporary and permanent guide bases, guide wire and guide line less systems, subsea wellheads including subsea BOPs, marine riser, LRP, motion compensation and drilling control system

Drilling Offshore Wells

Drilling requirements for platforms & production hosts (spars & TLPs)

General requirements, drilling guides and templates, well control and well completion

Drilling a subsea well

Sequence of drilling a subsea well

Advanced drilling rigs/new rig concepts

Drilling rigs with dual drilling activity: design of twin drilling derricks for semis and drillships, working principles – main and auxiliary rotatys, operational capabilities in relation to drilling and equipment and casings. Automated tubular handling systems. Tubular stacking and handling, Joint make-up systems, loading systems.

6th generation rigs. Sevan cylindrical drilling vessel. Huisman Itrec drilling tower

Examples of Drilling Activities
Drilling example – drill thru Xmas tree

Dalia Field, Angola. Drilling process – jetting the conductor – drilling the surface hole – running and cementing the casing – running the tree – running the BOP – completing the well

Drilling example – batch drilling with dual activity rig

Greater Plutonio Field, Angola. Details of dual activity rig. Batch setting process. Complete sequence of drilling activities

Review of Deepwater Horizon incident in GoM

Deepwater Horizon rig; the blowout event; the sinking; BPs efforts to stop the spill. Future changes

PART B: OFFSHORE PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGIES
Deepwater flow assurance issues

• Definition of flow assurance
• Importance in deepwater developments
• Examples of problems and solutions

Deepwater production hosts and their installation

Functional requirements. Monohull, semisubmersible, deep draught semi-sub, SPAR and TLP Options. Layout and safety. Newbuild or conversion. New developments (Sevan

Subsea facilities and their installation

Wellheads, Xmas Trees, manifolds, flowlines, risers and subsea control systems.

Deepwater requirements

Deepwater installation – ROVs and AUVs

• FDiver activities
• Development work leading to current
• Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs)
• Autonomous Operated Vehicles (AUVs)
• Examples of ROV installation activities

Case study: Deepwater fields

Deepwater issues and range of production systems. Current worldwide status – Brazil, Gulf of Mexico, North Sea, West Africa, South East Asia and Australia

Case study no. 1: Deepwater gas tie-backs

• Examples of deepwater gas field tie-backs
• West Delta Deep (Egypt)
• Snohvit Field (Norway)
• Pluto Field (Australia)

Case study no. 2 : Large deepwater (FPSO) fields offshore Angola

• Girassol, Dalia and Pazflor (Block 17)
• Greater Plutonio (Block 18)
• PSVM (Block 31)