Hughes Christensen uses innovative technique to create additional slot for offshore Congo platform
  by: OilOnline
  Friday, April 25, 2008

Hughes Christensen helped a customer in the Congo accomplish a world-first by utilizing an innovative technique to create an additional slot on a platform in the Foukanda offshore field. The objective was to simultaneously drill and case off over 60 m (197 ft) of shallow formations using Casing-while-Drilling (CwD) to enable the drilling of additional wells from the existing platform that had no further slot availability. +

A 30" diverter conductor pipe was positioned from the platform to the seabed. The pipe was manufactured with a pre-cut window and a 2° deflector inside that would allow drilling to be diverted from the existing eight directional wells, avoiding any collision. The recommended drilling assembly consisted of an EZCase^TM 24" bit and 20" casing rotated using a drive sub. The 66-m (217-ft) section was drilled successfully with returns to the sea. The EZCase bit and 20" casing were cemented in place, and the casing was connected to the surface wellhead as usual. ROP was controlled and averaged 7.5m/hr (24.6 ft/hr) on-bottom drilling, and the bit was drilled out in just over three hrs with a 16" GTX-CPT311 TCI bit.

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