Page 45: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Sep/Oct 2015)

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? eld life. intensive simultaneous operations, or scope, and it is probably unique in the

Drilling

The key challenges on Mariner are

SIMOPS. whole world,” says Rolf Arne Thom, the viscosity of the oil, which requires Statoil will have two rigs drilling

Manager Drilling and Wells, Mariner & intensive drilling and therefore com- full time at Mariner, on the platform

Bressay, for Statoil. “We are going to be plex well placing, as well as arti? cial and from a jackup for at least the ? rst drilling for 11 years full time and, for a lift technologies, and shallow reser- 4-5 years, from 2017, with Statoil primary drilling program, that is very voirs, which make the intensive drilling considering starting pre-drilling late large.” all the more challenging. 2016, as well as an intervention and

In total, Statoil has identi? ed some Drill, drill, drill completion unit (ICU), to support the

Factory drilling

In an onshore-heavy oil environment, 147 reservoir targets, to be reached using rig operations. The platform rig on the wells would be drilled every 20-30m lateral wells, and some multilaterals,

Mariner platform will run throughout

Statoil’s plan is a production, drilling with steam injection wells, to help heat from a total 98 wells from the surface. the 11-year drilling period. Odfjell is and living quarters platform, currently and move the oil, at every other well,

With 50 slots on the Mariner platform,

Statoil’s contractor for the platform being built in Korea, on a steel jacket, Thom says. that means many wells will have to be drilling. The jackup, operated by Noble being completed in Spain, with a ? oating This is less easy to replicate offshore, side-tracked.

Drilling and currently being built to storage unit, supported by a jackup, with so alternative methods are required. In “Statoil hasn’t done anything like

Statoil’s Cat J design in Singapore, is on startup planned for 2017 and a 30+ year the case of Mariner, the method will be this, with such a large drilling and well contract for four years, with extension options.

Because of the height of the Mariner platform, the Cat J jackup had to be designed speci? cally to be able to reach the Mariner well slots. This meant its deck is some 80m from the sea surface, which had knock-on effects on the evacuation facilities on the rig – life- boats wouldn’t just be able to free fall from that height, so they are on davits that can be lowered. Much of the design considering went into the legs, however, so that they could be tall enough and strong enough to cope with a 10,000 year wave.

An ICU, o