Page 40: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Sep/Oct 2020)

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CASE STUDY Seabed Drilling

Seabed

Drilling

Source: Acteon outh America contains some of the largest deepwater oil versity of Rio de Janeiro, Benthic has developed its geotechni- reserves in the world, with Brazil alone possessing over cal laboratory for standard and advanced soil testing, report- an estimated 30 billion barrel of oil equivalent (BOE). ing, and geoscience research. In Brazil, Benthic is the only

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In Guyana, ExxonMobil has recently made its 18th deepwater geotechnical survey contractor capable of conducting deepwa- discovery, which adds to the already estimated eight billion ter site investigations in up to 3,500m of water and conduct-

BOE on the Stabroek Block. These relatively remote discover- ing onshore laboratory testing and reporting in-country. ies are largely greenfelds where few geotechnical data exist. To From the inception of Benthic’s Portable Remotely Oper- develop the infrastructure necessary to extract hydrocarbons, ated Drill (PROD), innovation, research and development, an in-depth understanding of the seafoor soil properties that and continuous improvement have comprised the founda- will interact with structures is needed. tions Benthic has been frmly grounded upon.

In 2019 Benthic, an Acteon company, opened its Rio de PROD’s technological advancements, engineered in a pack-

Janeiro offce staffed with experienced local personnel as a age that is portable and self-contained, represent a step-change deepwater geotechnical specialist contractor in the region was in how offshore site investigations are conducted when com- required. More recently, in partnership with the Federal Uni- pared to drillships, the historic system of choice used globally 40 OFFSHORE ENGINEER OEDIGITAL.COM