Maersk Discoverer completes BP well,
claims two offshore Mediterranean records

July 07, 2015   + + +  While its Maersk Discoverer was at work for BP earlier this year, Maersk Drilling has laid claim to the deepest well drilled in Egypt and the longest drilled in the Mediterranean Sea. 

Maersk Drilling said that its sixth-generation semisubmersible completed the latest well in the North Damietta Offshore Concession in the East Nile Delta , Atoll-1, on May 5, two months ahead of schedule. It discovered 50 m (164 ft) of gas pay in high-quality Oligocene sandstones while setting multiple regional records.

In March, BP said that the Maersk Discoverer reached 6,400-m (20,997 ft) depth while drilling Atoll-1, which is located about 80 km (almost 50 mi) north of Damietta in water depths of 923 m (3,028 ft). Maersk Drilling said today that the well was drilled in a total of 234 days, 62 days ahead of BP’s target.

Allan McColl. Maersk Drilling rig leader, said that the company maintained “a structured approach to applying lessons learned from the previous wells, Geb and Salamat.”

McColl noted that the company used observation studies to optimize operational performance as a key driver in continuously improving the operational procedures. An example of this was how an auxiliary well center was used as a “test bed” to break the bottomhole assembly handling process into steps.

Additionally, Maersk Drilling said that maintenance of the BOP prior to the Atoll well, and the involvement of BP and Maersk Drilling’s Technical Authority teams enabled the team to keep the BOP functioning on the wellhead for 201 days. BP has 100% equity in the discovery.

Source: Maersk Drilling - www.maerskdrilling.com
Published by Offshore Magazine