A fully automated MPD package was successfully used last year to drill two severely depleted HPHT reservoir sections in the Kvitebjørn field, which marked the first time the technology had been used in the Norwegian North Sea. On the second well, the MPD equipment and techniques were successfully used during running and cementing the 7-in. liner.
StatoilHydro is currently training its Gullfaks C crews in MPD operations on KCA DEUTAG’s Drilling and Advanced Rig Training (DART) drilling simulator and well engineering system in Aberdeen in preparation for the start of these operations later this year.
Alan Robertson, StatoilHydro’s MPD drilling advisor, said, “DART is a fantastic facility that really allows us to have concentrated managed pressure drilling training for our Gullfaks C drilling crews in a safe, flexible and very realistic interactive environment.”
To date, more than 800 drilling crew members and 200 drilling engineers have been trained on DART worldwide. KCA DEUTAG’s expertise in this simulator technology has been used to set up and manage simulator training facilities for oil and gas operators in Rosharon (USA), Houston (USA), Baku (Azerbaijan), Sakhalin (Russia), Tyumen (Russia) and Dubai (UAE) as well as in the UK.
