The world’s longest well drilled from a floating installation was completed recently by Statoil on its Visund field in the Norwegian North Sea.
Also ranked as the longest well so far drilled by the group, this A-6 producer reached a total measured length of 9,082 metres.
“Detailed planning produced very good progress, at no less than 102 metres per day compared with a North Sea average of 85 metres,” says Beate Myking, operations vice president for Visund.
She is also pleased that 4,590 metres of the well were drilled with a single bit. Offshore drilling often requires a bit change after less than 800 metres.
The Visund operation was carried out in cooperation with Odfjell Drilling and Schlumberger, which served as the directional drilling company.
Both the rate of progress and the well length have attracted attention, and Statoil has been asked to share its experience at a Society of Petroleum Engineers conference in the USA.
Work on the Visund gas project means that the A-6 producer will not come on stream until October. Its potential is seen as very high because it penetrates 800 metres of hydrocarbon sands.
Wells currently being drilled from Statoil’s fixed Gullfaks A and Statfjord C platforms in the same Tampen area of the North Sea could be even longer than in the Visund case.
The group’s long-term goal is to be able to drill wells up to 12-17,000 metres long in the Tampen area.