Rig innovations focus on safety, reliability

Equipment manufacturers and drilling contractors continue to emphasize safety, performance and environmental responsibility in new rig floor equipment and new or enhanced drilling rig designs. Interestingly, most of the new rigs and rig floor equipment advancements offer increased safety by reducing the number of rig crew on the rig floor. It’s also interesting that six of the new equipment offerings this year involve new or enhanced iron roughnecks or pipe-handling equipment, including a BOP-handling system. Other rig equipment includes a new 95-liter engine for offshore use, a tong cassette for casing running operations, an automatic pipe loader, a casing elevator, a rotating control device, quadraplex mud pump, mud pump pressure relief valve, a bottomhole assembly tool for different diameter tools in the BHA and a new software solution to mitigate stick slip in real-time.

New or enhanced rigs this year include a hoverbarge-based unit for drilling in the swamps as well as dry land with a second upgraded modular unit joining the first unit in Suriname. Three other land rigs are designed with small footprints for easier and quicker mobilization and demobilization, and for being more capable of operations in tight locations. A new generation Arctic rig began work in Siberia this year, while a second identical rig is set for delivery in 2012. A winterized rig has been designed with a small footprint as well as a drill floor rotated floor 90° to relocate the catwalk away from the wellheads for a safer work environment on pad drilling. Finally, a small self-erecting rig for moderate-depth drilling can be mobilized with only 12 loads. The rigs AC VFS controls and top drive design results in safe drilling conditions. 

RIG FLOOR EQUIPMENT

NEW RIG DESIGN

NEWBUILD REPORT