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Guidance Notes for the Application of Geophysical and Geotechnical Techniques for Reducing Tophole Risks in the Drilling of Offshore Wells

Guidance Notes for the Application of Geophysical and Geotechnical Techniques for Reducing Tophole Risks in the Drilling of Offshore Wells

 

ISBN 0 906940 56 7 , ISBN13  978 0 906940 56 3

Perfect bound, 36pp, Colour
Price: Non-members £15, members £13.50

The Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics (OSIG) Group of the SUT is pleased to announce its Guidance Notes for the Application of Geophysical and Geotechnical Techniques for Reducing Tophole Risks in the Drilling of Offshore Wells.

The offshore oil and gas industry spends around 1$60bn per year on oil and gas wells. Investment on this scale comes with risks, and although the offshore industry leads the way in industrial HSSE standards, it is estimated that around 10% of this expenditure, or $6bn, can be attributed to ground related issues such as stuck pipe, lost circulation, wellbore instability and shallow water flows. On top of this are environmental costs of the oil spills that can result from loss of well control, and most importantly the human costs in terms of injuries and loss of life resulting from some of the worst incidents. Given the appropriate data, analysis, engineering and application these risks and costs can be foreseen, mitigated and ultimately reduced.
Tophole integrity and risk reduction depends on understanding the soils and rocks throughout this section of the well. The primary sources of information are complementary geophysical (remote sensing) and geotechnical (intrusive) methods. In the top few tens of metres reliable geotechnical data may be available, but deeper than this information is often limited to what can be inferred from logging while drilling and is far from precise. Geophysical data are normally available throughout the tophole section, although their resolution will always decrease with depth, and their value is limited without proper correlation to soils data.
In this document the risks and problems within and around the well are described. Information and advice in the use and application of geotechnical and geophysical site investigation techniques for the planning of offshore wells are provided. Finally, a systematic approach to assessing and mitigating top-hole geo-risks is suggested.
The document is aimed at:

  • Geoscientists and engineers involved in data collection and analysis;
  • Survey or site investigation project managers;
  • Drilling engineers;
  • Foundation engineers;
  • Operators;
  • Well planners;
  • Operations geologists;
  • Well operations managers;
  • Surveyors.

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