Customer Challenges
- Expro was approached by a customer to land out their casing string which was going to exceed the rig’s load limits for a project in the Gulf of Mexico. To achieve this safely, we needed to ensure that the surface equipment could handle the load. The customer needed solutions for their landing string and cementing of the well
- To land this heavy casing string, the customer utilized Landing String Solutions, LLC’s Buoyed Landing String which allowed them to lighten the string weight to below the rig's full capacity. Due to the addition of this Buoyed Landing String, this string required specialized equipment to overcome the running challenges and environmental impacts of running and pulling the string
- Once the string was run on landing string, the extreme weight would require a cement head rated to 2.5 million pounds
Expro Excellence
- Expro was able to provide the client with the 1250 Ton Buoyancy Module (BM) Spider and 1500 Ton Drill Pipe Elevator (DPE) for landing this heavy string
- The Buoyancy Module Spider’s patented “Roller Guide and Pipe Washing Systems” allowed for all objectives of the run to be completed, without incident and despite multiple hold points for adverse weather conditions
- Expro’s BLACKHAWK® Top-Drive Cement Head was utilized for landing and cementing the casing, meeting the demanding weight requirements of the operation
- The tools completed the run with a final hook load of 2,429,000 lbs., missing the current world record (also held by Expro) by only 6,000 lbs and completing the run without incident
- The BM Spider’s patented washing system cleaned the modules during pulling operations, reducing any environmental impact with running of the string by cleaning the mud and containments from the modules prior to shipment back to shore
Value to Client
- The customer was able to complete the running of this 16” casing string to depth as part of their 20K workscope. Expro was able to provide a customized top-drive cement head solution for the customer in an expedited time frame when their rig schedule changed
- Expro’s 1500-ton DPE and 1250 BM Spider were able to maintain rig efficiency without incident while running this heavy string
- The Spider’s cleaning system saved the customer extra cost for cleaning of the modules and elevated environmental concerns with running of this string
- Expro’s cement head allowed them to perform operations safely and provided more flexibility to ensure they maintained a sufficient safety factor with the cement head to land and cement this heavy casing string
- This customer will utilize this equipment on future projects and Expro continues to develop equipment to meet those needs, which will have higher tensile and pressure design requirements
Contact
For further information, please contact wellconstruction@expro.com.
