Offshore drilling company Transocean announced that it has entered into an agreement with its Norwegian oil and gas company Equinor, to license and install Automated Drilling Control (ADC) systems on five of its rigs.
The agreement foresees installation on four high-specification, harsh environment rigs which are currently on contract in Norway, and a fifth semisubmersible that is expected to commence operations in the Norwegian sea this summer.
The decision comes as the ‘Transocean Enabler’ was previously equipped with the ADC system in 2017 and has delivered tangible improvements in overall drilling efficiency that have led to more cost-effective wells for Equinor. Further, the system has demonstrated improvements in well integrity, while enhancing safety and operations assurance.
In addition to the Transocean Enabler, the upgraded floaters in Transocean’s fleet will include Transocean Spitsbergen, Transocean Norge, Transocean Encourage, Transocean Equinox, and Transocean Endurance.
The ADC systems are developed through the combination of various technologies from MHWirth, NOV and Sekal AS, which enable, among other things, higher rates of penetration while drilling, highly stable bottom hole pressures avoiding swab/surge effects and early detection of kick/loss events.
The ADC upgrades advance our automation efforts and further enhance our industry leading fleet of high-specification, harsh environment semisubmersibles,
….said Jeremy Thigpen, President and CEO.