WorldWide Drilling Resource

Meeting the Challenges of Drilling in Alaska Adapted from a News Release by National Oilwell Varco The Colville River is the largest river in Alaska, located in the National Petroleum Reserve in the North Slope. It is frozen for more than half of the year and floods every spring. In Alaska, most oil and gas- related activities take place in the middle of winter when the tundra surface is stable. Given the conditions, this can make even the most complex projects even more difficult due to the challenges associated with transporting equipment over the surface of the river. The Arctic Transportation Network forecasts environmental conditions to improve oil and gas transportation operations on the ice bridge over the Colville River. However, the solution is still combatted by weight constraints for large equipment, such as drill rigs, passing through the bridge to continue drilling operations and add new oil production. With intensive research, innovative minds, and a dedicated team, National Oilwell Varco’s (NOV) rig systems were able to provide a unique solution - TheArctic Rig. As you can well imagine, there are several factors which come into play in Alaska’s environment; a rig must be engineered to accommodate these conditions. Designing a rig which will adhere to government regu- lations, health and safety restrictions, weight constraints, in addition to being able to sus- tain temperatures dropping to more than -40ºF (-40ºC), requires a custom-made rig. The rig was carefully constructed into five transportable modules with attention to safety and environmental factors. There are many benefits to having separate modules. Since there are fewer components to move, rig-up time is reduced from well to well and transportation time is significantly reduced while moving the equipment from well to well. Additionally, transportation costs and risk of damage are also minimized. larger and fewer modules means safer and quicker transportation of fewer loads. Safety and education were also important factors in the development of this rig. Detailed engineer- ing design minimized employee intervention while cleaning the inside of the rig, and it successfully passed Occupational Health and Safety standards. Classrooms and of- fices were also built to facilitate crew training and efficiencies. The Arctic Rig is one of the largest packages built. However, this was not the first custom design the company has suc- cessfully executed. NOV designed tilt top masts to accommodate high power lines in Kuwait, a complete skidding system for the environment inArgentina, and are currently designing a Russian Train Drilling Module which will be built in the company’s Kostroma facility. 17 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® MARCH 2016