AGR Enhanced Drilling Celebrates Decade of Riserless Mud Recovery (RMR®) System

Offshore technology provider AGR Enhanced Drilling is celebrating 10 years of its Riserless Mud Recovery (RMR®) system – trusted to reduce risk on more than 200 wells worldwide to date.

RMR® is an innovative way to return mud and cuttings to the rig before the riser is run, without any discharge to the seabed – meaning engineered, weighted drilling fluid can be used on the top-hole section.

RMR® enables this vital section of a well to be drilled more safely, quickly and with less environmental impact. Used together with the complementary MPC® (Managed Pressure Cementing) system, which manages wellbore pressure during the displacement of cement in the casing annulus, the two deliver top holes of superior integrity.

Enhanced Drilling’s CEO, David Hine, said: “Some of the world’s leading operating companies have chosen RMR® over the past 10 years and we’re proud that our customers continually put their trust in our technology, people and expertise.

“This ten-year anniversary with RMR® represents a decade of on-the-job experience on more than 200 wells to date – that’s a lot of knowledge and expertise. We’ve spent ten years continuously developing RMR® and the services and procedures surrounding it. In that time we’ve also been growing as a business and investing heavily in people, technology and our infrastructure worldwide. As a result not only are our people the most experienced in delivering our services, they are highly competent. For our customers this translates into confidence in delivery, safety and value.

“Having safety and quality at the forefront of everything we do as a company has paid real dividends. Our track record in terms of reliability has continued to improve over the years; our current run rate is well within the industry bench mark. While we continue to strive for a perfect safety record, I can proudly confirm our safety performance is also well within the industry’s most stringent standards.”

RMR® was first deployed commercially in 2003 in the Caspian for BP. The operator has since gone on to use the system on more than 50 wells to date in that location alone. Other customers that have placed their trust in the risk-reduction system have included, among others, Statoil, BG Group, Apache Energy, Total, Woodside, Japan Energy and Shell.

In addition to its RMR®, MPC® and CTS™ solutions and services, Enhanced Drilling has a Managed Pressure Drilling (MPD) technology in its portfolio: EC-Drill®. In July this year the company announced a NOK120m (USD20m) deal with Statoil to develop the next-generation EC-Drill® system.

EC-Drill®, which is designed for floating rigs, solves a challenge commonly encountered in deep-water wells: operating in a narrow drilling window. EC-Drill® enables the operator to ‘walk the line’ between pore and fracture pressures by managing Bottom Hole Pressure. This is done by changing the level of drilling mud in the riser. EC-Drill® provides a far greater degree of control than conventional drilling while enhancing safety, plus it is possible to cost-effectively hit deep targets that are simply economically unviable to reach with traditional drilling techniques.

Press Release, November 18, 2013; Image: AGR