Lloyd’s Register to Support BHP Billiton’s Drilling Program Off Trinidad

Lloyd’s Register (LR) has extended rig integrity support for the Deepwater Invictus drillship.

According to LR, its expertise in blowout preventers (BOPs) and rig integrity will be used to provide confidence in risk management for deepwater drilling and well exploration.

“We have had a team supporting the Gulf of Mexico drilling program on board Deepwater Invictus, and it is this same team that has been requested for BHP Billiton’s drilling program in Trinidad,” Kevin Comeau, dynamic positioning/power management & marine safety systems manager at LR, said: “Although the core part of our work is on BOP operation, rig integrity and compliance, we will also provide expertise in performing inspections, risk assessments and training for personnel working on the rig.”

A subsea BOP is a special system which is highly regulated and among one of the few pieces of equipment that combines multiple functions, such as drilling and operations control, a tool for preventing risk and supporting emergency response procedures. BOPs were developed to cope with extreme erratic pressures and uncontrolled flows emanating from well reservoirs during drilling. These factors mean that simple component failures can cause drilling operators to be exposed to severe risk.

Deepwater Invictus was delivered in 2014 and it has a rated drill depth of 12, 000 meters.

The continuation of support for the Trinidad drilling campaign with BHP started in May 2016.