Semi-sub Maersk Discoverer drilled deepest well ever in Egypt

July 6, 2015

On May 5, 2015, the rig Maersk Discoverer completed what is claimed to be the deepest well ever drilled in Egypt and the longest ever drilled in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Maersk Discoverer is a sixth generation semi-submersible rig owned and operated by Maersk Drilling.

Atoll-1 was drilled in 923m water depth around 80km north of Damietta city, 15km north of Salamat and only 45 km to the north west of Temsah offshore facilities. BP has 100% equity in the discovery.

In this well, located in East Nile Delta, BP discovered 50 m of gas pay in high-quality Oligocene sandstones.

According to Maersk Drilling, the well was drilled in 234 days, which was 62 days ahead of BP’s AFE target, thus creating a “substantial cost saving”.

“The strong performance is a result of the dedicated use of the ‘Plan Do Study Act’ methodology in the planning and execution of the work. Also, a structured approach to applying lessons learned from the previous wells Geb and Salamat played an important role,” says Rig Leader Allan McColl.

Unit Director, Thomas Falk, said: “After all the effort everyone on the BP/Maersk Drilling team has put into building a strong joint performance culture this was a very well deserved achievement that everyone should be very proud of.”

Falk continued: “We have shown BP what we mean when we talk about jointly creating value and we look forward to continuing our discussions with BP on how we mutually benefit from this in our drilling contracts.”