CHALLENGE
The HPHT personnel at AGR were contracted by a longstanding client to act as exclusive drilling contractors on the deepening of an ultra-deep exploratory well on the Gulf of Mexico shelf with severe temperature and pressure environments to a planned total depth in excess of 31,000 feet.
COMPLICATING FACTORS
The demanding HPHT environment created special challenges for operations, equipment and logistics.
RESULT
The construction of a stable wellbore beyond the target depth enabled logs to be run in the highest hydrostatic pressures ever recorded with mud weight.
As a result, the AGR team was able to reach a total depth of 32,997 feet, or six and one quarter miles, below the mudline.