Single steel drilling caisson

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History
Name
  • Ujigawa Maru (1972–1977)
  • World Saga (1977–1982)
OwnerFawley Tankers Ltd (1977–1982)
Port of registryMonrovia,  Liberia
BuilderKawasaki Heavy Industries, Sakaide, Japan
Yard number1164
Laid down21 July 1971
Launched24 January 1972
Completed20 April 1972
IdentificationIMO number: 7206471
FateConverted to drilling unit
History
Name
  • SSDC (1982–1997)
  • SDC (1997–)
Owner
Port of registry
BuilderHitachi Zosen, Sakai, Japan
Completed1982
IdentificationIMO number: 8755481
StatusCold stacked
General characteristics (tanker)[1]
TypeCrude oil tanker
Tonnage
  • 105,334 GT
  • 89,198 NT
  • 232,134 DWT
Length319.3 m (1,048 ft)
Beam53 m (174 ft)
Draught19.53 m (64 ft)
Propulsion
  • Double reduction steam turbine
  • Single shaft; fixed pitch propeller
Speed16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
General characteristics (SSDC)
TypeDrill barge
Tonnage
  • 76,260 GT
  • 22,878 NT
  • 39,189 DWT
Length162 m (531 ft)
Beam53 m (174 ft)
Depth25.3 m (83 ft)
Installed power6 × Caterpillar D399 (6 × 1,000 hp)
PropulsionNone
CrewAccommodation for 90

Single steel drilling caisson is a drill barge that was built for year-round oil exploration in shallow ice-covered waters in the Beaufort Sea. The unit, initially named SSDC and later shortened to SDC, was converted from an old oil tanker (Ujigawa Maru, later World Saga) in the early 1980s. It has been used to drill a total of eight oil wells on both Canadian and U.S. continental shelves, the most recent in 2006.

Description[edit]

The hull of the single steel drilling caisson, which consists of the forward two thirds of the hull of a very large crude carrier, is 162 metres (531 ft) long and 53 metres (174 ft) wide, and measures 25.3 metres (83 ft) from keel to main deck.[2] The original 80,000-tonne[3] drilling unit sits on top of a 35,000-tonne 168 by 110 metres (551 by 361 ft) submersible barge that acts as an artificial steel berm when the unit is lowered to the seafloor using water ballast.[4] While on location, a 2-metre (6.6 ft) box-type skirt prevents it from sliding sideways and an air injection system helps to overcome the suction effect during de-ballasting. The unit has six Caterpillar D399 diesel generators rated at 1,000 hp each for onboard power generation, but since it has no propulsion of its own, it has to be towed to location.[5]

On the topside, the single steel drilling caisson has a standard 20,000 square feet land rig. The drilling mast and substructure have a rated capacity of 1,300,000 lbs and can be skidded to drill a well to the maximum depth of 25,000 feet (7,600 m) through any of the four moon pools. Internally, the drilling unit can hold enough supplies to drill three to five wells depending on the well depth.[6] In addition to drilling equipment, the topside includes two cranes, a helicopter platform, and accommodation for 90 workers.[5]

History[edit]

1971–1982[edit]

Ujigawa Maru, the oil tanker that would one day be converted into an Arctic drilling unit, was built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Sakaide, Japan. The ship was laid down on 21 July 1971, launched on 24 January 1972 and completed on 20 April 1972. At 232,134 tons deadweight, the single-hulled Ujigawa Maru was classified as a very large crude carrier (VLCC) with an overall length of 319.3 metres (1,048 ft) and a beam of 53 metres (174 ft). The ship was propelled by a single fixed pitch propeller driven by a 36,000 hp (27,000 kW) double-reduction steam turbine, giving it a service speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph).[1]

In 1977, Ujigawa Maru was acquired by Fawley Tankers Ltd (today part of BW Group) and renamed World Saga.[1]

1982–2006[edit]

In the early 1980s, Canadian Marine Drilling (Canmar), the drilling subsidiary of Dome Petroleum, purchased World Saga with the intention of converting the oil tanker to an ice-resistant mobile offshore drilling unit that could continue exploratory drilling operations in the Beaufort Sea beyond the short open-water season. Previously, the company had utilized drillships that had been winterized for arctic conditions, but existing mooring and dynamic positioning systems could not keep the vessel in place in moving first-year ice. This limited station-keeping ability shortened the drilling season in the Beaufort Sea to about 100 days which was not sufficient to drill and test a typical well within one summer season. An alternative approach was to use artificial islands, either dredged islands with gradually sloping sides or sand-filled concrete structures resting on a subsea gravel berm. While caisson-retained islands were considered to be the most appropriate and cost-effective way to extend the drilling season in the Beaufort Sea, relocating them was time-consuming and expensive as the structure had to be completely reconstructed every time it was moved to a new drilling location. The new drilling unit was intended to overcome these limitations.[7]

World Saga was taken to Hitachi Zosen shipyard in Sakai, Japan, where all but the forward two-thirds of the tanker's hull were scrapped.[8] The remaining section was reinforced with 7,000 tonnes of additional steel and strengthened against ice with 13,000 tonnes of concrete that formed a 1-metre (3.3 ft) thick inner hull. A new 4,000-ton topside with drilling derrick, cranes, helipad and accommodation block was installed on top of the ice-strengthened hull.[9] The drilling unit was given the name SSDC, short for single steel drilling caisson.

After the conversion was complete, SSDC was towed to the Bering Sea. In October 1982, the drilling unit arrived to Dome Petroleum's Uviluk P-66 site and was lowered onto a man-made submerged berm in 31 metres (102 ft) of water.[8] The drilling began on 10 November and was completed on 21 May 1983.[10] By January 1983, a grounded ice rubble pile had formed around the SSDC, protecting it from direct ice contact.[11]

During the winter of 1983–1984, SSDC was used to drill an exploratory well at the Kogyuk N-67 site for Gulf Canada Resources Ltd. in 28 metres (92 ft) of water. On 25 September 1983, before the drilling had begun, the unit was impacted by a multi-year ice floe with an estimated diameter of 1.7 kilometres (1.1 mi) and thickness of 3 to 4 metres (9.8 to 13.1 ft). While the impact was clearly felt on the rig, no structural damage or movement relative to the seafloor was detected.[11] The drilling of the well began on 28 October 1983 and was completed on 30 January 1984.[10] On 25 June 1984, during the ice break-up, SSDC was impacted again by a large second-year ice floe, estimated to be 24 by 13 kilometres (14.9 by 8.1 mi) in size and 1.5 to 2 metres (4.9 to 6.6 ft) in thickness. During the winter, a grounded rubble field had again formed around the unit, shielding it from the colliding ice floe.[11]

Single steel drilling caisson is located in Canada
Fireweed
Fireweed
Phoenix
Phoenix
Cabot
Cabot
Aurora
Aurora
McCovey
McCovey
Uviluk P-66
Uviluk P-66
Kogyuk N-67
Kogyuk N-67
Paktoa C-60
Paktoa C-60
class=notpageimage|
Wells drilled by SSDC in the Beaufort Sea.[12][13][14][15]

After the first two seasons, it was found out that constructing a perfectly flat underwater gravel berm at every drilling location was very time-consuming. In August 1986, before being deployed in the American part of the Beaufort Sea, SSDC was mated with a submersible barge named MAT built by Hitachi Zosen.[4] A layer of high density polyurethane foam between the two units ensured an even contact.[16] The use of artificial steel berm removed the need to prepare the seafloor for drilling operations and made the unit capable of operating year-round in water depths between 7 and 24 metres (23 and 79 ft) and in a wide variety of soil conditions.[11] SSDC and MAT have not been separated since.

In September 1986, SSDC was deployed at the Phoenix site in Harrison Bay, Alaska. The water depth was 17.5 metres (57 ft) and the top of the MAT was 4 metres (13 ft) below surface.[11] Drilling of the well for Tenneco Oil Exploration Company began on 23 September and ended on 19 December 1986. In the following year, the rig was moved to the Aurora site, where it drilled another well for Tenneco in 21 metres (69 ft) of water between 2 November 1987 and 30 August 1988.[11][12] Afterwards, SSDC was towed back to Canadian waters and stored in the sheltered waters of Thetis Bay near Herschel Island for two winters.[17]

In 1990, SSDC returned to the Alaska and began drilling a well for ARCO Alaska at the Fireweed site in 15 metres (50 ft) of water on 19 October 1990. The well was finished on 25 December 1990 and already on 11 January 1991 a second well for ARCO Alaska was spud at the Cabot site in 17 metres (55 ft) of water. After the well was completed on 26 February 1992,[12] SSDC was placed in long-term storage ("cold stacked") at Port Clarence, Alaska, where it would not be trapped in Beaufort Sea ice if work could be found elsewhere.[6] The Cabot well was also the last one drilled by SSDC under Canadian ownership. In 1997, Amoco sold Canmar's former fleet of drilling units and offshore icebreakers to an international consortium of shipping companies.[18][19] The drilling unit was re-registered to Marshall Islands and its name was shortened to SDC. The submersible barge MAT was also renamed SDC II.[20][4]

Ten years later, SDC was recommissioned to drill an exploratory well for Encana Oil & Gas at the McCovey prospect off Alaska.[21] After a month and a half of preparations,[6] the rig was towed back to the Beaufort Sea in July 2002 by two icebreakers, Arctic Kalvik and Kigoria, which completed the 600-nautical-mile (1,100 km; 690 mi) tow from Port Clarence in just 12 days.[22][23] The preparations for the winter were stopped on 15 August for about two months to avoid disturbing the bowhead whaling season.[24] Drilling of the well, located in only 11 metres (35 ft) of water, began on 6 December 2002 and was completed on 27 January 2003.[12] With no immediate drilling work available for SDC, the rig was towed to Thetis Bay where it had previously been stored for two winters.[17] In 2003, the ownership of the drilling unit was passed to a Liberian-registered company, SDC Drilling Inc, and both SDC and SDC II were reflagged to Liberia.[20]

Few years later, Devon Canada chose SDC over artificial islands to drill the first wildcat well in the Canadian Beaufort Sea in 17 years.[3][25] However, the last remaining vessels of the original Beaufort Sea offshore fleet had been sold overseas few years earlier, and the company had to charter the Russian icebreaker Vladimir Ignatyuk (the former Arctic Kalvik) all the way from Murmansk to complete the one-day tow from Thetis Bay anchorage to the Paktoa C-60 site.[26][27] Initially, the plan was to drill one well in during the winter of 2005–2006 and, depending on the results, continue with three more wells during the next three winters.[28] However, despite encouraging results, the well drilled between 5 December 2005 and 19 March 2006 in 13 metres (43 ft) of water[10] did not strike the multi-trillion-cubic-foot gas reservoir Devon was looking for, and the subsequent wells were cancelled.[29] SDC was towed back to its anchorage at Thetis Bay.

Current status[edit]

Since 2006, SDC has been cold stacked off Herschel Island, Canada.[30] The rig can be seen in satellite photographs at approximately 69°24′42″N 138°53′50″W / 69.411600°N 138.897287°W / 69.411600; -138.897287.

As of 2020, the mothballed single steel drilling caisson SDC is the last remaining complete drilling unit built for oil exploration in the Beaufort sea in the 1980s. The two other bottom-founded units, the concrete island drilling system (CIDS) Glomar Beaufort Sea I and the mobile arctic caisson (MAC) Molikpaq, have been converted to production platforms in Sakhalin, Russia, and the floating conical drilling unit (CDU) Kulluk was sold for scrap after drifting aground off Sitkalidak Island in the Gulf of Alaska in 2012. Furthermore, in 2017 ConocoPhillips completed the removal of the Tarsiut caissons which had been stored in Thetis Bay since 1984.[31][32] The empty steel caisson of Esso's caisson-retained island (CRI) is also still in Tuktoyaktuk.[33]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "World Saga (7206471)". Sea-web. S&P Global. Retrieved 2015-10-25.
  2. ^ "SDC (7221419)". ABS Record. American Bureau of Shipping. Retrieved 2015-10-25.
  3. ^ a b Beaufort Sea: Exploration To Production. Devon Canada, 2005.
  4. ^ a b c "SDC II (8601280)". ABS Record. American Bureau of Shipping. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  5. ^ a b Arctic thaw. New Technology Magazine, December 2005. Retrieved 2015-11-04.
  6. ^ a b c SDC drill ship returns to Beaufort Sea. Petroleum News, December 2001, page 5. Retrieved 2015-11-04.
  7. ^ Hippman, A. and Kelly, W. (1985): The Single Steel Drilling Caisson: A New Arctic Drilling Unit. Journal of Petroleum Technology, Volume 37, Issue 12. Society of Petroleum Engineers.
  8. ^ a b Proposed Diapir Field Lease Offering, June 1984: Final Environmental Impact Statement, Volume 1. U.S. Department of the Interior, Minerals Management Service, Alaska OCS Region. March 1984. Page IV-25.
  9. ^ Fitzpatrick, J. (1983): The Single Steel Drilling Caisson: A Novel Approach to Bottom-Founded Structures in Arctic Waters. SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, 5-8 October, San Francisco, California. Society of Petroleum Engineers, 1983.
  10. ^ a b c Callow, L. (2012): Oil and Gas Exploration & Development Activity Forecast, Canadian Beaufort Sea 2012 – 2027. LTLC Consulting in association with Salmo Consulting Inc. April 2012.
  11. ^ a b c d e f Timco, G.W. and Johnston, M.E. (2002): Caisson Structures in the Beaufort Sea 1982–1990: Characteristics, Instrumentation and Ice Loads. Technical Report CHC-TR-003. November 2002.
  12. ^ a b c d Beaufort Sea Exploration Wells. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  13. ^ Northern Oil and Gas Annual Report 2006. Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. Retrieved 2015-11-04.
  14. ^ Log: GULF KOGYUK N-67. Canadian Stratigraphic Services Ltd. Retrieved 2015-11-04.
  15. ^ Log: DOME UVILUK P-66. Canadian Stratigraphic Services Ltd. Retrieved 2015-11-04.
  16. ^ Clark, Karin; Hetherington, Cory; O'Neill, Chris; Zavitz, Jana (1997), Breaking Ice With Finesse: Oil & Gas Exploration in the Canadian Arctic, The Arctic Institute of North America, ISBN 978-0919034945
  17. ^ a b Rig set for Herschel Island. Northern News Services. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  18. ^ Barker, A. and Timco, G. (2012): Overwintering of Barges in the Beaufort - Assessing Ice Issues and Damage Potential. Technical Report OCRE-TR-2012-008. Retrieved 2015-11-04.
  19. ^ Return to the Beaufort. New Technology Magazine, December 2005. Retrieved 2018-11-17.
  20. ^ a b "SDC (8755481)". Sea-web. S&P Global. Retrieved 2015-10-25.
  21. ^ SDC Management and Mobilization Archived 2015-11-04 at the Wayback Machine. SoltenXP. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  22. ^ An Arctic Tow by ITC. Maritime Journal, 1 January 2003. Retrieved 2015-11-04.
  23. ^ The SDC makes 600 mile journey to McCovey prospect in 12 days. Petroleum News, August 2002. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  24. ^ SDC at McCovey; will be cold-stacked by Aug. 15. Petroleum News, 31 July 2002. Retrieved 2015-11-04.
  25. ^ Apex Says Beaufort Sea Wildcat Well to be Tested. Rigzone, 29 March 2006. Retrieved 2015-11-04.
  26. ^ Forging a Legacy. Graham Chandler, Far North Oil & Gas, Spring 2006. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  27. ^ Devon returns to the Beaufort. New Technology Magazine. Retrieved 2015-11-04.
  28. ^ All systems go for Canadian Beaufort well. Petroleum News, April 2005. Retrieved 2015-11-04.
  29. ^ Devon takes next year off. Northern News Services, 26 June 2006. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  30. ^ Rig Data: SDC. Rigzone.com. Retrieved 2015-10-25.
  31. ^ Marcon International Brokering Tarsiut Island Caissons in Arctic. MarineLink, 13 August 2012. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  32. ^ "ConocoPhillips Canada: Operating responsibly in the Arctic". ConocoPhillips. 9 November 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  33. ^ Figure 4: Esso CRI overwintering in Tuktoyaktuk Harbour, 2012. ResearchGate. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
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