Photo courtesy of Vår Energi Vår Energi
Tenaris has provided leading Norwegian pure-play oil and gas producer Vår Energi with the first deployment of pipes for its Balder Future project in the North Sea with excellent operational results.
Vår Energi, with the support of Tenaris, developed a telescopic well design with up to 76˚ inclination that required tight clearance tolerances. The Norwegian oil and gas operator chose TenarisHydril Wedge 613® connections with Dopeless® technology in 16” and TenarisHydril Wedge 623® connections with Dopeless® technology in 13 3/8” for its well design due to its running performance combined with best-in-class industry testing. The two integral connections have high clearance along with robustness, easy and fast running resulting from the use of Dopeless® technology and its wedge-type threads.
The 16” string was set at 1,120 meters measured depth, while the 13 3/8” string at 3,495 meters measured depth. To allow for faster running and rig-time savings, the 13 3/8” pipes were run in stands (doubles), thus increasing the speed of installation.
“Historically, the running of integral connections in stands has not been commonplace,” said Aitken Mitchell, Tenaris Technical Sales Senior Engineer in the North Sea. “However, the TenarisHydril Wedge Series 600™ , which is tested according to API 5C5 protocols, has enabled this time-saving practice through the robust thread design and the application of Dopeless® technology, which allows for consistent connection make-ups.”
Balder field location. Vår Energi.
The first deployment of the strings for the Balder field was completed in early March, which included a total of 60 single joints of 16” Wedge 613® Dopeless®, 56 (doubles) stands plus 116 single joints (228 joints total) of 13 3/8” Wedge 623® Dopeless®. The joints were successfully run from the Seadrill West Phoenix semi-submersible rig, with zero rejects and zero remakes recorded during the run in-hole or stand-building activities.
“We are very satisfied; we succeeded in introducing for the first time in the Norwegian North Sea our semi-flush 13 3/8” 72# P110 TenarisHydril Wedge 623® Dopeless® connections and flush 16” 84# TenarisHydril Wedge 613® Dopeless® connections, complying with the well design requirements and allowing time savings and smooth-running operations,” said Mitchell.
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