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Jackup footprint, punch through studies underway
THE IADC SOUTH East Asia Chapter units to operate over the individual field Unexpected Rapid Leg Penetrations (or
invited the Global Maritime - Fugro lives “leg runs”) occur more frequently than
Alliance to give presentations on two punch throughs during jackup installa-
subjects during their meeting held on 6 The study is divided into three phases. tion. The following definition was pro-
September 2002, at the Keppel FELS posed:
Golf Club, Singapore. The following is
PHASE I
from those presentations. “Unexpected rapid jackup footing settle-
•Collect data on incidents from partici-
ments not resulting in consequential
pants
The Global Maritime–Fugro Alliance is lost drilling time”.
managing a joint industry funded proj- •Develop questionnaire to be used for
ect to investigate and reduce the prob- S.E. Asia Punch-Through Situation
collection of incident data worldwide
lems associated with jackup drilling rig This region is known to have a fairly
installations at sites where other rigs •Distribute questionnaire and interview
wide occurrence of punch-through haz-
have previously operated. key industry personnel
ards, but even so it has been estimated
IADC is not endorsing nor participating •Collate all of the results from the data- that perhaps as little as 30-50 % of
in the JIP. collection phase punch-throughs are formally reported.
During jackup installation there is often •Build web-site database The actual situation is likely to be sig-
a tendency for the spud cans to move nificantly worse than published reports
•Determine appropriate methods of mit- or databases may suggest.
towards the locations of the previously
igation for review in Phase II
installed rig or rigs. Presently it is estimated that in the
•Identify further research objectives Southeast Asia operating area typically
Such movements can result in structur-
identified for Phase II and III one or two major punch-throughs are
al damage, both to the rig and the exist-
ing infrastructure on the installation occurring each year, together with about
PHASE II 10 to 12 unexpected rapid footing pene-
site; unsatisfactory positioning often
with significant lost time and cost impli- trations.
•Investigation and optimization of a
cations; and potential injury to person- range of mitigation methods considered The punch-through incidents are typi-
nel. cally costing between about $1 million
•Performance of a range of calculations,
The project aims to reduce the unpre- and $10 million.
front end Analysis and physical model
dicted occurrence of these adverse testing, as appropriate, to optimize Initially the companies propose to focus
movements by developing a Best Prac- methods on the formalization of geotechnical site
tice Guideline document, which will be investigation requirements and proce-
published following project comple- PHASE III dures in order to reduce punch-through
tion.The project is being funded by a risk and increase offshore safety in
group of 10 participants. •Use Phase I and II results to develop
procedures for safe jack-up emplace- Southeast Asia, and suggest that a two-
Spud can-footprint interaction issues ment year study should be considered with
appear to be increasing in frequency, the following distinct phases:
and this is thought to be due to: •Conduct cost-benefit analyses for the
range of applicable methods PHASE I
•Increasing reliance on jack-ups for
•Produce a detailed report and proce- Investigate historical Southeast Asia
drilling and work-over activities for
dures for design to enable safe jack-up punch-through cases and borehole data
unmanned and sub-sea facilities
to identify geographical, geotechnical
•Increased jack-up tender-assist opera- •Emplacement at locations adversely and operational trends.
tions effected by spud can/footprint interac-
tion PHASE II
•Expanding jack-up operational areas
due to increased environmental capabil- The second presentation was SE Asia Development of a “best practice” guide-
ities jack-up punch-throughs: The way for- line for jackup site assessment, includ-
ward? ing recommended scope of work togeth-
•Operators wishing to protect their er with advice on bearing capacity pre-
commercial position by maintaining a There appears to be some ambiguity
diction methods and installation proce-
range of rig options and hence a choice regarding the term punch through and
dures based on current knowledge.
of jack-ups for use at a single location in order to address this the following
definition was proposed: PHASE III
•Reduced installation period (in some
cases rigs may be on location for as lit- “An unexpected jackup footing rapid Research Phase 2 topics to develop the
tle as 10 days at a time), giving settlement resulting in consequential science and feed back into the Recom-
increased opportunities for alternative lost drilling time.” mended Practice. I
November/December 2002 D R I L L I N G C O N T R A C T O R 43

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Jackup footprint, punch through studies underway

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