KCA Deutag Wins Well Engineering Contract with Lukoil

KCA Deutag

KCA Deutag has won a contract from LUKOIL-VolgogradNIPImorneft Ltd for the provision of well engineering design services to the Yu. Korchagin Project. The Yu. Korchagin development is in the central part of the northern Caspian Sea, 175 km from the city of Astrakhan.

The scope of work includes the detailed well design for extended reach drilling (ERD) wells of 3,500 m and 5,000 m outstep. "The shallow depth of the reservoir makes these wells particularly challenging to drill," commented Mike Richardson, Head of Well Engineering Services at KCA Deutag.

The well engineering design team is considering a range of options to maximize production from a minimum number of slots, including the use of multi-lateral wells. They are determining the optimum specification for the drilling facilities based on the well designs and this will then be fed into the subsequent drilling package and platform design.

As the platform is to be placed in the northern Caspian Sea, in a water depth of approximately 13m, the platform and well design must also address the issue of ice flows approximately 0.5 m thick during the winter period.

"This contract demonstrates the breadth of services being delivered into the Caspian by KCA Deutag," commented Maurice White, Chief Executive. "Last year's high profile drilling contracts came on the back of our ongoing role in the design and construction of the new platforms for the Caspian. Now we are providing well engineering services as well, but it doesn't stop there.

"KCA Deutag is playing an important part in the establishment and operation of the newly opened Caspian Technical Training Centre in Sanqacal, Azerbaijan. Phil Hassard, who heads up KCA DEUTAG's drilling simulator in Aberdeen, supervised the installation of the new, state-of-the-art DS5000 Drilling Simulator and KCA Deutag staff are also acting as instructors.

"The Caspian is an extremely important market for KCA Deutag, one with huge potential that will demand our full range of drilling related services."

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