The scope of this paper is to show how digitized, structured data, as a combination of design data, operational data, riser analyses and measured riser response can be used to enable drilling operations on a subsea exploration with well challenging soil or/and harsh environmental conditions. The structural integrity of the well foundation and soil support has been verified by combining the structured data obtained from measurements with the design information. A sensor system has been fitted to the riser and BOP on mobile drilling units to monitor soil and structural integrity. The combination of pre-operational assessments and monitoring during operations has been carried out for 7 consecutive drilling campaigns, with two different semi-submersible drilling rigs. The work presented in this paper will give a comparison between the measured response and the up-front design analysis, and show show to combine the design information with operational data and measured response to enable future operations. During the design phase of a subsea exploration well a wide range of design assumptions must be considered. The range in high and low estimates for parameters such as soil support or riser and BOP mass and damping forces may be considerable. In general conservative parameters must be selected, leading to worst case scenarios, which again may lead to limited operational windows, introduce high cost mitigating actions or in worst case prevent operations from being carried out. This paper will present the benefit of using actual measured response and operational parameters back into the design loop when planning upcoming drilling campaigns. Structured operational data and measured response is used to improve analysis models; which lead to reduced conservatism. For cases of re-entry on an existing exploration well with heavier equipment, the measured soil support can be used to rule out some worst-case scenarios, and enable the upcoming operation. A case example of an exploration campaign enabled by the design loop will be shown.

During drilling and well intervention (DWI) operations today operating limits are normally given as limiting wave height, and sometimes wave periods. The resulting diagrams are often not directly comparable with weather information received on the rig and the final decisions are often based on subjective assessment of wave height and period. The paper will present how BP, on the newly developed Skarv field in the Norwegian Sea, through thorough planning in the engineering phase has implemented a system where operating limits are specified based on directly measurable parameters such as rig heave and upper and lower flexjoint angles. How weather forecasting can be translated to give the rig crew direct forecasting of the limiting vessel or riser responses (e.g. flexjoint angles or heave), will also be presented. It will be shown how this allows for improved operational planning and support from onshore. Over the last years requirements for oil companies to be able to document the structural integrity of their subsea assets, including wells, has increased. On the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) there has been a particular focus on fatigue loading in the wellhead structure, including the upper sections of casing and conductor, due to loads induced by the riser and BOP during DWI operations. There have been cases where the design fatigue life of a wellhead system limits the number of days one can perform operations with a rig on a given well. This in term affects future oil recovery rates as the well fatigue life may not be sufficient to allow for side step drilling or intervention work required to maintain an optimal production from the well. The paper continues to present how BP on the Skarv field, stores and utilizes the measured lower flexjoint response to track and document well integrity. It will be demonstrated how the return on investment of a drilled well can be improved by documenting actual fatigue loading from each operation on a well compared to conservative design calculations. BP has addressed the above issues in a way that is likely to set a new standard for drilling and intervention operations in the North Sea in the future. 4Subsea AS has provided the engineering and instrumentation services that formed the basis for this paper.