Boreas-1 BOP Continues to Cause Headaches for ConocoPhillips (Australia)

ConocoPhillips at 06:00 hours (WST) today, started troubleshooting of the Blowout Preventer on the sea floor offshore Western Australia. Since the last report, the BOP and marine riser were pulled from the hole for further testing and repairs on the deck of the rig.

Following these repairs the BOP and marine riser were run to the sea floor. Subsequent function testing of the BOP was unsuccessful and troubleshooting continues.

Drilling of the 8-1/2” hole section will commence once repairs are complete and the blowout preventer is fully functional.

A Blowout Preventer is a large valve at the top of a well that may be closed if the drilling crew loses control of formation fluids. By closing this valve (usually operated remotely via hydraulic actuators), the drilling crew usually regains control of the reservoir, and procedures can then be initiated to increase the mud density until it is possible to open the BOP and retain pressure control of the formation.

The Transocean Legend semi-submersible rig is drilling the exploration well. ConocoPhillips is the operator of the jointly held WA-314-P, WA-315-P and WA-398-P Browse Basin permits containing the previously announced Poseidon and Kronos gas discoveries. Karoon Gas Australia Ltd holds 40% of the permit WA-315-P and WA-398-P,  and 90% of permit WA-314-P. Boreas-1 is located approximately 4 kilometres south of Poseidon-1 in WA-315-P on a large tilted fault block which is part of the of the north-east trending structural high of the greater Poseidon structure. The objective of the well is to test the extent, presence and quality of reservoirs within the Boreas-1 fault block.

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Offshore Energy Today Staff, July 31, 2012