MHWirth’s drilling control systems set for five Transocean rigs

MHWirth, an Akastor-owned provider of drilling solutions and services, has been awarded a contract for the delivery of automatic drilling control systems on five Transocean’s drilling rigs.

MHWirth said that all five rigs, which would be fitted with its DEAL ADC system, were operating on the Norwegian Continental Shelf for Equinor.

The company added that a pilot of the system was installed on the Transocean Enabler in 2017. According to Transocean, the system delivered tangible improvements in overall drilling efficiency.

In addition to the Enabler, the contract covers the Transocean Spitsbergen, Transocean Encourage, Transocean Equinox, and Transocean Endurance. All units are equipped with MHWirth’s complete drilling equipment package.

MHWirth describes the system as being able to provide increased operational performance, cost efficiency, and HSSE.

According to the company, drilling operations can now be run with less human interference, which increases stability and removes risk. The DEAL system has an open interface, which enables the implementation of different smart modules including 3rd party vendors.

It is worth reminding that Transocean entered into an agreement with Equinor to license and install automated drilling control systems on the rigs earlier this month.

Of five rigs awaiting the upgrade, three were previously owned by Songa Offshore, which was acquired by Transocean in January 2018. These are Transocean Encourage, Transocean Equinox, and Transocean Endurance.

Furthermore, Transocean bought a 33.3% interest in the Transocean Norge rig – formerly the West Rigel – in May 2018. Thanks to that, Transocean gained the exclusive right to market and operate the rig. In September 2018, Transocean was awarded a six-well contract by Equinor for the rig which is expected to start in July 2019.