TWMA wins first job with Spirit Energy in North Sea

Specialist drilling waste management company, TWMA, has secured a seven-figure contract with an exploration and production company, Spirit Energy.

The first scope of a five-year contract will see TWMA provide drilling waste management services on the harsh-environment jack-up rig Maersk Resolve as Spirit Energy drills the Grove North East well in the Southern Sector of the North Sea.

The rig, currently in Denmark, will mobilise to the UK in the second quarter of 2021.

The contract, which carries the option of two one-year extensions, marks TWMA’s first project with the E&P company and includes the full breadth of the company’s services lines.

This gives Spirit Energy access to TWMA’s skip & ship, bulk cuttings transfer, NORM services and drill cuttings processing services with its TCC RotoMill.

The TCC RotoMill can be deployed offshore at the rig site and allows operators and rig contractors to treat drill cuttings at the source eliminating both the cost and carbon footprint associated with ship-to-shore methods.

According to TWMA, the TCC RotoMill unit ensures uninterrupted high ROP drilling in the harshest offshore environments by eliminating any waiting on weather time associated with drill cuttings handling.

Processing drill cuttings offshore improves the risk profile of drilling projects by reducing lifting operations by up to 95 per cent, the company noted.

Furthermore, removing the need for shipping drilling waste onshore negates the need for supply vessels port access, and onshore trucking and processing which lowers the total cost of waste ownership and carbon emissions for operators by up to 50 per cent, compared with the traditional skip and ship method.

Gareth Innes, Chief Engineering and Commercial Officer at TWMA, said: “This latest contract win further expands our reach in the North Sea”.

Innes added: “Having processed 66,000 tonnes globally in 2020, and with more than 50% of the drilling rigs in the UK now operating with a TCC RotoMill on them, this latest win cements our position as the market leader in drilling waste management.

“Spirit Energy was particularly interested in our low carbon drilling solutions, and how these could contribute to its commitment to sustainability. Lower carbon solutions are key to our industry as we head towards climate change discussions at COP26 and we’re proud to play a role in this transition”.