ExxonMobil resumes drilling from Beryl A

Offshore staff

ABERDEEN, UK -- ExxonMobil is preparing to re-start drilling operations from the Beryl Alpha platform in the UK Northern North Sea. Drilling on the Beryl field was halted in 2007 following difficulties with what the company terms “the most challenging well ever drilled from the platform.”

Subsequent in-house studies led to the development of new well plans. The company now aims to begin drilling three wells from Beryl Alpha around the end of this year, and it will continue to examine further opportunities to extend the drilling program.

A maintenance campaign got under way this summer on the Beryl rigs. They are being upgraded to bring them in line with current regulations and to accommodate additional pressure from newly drilled rock formations. Originally the Beryl rigs were designed to handle 5,000 psi wells, but the first well in the new program demands 10,000-psi rated equipment.

12/16/2009