Aluminum could extend drilling reach

Offshore staff

HOUSTON --A Russian consortium wants to promote lightweight aluminium drill pipes to facilitate extended reach drilling in remote regions.

Moscow-based Aquatic Co. and the Kamensk-Uralsky Metallurgical Works have supplied aluminum drilling risers for some time to Noble Drilling. Aquatic also has worked with Weatherford to harness aluminum drillpipes for use in ultra-long sections in extended reach wells, beyond the current stress limits of conventional steel tubulars.

According to a presentation at OTC last week, prime candidates could be regions such as Alaska and Sakhalin Island, which for much of the year are ice-bound, necessitating drilling of offshore development wells from the coast. However, operators in more clement regions have also expressed interest, notably Saudi Aramco and Petrobras.

5/9/2007