AGR delivers Well Project Management for deepwater drilling project offshore Australia. Our well engineering team delivered well design, well planning, operations and post drilling excellence in a challenging environment, at one of the most anticipated prospects in Western Australia’s North West Shelf.
The Challenge
A first-time exploratory drill for new Australian oil and gas entrant
AGR was trusted by Western Gas to provide Well Management services at Sasanof-1 exploration well in the Carnarvon Basin, North West Shelf, Western Australia.
Tasked with delivering Operator’s first deep-water well – around 2,300m well depth – in waters nearly 1,100m deep, the project also saw concurrently commencing operations on other rigs in the region, and a high Covid-19 caseload, both of which led to resource constraints.
The client faced challenges related to the shorebase setup, due to the nature of the short drilling campaign, and equally, the negotiation of suitable contracts was made challenging because of the short window of operations.
There were also extensive regulatory requirements to adhere to which AGR managed on behalf of Western Gas, as a new entrant to Australian offshore operations. All of these had to be approved well in advance of the project start.
What we did
Utilising our network and engineering excellence to build confidence
With our extensive experience of rig operations in Australia, we were able to find a cost-effective drilling unit for Western Gas, identifying a short idle rig slot at a significantly discounted rate. This was essential to meet the strict cost requirements put forward by Western Gas and other stakeholders.
By leveraging our offset experience, AGR put forward an effective, low-risk, and highly efficient well design, incorporating a significant number of learnings into the final drilling programme.
Our probabilistic well time and cost estimation software, P1™ – part of the iQx™ suite of applications – ensured Western Gas had a transaprent, accurate and real-time projection of project risks and costs. This technology was supported by technical assurance sessions delivered by AGR engineers to demonstrate that the process was robust and the figures were sound.
We were also able to leverage our trained ‘Incident Response’ personnel, both in Australia and overseas, to meet all regulatory requirements.
The Outcome
Decades of expertise, delivered in weeks
“Sasanof-1 was drilled on time, on budget, and without incident” – Will Barker, Executive Director, Western Gas
Sasanof-1 was drilled to 2,390mMDRT, evaluated and permanently plugged and abandoned in 24.1 days versus the estimated (mean) of 25.7 days.
Thanks to a thorough and collaborative approach to risk management, the client experienced an incident-free deep-water operation, delivered ahead of AFE timings and with zero downhole non-productive time (NPT) and only 2% of equipment NPT.
Sasanof-1 exploration demonstrated Western Gas’ capability to manage drilling campaigns in a safe and cost-effective manner in deep waters with benefits offered by AGR.
