Dutch design and engineering company GustoMSC has presented its latest NG series self-propelled jack-up design, the NG-5500X-LD, suitable for light drilling and well intervention in mature fields.
GustoMSC said on Tuesday that the latest design was based on the NG-2500X and NG-1800X designs and that the NG-5500X-LD was a solution for mature fields in the Southern North Sea, Middle East, and South East Asia.
The conditions of these fields are characterized by water depths of up to 50 to 80 meters pending the region. The NG-5500X-LD light drilling cantilever is meant to bridge the gap between shallow to midwater service units and full-fledged drilling rigs.
The unit can remain offshore when adverse weather conditions occur, resulting in more workable days, increasing efficiency and a minimum of non-productive hours during operational charters, the company said. The rig has a DP-2 positioning system, diagonal pre-loading, and fast transit of up to 8 knots.
The light drilling rig can serve a variety of brown field needs, such as light drilling, well intervention, and plugging and abandonment.
The main deck of approximately 1,200 square meters allows for flexible use while the cantilever featuring the X-Y skidding system provides a large drilling envelope of 18.3 x 7.9 meters.
The entire cantilever and drill floor structure is raised above the main deck by approximately 3.6 meters which allows for improved material handling as a forklift can drive underneath, and thus reduce the number of crane lifts. It also provides more deck space for container storage and additional means to handle mud return, cuttings, and SWARF.
With 250 tons of hook load at 60 feet and up to 350 tonnes at 50 feet, the rig can perform light drilling operations at a drilling depth of 12,000 feet.