RasGas Company Limited (RasGas) has safely and successfully completed offshore drilling for 30 development wells for the $10.3 billion Barzan Gas Project, paving the way for subsequent phases of the project to proceed with connecting the wells to subsea pipelines that will take gas to shore.

The 30 development wells - spread over three offshore wellhead platforms – have a total length of approximately 138 kilometres and reach more than 3,000 metres below the sea’s surface. The complex Barzan offshore drilling operations required three jack-up drilling rigs working for a combined total of 4,740 days and involving more than 300 employees at any given time working in challenging offshore conditions.

Dave Frye, Chief Subsurface and Technology Officer, said “Highly sophisticated drilling technologies and techniques such as a Pressurized Mud Cap Drilling technique were successfully employed to address unique technical challenges allowing the wells to be drilled safely and efficiently.”

“Completion of the offshore drilling takes the country’s landmark energy project one step closer to completion. Construction of Barzan Gas Project onshore facilities recently surpassed the 50% completion mark. The next significant step will be to connect the project pipelines running from Ras Laffan to the wells located 80km off the coast of Qatar,” said Nafez Bseiso, RasGas Chief Venture Officer.

“While the Barzan Gas Project is a prime example of Qatar’s push for sustainable development, it is also a demonstration of RasGas’ commitment to high safety standards and operational excellence,” he added.

As of July, 2013, the Venture Project Team reached an unprecedented 78 million hours worked without a lost time incident (LTI). This milestone achievement surpasses all previous performance in the State of Qatar.

Tags: RasGas Company Limited