BP, Shell, AGR Drilling Services and the Norwegian Research Council have successfully tested a deepwater riserless mud-recovery system, results which could mark a major milestone, as the number of "zero-emissions" rig operations potentially grow to include deepwater mud-recovery.

The test in 1,500 metres of water also bodes well for future operations in the deeper water zero emissions zones of the world, including the fart Arctic beyond the immediate economic zones.

A Petronas and Shell field off Malaysia was the sight of the test by crews of the semi-sumbersible rig Atwood Falcon.

“The successful trial of the Deepwater RMR system extends the known benefits of the RMR to Operators drilling in deepwater,” an AGR communique trumpeted, adding, companies can drill top-hole sections “cheaper, faster, more safely and with less impact on the environment”.

The mud system returns drilling mud and cuttings from the seabed to the rig while drilling the top-hole section of the well, prior to installation of the riser. Top hole drilling conventionally discharges drilling fluid and cuttings onto the seafloor.

AGR`s technology collects the mud at the seabed and pumps it back to the drilling vessel where it is cleaned and reused. The company has applied its kit to 75 wells up to 600-metre depths.

Though deployed from a conventional rig, newer offshore well-intervention and construction vessels increasingly present future opportunities for performing well-start operations from aboard ship. World fleets capable of such operations are seen doubling in size over the next half decade.

Tags: AGR Group, Shell