New MAX STREICHER drilling rig almost ready

Test operations have been running since March 2014 on the test drilling site at the STREICHER location in Deggenau. At the beginning of last year, Archer Topaz Limited appointed the MAX STREICHER GmbH & Co. KG aA with the construction of a second offshore drilling rig. The offshore drilling rig VDD 400.2 has been further developed on basis of the modular and partially automated concept of the first in its class VDD 400.1. Now, it is nearly ready for dismantling and going offshore.

Drilling rig characteristics

Amongst others, the VDD 400.2 is characterised by an easy to handle transport as well as erection and dismounting, due to the modular construction concept as already used for VDD 400.1. For the safety of employees on the platform, it relies on an automation system. The pipe handler operates fully automatically; the pipe handling crane, which has been adjusted to the limited space at the site of operation, the Statoil gas platform Heimdal, is partially automated. The hydraulic power system of the VDD rigs enables an extremely precise control and despite small components high power can be transmitted.

The VDD 400.2 will go into operation in the Norwegian part of the North Sea. (Photo: STREICHER)

Technical innovations

For the first time, STREICHER´s drilling technology division has equipped an offshore drilling rig with a pipe deck for storing rods and pipes. The modular designed pipe deck with its support structure has a weight of approximately 200 t and can be loaded with rods and pipes of up to 150 t. The deck will be delivered in about 30 modules. Transformers instead of generators guarantee the energy supply for the rig on the Heimdal gas platform.

New Zealand to the North Sea

The modular concept and high degree of automation of the VDD 400.1 have been proved themselves already on high sea off the coast of New Zealand. The VDD 400.2 rig is likely to be operated for the decommissioning and sealing of existing bore holes in the Norwegian part of the North Sea.

Besides the technical refinements, the project’s fast execution period is newsworthy. To set June 2014 as deadline for the commissioning of the drilling rig was very ambitious. “All of Norway’s oil and gas industry focuses on us“, says Dr. Peter Romanow, Head of the Drilling Technology Division of MAX STREICHER GmbH & Co. KG aA.

The VDD 400.2 rig will be ready for delivery on 15 June 2014.

Adapted from press release by Cecilia Rehn

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/drilling-and-production/02052014/new_max_streicher_drilling_rig_almost_ready_for_statoil_platform/