Pilot-hole off a jack-up (daylight hours only ?)

25 August 2013 Hi folks

At a recent DWOP, we were talking about the drilling of a 8-1/2" pilot-hole off a jack-up in 200 ft of water. The hole will be drilled ca. 1100 ft below mud-line.

There are no indications of shallow-gas on the shallow-hazards survey, but the nearest offset is 40 km away so it's been deemed prudent to drill a pilot-hole.

The design of the jack-up (1979) allows the pilot-hole to be drilled through a hole in the hull after the rig is soft-pinned, after which the cantilever will be skidded out and the section will be casing-drilled.

Whilst there is no direct reference to it in the Drilling Co procedures, there was discussion about the need to conduct this in the hours of daylight only.  There is no ROV on site.

We'd appreciate the insight of members on a few relevant questions:

1.  What are your policies/guidelines about drilling pilot-holes in the hours of daylight ? .. on all kinds of installations .. And what mitigations if it extends into darkness ..

2.  The team is thinking about running a motor to increase ROP (maximise the likelihood of completing the section in daylight) - any thoughts ?

Thanks

Dave

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