Abstract
Many people believe in the benefits of incorporating Managed Pressure Drilling (MPD) into well planning, which has been done onshore for a long time. In recent years this technology has been transferred to offshore drilling vessels. However, there appears to be some hesitation in widely implementing MPD solutions offshore, due most likely to perceptions regarding complexity and cost of integration. This paper has been written to communcate the scope associated with implementing a Controlled Mud Level (CML) MPD technology onto an offshore drilling vessel in order to allow Operators and Rig Contractors to evaluate the level of complexity involved. This paper emphasizes that the technology has now been integrated onto several rigs, allowing the CML provider, Rig Contractors and Operators to work out best practices for technology implementation. Integration of a CML system is now accomplished with standard products, a well-defined scope and experience-based understanding of what is required.
