CHALLENGE

• Deliver the permitting requirements for the fi rst well to be drilled under the recently updated Irish consents and permissions regime, including the fi rst drilling Well Work Safety Case under the revised legislation

• Accelerated schedule – deliver all well planning, support rig contracting and conduct rig intake, services tendering and regulatory permitting in a 4 1/2 month window

• Offset review and risk assessment identifi ed rig anchoring problems in hard seabed conditions, very fi rm top hole section, chert damage to drilling bits, losses in fractured carbonates and differential sticking in potentially depleted reservoirs.

• The challenge was to design a well to be drilled as economically as possible yet retain suffi cient contingency to address potential drilling issues.

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OVERVIEW

AGR were contracted by Kinsale Energy to provide full well management services for an exploration well to be drilled in the Celtic Sea, offshore Ireland. This would be the fi rst well to be drilled in Ireland under the recently updated Irish regulatory regime. The well was planned to intersect two gas targets with potential for pressure depletion. Logistical support was managed in country from a supply base in Cork, with all equipment mobilised from Aberdeen.

AGR delivers fi rst exploration well under new regulatory scheme in Ireland

AGRUnion Plaza1 Union Wynd,AberdeenAB10 1SL

T: +44 1224 629000, selectagr@agr.com

www.agr.com

the Petroleum Safety legislation

Copyright© 2015 AGR

All rights reserved. 15-WE-67

APPROACH

• Working together with Kinsale Energy management, the Ocean Guardian was contracted in a short time frame. The existing relationship between AGR and Diamond Drilling contributed to a smooth contracting process.

• BOP risk assessment, audit of management systems and key equipment were conducted as part of the rig intake programme

• AGR and Kinsale Energy management worked together to establish good working relationships with the Irish statutory authorities, and to agree an approach to the challenging consents and permissions schedule.

• A full set of service contracts was put in place in an accelerated time frame, by conducting a competitive tender using AGR’s master service agreement terms and conditions.

• The well design implemented all the lessons learned from wells in the area, to optimise drilling speeds and reduce exposure to drilling 36” conductor hole in hard rock drilling conditions

• Anchors were pre-laid and pull-tested prior to rig arrival, thus removing this exposure from the critical path

• Logistics support was put in place at Cork and equipment mobilised from the UK

RESULT

• A full set of detailed authority submissions were delivered in a tight time frame and consents were given.

• The well was drilled in 33.7 days.

• Saved +/- $3MM (14%) versus AFE despite 2.25 days additional scope

• All technical well objectives delivered

• 94% operational effi ciency, only 0.52 days total NPT for the whole project.

• No logistics related delays. Equipment demobilised, supply base cleared and equipment off-hire within 2 days of rig departing well location.

• Delivered a full set of service contracts that Kinsale Energy can use for future well operations

AGR delivers fi rst exploration well under new regulatory scheme in Ireland

AGRUnion Plaza1 Union Wynd,AberdeenAB10 1SL

T: +44 1224 629000, selectagr@agr.com

www.agr.com

including rig mob/demob

14% versus AFE despite 2.25 days