Saipem 10000 drilling at world's greatest water depth

The drillship Saipem 10000 is drilling a wildcat well in offshore Gabon in 2,791 meters (9,156.8 ft) of water—the deepest in the world to date.

The well in is being drilled under contract with Total Astrid Marin Gabon acting on behalf of the Vanco Gabon Group comprising TotalFinaElf 28%, Unocal 25%, Vanco 22%, Kerr-McGee 14%, and Reading & Bates Oil 11%.

The Saipem 10000 drillship. Photo by Valter Gregori, Courtesy: Eni.

The Saipem 10000 is Saipem's innovative highly technological drillship for the exploration and development of hydrocarbon reservoirs in deep and ultradeep waters, which is one of the sector's most advanced frontiers. Its position is controlled in realtime by a dynamic positioning system based upon a satellite (GPS) and an hydro-acoustic reference systems, and it maintains a steady operating position by using six azimuth thrusters and a computerized system that corrects the effects of wind, wave, and current, also in realtime. The vessel is capable of operating in water depths of up to 3,000 meters and is can drill wells to 10,000 meters.

The Saipem 10000 has a crude oil storage of 140,000 bbl and process facilities capacity of 20,000 b/d.

Source: Eni