Mechanized Pipe Handling in the Gulf of Mexico Correlates to Safety Performance Improvements
Authors: Kinzel Holger , Hayes Mike 
Published: October 2008

The North Sea, in particular Norway, was a forerunner in regards to improved safety due to the mandatory introduction of mechanized systems for rig-floor operations. In the meantime also the offshore industry in the Gulf of Mexico has recognized the benefits of mechanized operations and now a large number of drilling rigs are equipped with equipment to remotely handle drillpipe, casing and tubing strings. The Total Recordable Incident Rate (T.R.I.R.) is the "measuring stick" of safety performance in the GOM industry. 1999 marked the beginning of an initiative to implement remote controlled, mechanized equipment wherever possible, in an effort to remove personnel from hazardous areas. The number of jobs that were run with mechanized equipment increased rapidly. At the same time the number of total recordable incidents was declining. An analysis of the percentage of jobs run with mechanized equipment versus the T.R.I.R. shows a remarkable and very obvious correlation.

1 Introduction

The North Sea, in particular Norway, was a forerunner in regards to improved safety due to the mandatory introduction of mechanized systems for rig-floor operations. In the meantime also the offshore industry in the Gulf of Mexico has recognized the benefits of mechanized operations and now a large number of drilling rigs are equipped with equipment to remotely handle drillpipe, casing and tubing strings. The Total Recordable Incident Rate (T.R.I.R.) is the "measuring stick" of safety performance in the GOM industry.

Mechanized and remote controlled equipment is used to make the environment on the rig floor safer, especially during drillpipe, casing and tubing handling and running. The analysis of the T.R.I.R. shows the typical incident rate before the mechanization was introduced, as well as the improvements in safety performance as the utilization of mechanized equipment increased.

2 Tubular Running Services

Despite efforts to reduce the use of threaded connections, for example by the use of coiled tubing or the experimental use of welding or bonding technologies for running casing, running and making up of casing or tubing joints is still an important step in all drilling and completion operations. A typical well drilling operation requires approximately 30% of the total time for drillpipe tripping and casing and tubing running operations.

2.1 Traditional Tubular Running Services

Traditionally, running casing and tubing strings required manpower and although hydraulic power equipment is used, a lot of the work has to be done manually (Fig. 1).

The procedure of running pipe can be divided into handling tasks and tubular makeup. The typical equipment list for a traditional tubular running job already implies the manual work associated to it:thread protectorsdrifting mandrelshandling equipmentslip-type spiderslip-type elevatorsingle joint elevatorhydraulic power tong with free floating backupsingle-joint compensatorelectronic Joint Analyzed Makeup system The task of handling the pipe includesremoving thread protectors clean threadsvisually inspect threadslift pipe to v-doorengage single joint elevatorlift pipe into derrick