Innovation Winner

'In terms of BP's brand values this project is an excellent example of how progressive team work can lead to extremely innovative, effective and reliable solutions to very challenging problems.'
Mike Payne-Senior Advisor

Creative thought and work practices lie at the very heart of the Houston technology team's new deepwater well design methodologies. Annular pressure build-up (APB) presents a serous design challenge when it comes to deepwater wells, threatening the entire integrity of a well or field. Historically the issues around APB have not been addressed, but following the failure of the Marlin well in the Gulf of Mexico it was decided an efficient and rigorous well design methodology was needed to ensure the safety of all existing and future wells.

A typical response might have once used brute force to strengthen the well, but this leads to greater costs and higher risks. So the technology team threw the rule book away and created several ground-breaking well designs, which in turn led to the development and verification of several independent APB mitigation methods. New techniques now include nitrified foam spacers providing a compressible gas cushion in the annuli and crushable syntactic foam custom engineered to deal with specific well conditions. The new methodologies have already proved highly successful in fields such as Thunder Horse, Horn Mountain, Mad Dog and Atlantis and work is underway to document the solutions for even more consistent use worldwide.

Deepwater development plays an enormous role in BP's future growth agenda, and the economic impact of resolving this issue is crucial. The team's willingness to tackle an ongoing problem head-on with innovative ideas and technology makes it a true winner.