World Subsea Completion Records

Deepwater Millennium Team Sets Subsea Completion Records

The Transocean ultra-deepwater drillship Deepwater Millennium has set four world water-depth records for completion operations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico this year, including the most recent record at 8,960 feet of water for Anadarko on its Independence Hub project. That is over 1,000 feet of water more than the record for deepest water depth for petroleum production of 7,570 feet of water in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

"Anadarko has put together a top-notch team for these well completions, and none of us on that team have backed down," said Randy Atwood, Rig Manager, Deepwater Millennium. "The crew of the Millennium has really shown their professionalism and willingness to tackle these challenges. Everyone is doing an excellent job, and the client has been extremely pleased with our performance."

The rig’s crews set the latest world record at Lloyd’s Ridge block 399 on Anadarko’s Cheyenne 2 well, breaking their own records set since June 5, when the drillship latched onto Merganser (AT 37) for Kerr-McGee.

In addition to the following world records, the Deepwater Millennium has constructed another five wells in approximately the same water depths.

World Water-Depth Completions by Deepwater Millennium

Field		Block		Water Depth in Feet (Meters)
Cheyenne		Lloyd Ridge 399 #3		8,960 (2,731)
Vortex		Atwater Valley 261 #1		8,344 (2,543)
Merganser		Atwater Valley 37 #1		7,933 (2,418)
Merganser		Atwater Valley 37 #3		7,919 (2,415)

The Deepwater Millennium has been one of the industry pioneers in deepwater drilling and completion. This year, the rig became the first drillship to use the LARS (Launch and Recovery System) Subsea Tree Intervention WorkOver Control System in record water depths on the wells mentioned above. In 2000, the drillship became the first rig to operate in 8,000 feet of water in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

Constructed at Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard at South Korea, the Deepwater Millennium is a Pathfinder-class drillship capable of working in up to 10,000 feet of water.