Before an offshore oil or gas well can be drilled, a large-diameter steel pipe called a conductor is installed into the seabed.

Think of the conductor as the foundation or starting guide for an offshore well.It provides structural support near the seabed and creates a stable path for the well construction process that follows. The conductor is installed before deeper sections of the well are drilled.

For offshore projects, conductors can be very large and heavy. Installing them requires specialist equipment capable of lifting, positioning and driving the steel pipe to the required depth. This is known as conductor driving.

Conductor driving is the process of installing a large steel conductor into the seabed by using a specialised hammering system.

The basic process is straightforward:

A conductor is lifted into position and aligned over the required location. A hammer is then used to drive the conductor down through the seabed until it reaches the required penetration depth. The conductor becomes part of the foundation for the well and provides support for subsequent drilling operations.

Why Is It Important?

A drilling rig needs a stable starting point before it can begin drilling deeper into the seabed. Installing the conductor in advance can allow the drilling rig to arrive at a platform where the initial conductor installation work has already been completed. This is the principle behind rigless conductor installation.

Thunder Cranes provides the lifting and positioning capability needed to support rigless conductor installation.

For a conductor-driving operation, several major components need to be moved and positioned, including:

For someone who has never seen conductor installation, the operation can be explained in a few simple steps.

Conductor removal is essentially the reverse process. When an offshore well, platform slot or conductor is no longer required, the conductor may need to be cut, released and recovered as part of a wider decommissioning, slot-recovery or well-removal operation. The conductor is secured and lifted using appropriate equipment and procedures before being removed from its installed position.

Thunder Cranes’ modular crane systems can provide lifting support for this type of work, including lifting and handling equipment used by contractors performing conductor or slot-recovery activities.

Thunder Cranes explains that a modular crane installed on a platform can support the lifting activities required by slot-recovery contractors performing cutting and recovery work.

The main advantage of a rigless approach is time. A drilling rig is an expensive offshore asset. Every day of rig time can represent a significant project cost.

If conductor installation can be completed before the drilling rig arrives, the rig does not need to spend its valuable operating time performing work that can be completed separately.

In Thunder Cranes’ published project, the rigless method saved approximately one day of rig time per conductor, and the company reported estimated savings of around US$1.5 million in drilling-rig deployment time for the project. The conductor installation operation was completed within four days without incident or downtime.