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Vital to supplying BP Indonesia’s Tangguh LNG trains in West Papua is the array of offshore production wells that penetrate Tangguh’s Jurassic and Paleocene reservoirs, unlocking gas reserves lying beneath Bintuni Bay. Drilling these platform-based wells presents unique challenges to BP’s Well Engineering team.

A common thread of drilling complexity across the Tangguh area lies within the heavily faulted and karstified carbonate sequence of the overburden (e.g. the Faumai formation), which has historically created challenging drilling conditions and NPT events (i.e. stuck pipe and downhole tool failures). However, the drilling challenges in Tangguh are not only related to the geological complexities of the Faumai Carbonates, but also to the uncertainty in the the pore pressure and fracture gradient (PPFG) window. This requires a high mud weight when drilling the 8 ½” hole section, which has led to losses and ballooning events, and more recently, the risk of losses in the depleting Vorwata reservoir (e.g. Upper Roabiba Sandstone). All of the above, combined with the remoteness of drilling operations from vendor supply bases and the responsibility to ensure the Bintuni Bay ecosystem is preserved, makes for a challenging drilling environment in Tangguh.

By leveraging Indonesian regional experience and BP Global support a series of drilling engineering practices (some unique to Tangguh) have been implemented including: Improving drilling performance in the Faumai Carbonates by engineering an alternative well design;

Bit and BHA evolution for drilling carbonates;

Implementation of annulus mud cap drilling technique in the Faumai Carbonates;

Management of complex well monitoring in Tangguh; and

Application of stress caging while drilling under no- margin conditions in the depleted Jurassic

As Tangguh field development continues to evolve, the BP Drilling Engineering Team aims to deliver safe, sustainable, and efficient wells in future well construction, enabling collaboration between local and global expertise while leveraging lessons from past campaigns.