The world's longest "designer" well drilled from a floating rig has been completed on Statoil's Åsgard development.
Extending 6,920 metres on the Norwegian Sea field, this producer also ranks as the longest well of any kind by a rig off Norway, says Åsgard drilling superintendent Trond H Eilertsen.
The well descends about 4,000 metres vertically. Drilling a designer well involves changing direction in three planes during the operation.
After initially proceeding directly down, the well is deviated on a particular heading. It then makes a turn immediately above the reservoir to become horizontal.
"We've utilised advanced but established drilling and well technology, and exploited these solutions to the limit," explains Mr Eilertsen.
"Drilling the well in this way allows us to penetrate the reservoir from a desired direction in order to achieve optimal production."
Drilled from Transocean Arctic, the Åsgard well took 70 days to complete - 15 days faster than expected.
Statoil has drilled four wells longer than 6,000 metres on this field over the past two years. They all rank among the longest executed from a rig off Norway.
Two were done by Transocean Arctic, while Transocean Winner and Transocean Searcher have been responsible for one each.