Maiden voyage for Claxton’s ‘WellRaizer’ modular conductor recovery system

31/05/17

Claxton, a leading supplier of engineering and services for shallow water, jack-up depth markets in subsea services group Acteon, has deployed its new WellRaizer^® modular conductor recovery system to support the rigless recovery of seven abandoned wells on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

WellRaizer has been designed, engineered, and developed by Claxton to allow the recovery offshore of oil and gas conductor pipe and casing of up to 36 inch in diameter, without the use of a jack-up rig or platform-based drilling derrick.

The recovery system offers a safe working load (SWL) lifting capacity of up to 300 metric tonnes, provided by hydraulic cylinders with a dedicated hydraulic power unit, and can recover pipe in 40ft lengths. This high lift capacity has also been designed to skid efficiently in both the ’X’ and ‘Y’ axes between each well slot under its own power.

Matt Marcantonio, R&D manager, Claxton, said: “With the launch of WellRaizer Claxton is now able to bring severance and recovery all under one roof. We believe this capability is a first of its kind for the industry and means we can offer a full solution rather than just a one-off service to our customers.

“The WellRaizer recovery system comprises of both a static and travelling elevator which grip the tubular sections via two powered slip packages. The unit also incorporates material handling cranes to remove reliance on the main crane for smaller operations and has been developed to meet design codes for this campaign and safety standards for work on the Norwegian Continental Shelf including: NORSOK Z-015, NORSOK R-002, API 4F, API 8C, DNV 2-7.1, and DNV 2-7.3.”

WellRaizer can importantly also facilitate Safe Systems of Work (SSOW) procedures. For operations, this includes providing a safe area for technicians during the efficient deployment of products like the Claxton SABRE™ subsea abrasive cutting system, used in downhole cutting, drilling and pinning operations.

Marcantonio added: “Through its maiden voyage, we looked at maximising time savings at every stage, whether prior to mobilisation onshore, achieving a safer operation whilst mitigating risks offshore, or providing the multi-skilled staff who now run more efficiently both WellRaizer and the subsea abrasive cutting system SABRE.”

Rigless platform well abandonment is just one of the many services Claxton can offer to reduce the cost of your decommissioning project. Learn more about Claxton’s decommissioning services.

–ENDS–