According to sources with the project, marine contractor Stolt Offshore is studying whether such heavy-duty rigs will be required to drill vertically into the sea bottom as part of an effort to excavate a trench for laying the 47 kilometre, 30 inch diameter pipeline and an eight kilometre, 24 inch lateral.
Drilling vertically into the seabed will be the first phase of work attempted offshore in October 2002, either off Stolt's derrick/pipelay barge DLB 801, from another barge or by a jack-up rig.
Project
