Coiled Drilling

Nabors has built its reputation innovating and deploying rigs for some of the world’s most technically challenging conditions.

Since 1962, Nabors has conducted drilling operations in Alaska, when it was involved in the state’s first commercial drilling operation. The company later drilled both the discovery and confirmation wells in the giant Prudhoe Bay Field. Based on its 50-year history of successful operations in the closely regulated North Slope of Alaska, Nabors has designed, manufactured and operated specialized, high-specification rigs engineered for Arctic conditions.

Capable of drilling up to eight laterals from a single wellbore, Nabors’ unique coiled tubing/stem drilling rig, CDR2-AC, was designed to help a major operator more effectively work over old wells and boost production in Alaska’s Kuparuk field. The CDR2 rig design allows all equipment, including the entire coiled tubing string, to maintain proper warmth and eliminate freeze-up, while protecting rig crews from the harsh Arctic environment.

In designing for the environment, Nabors took into account the effect transporting the rig modules would have on the North Slope road system. Lighter construction materials were used to reduce the weight of the modules and to avoid breaking through the frozen road surface.

Since the deployment of CDR2-AC in 2009, the same customer contracted with Nabors to build another identical coiled tubing/stem drilling rig, CDR3-AC, which began operations in the Kuparuk River Unit in late 2016.

Nabors continues to specialize in designing custom rigs to address the unique challenges inherent in specific drilling applications like those required in the Arctic, the desert and unconventional shale plays.

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