Offshore Drilling

Canada is renowned for its expertise in cold-water and ice engineering - dealing with ice, fog, high seas and frigid waters. The expertise of Canadian engineers is being applied to projects worldwide, as well as in Canada's offshore. In particular, drilling equipment has been developed to deal with the hazards of icebergs. On the offshore drilling platforms, emergency response procedures are in place for the special hazards of operating in frigid waters.

• The production well for West White Rose is among the most complex to date in the region and is characterized by a hairpin turn and a long horizontal section with a total distance of more than 5.5 kilometres. The well will allow Husky to reach the West White Rose satellite field from existing infrastructure at its Central Drill Centre, resulting in significant cost savings.
• One of the world's largest semi-submersible rigs, Eirik Raude, is a major contributor to Canada's deepwater drilling program. An exploratory well completed in 2007 was one of the deepest targeted wells at that time at 7 400 metres.
• Canadian engineering specialists are operating one of the country's first harsh environment semi-submersible drilling rigs, the Henry Goodrich. The rig was modified for East Coast operations and can now drill to 9 000 metres.