Drilling Mud Spills from Transocean Barents Off Newfoundland and Labrador

The drilling rig Transocean Barents is designed to operate in tough environments and at water depths of 3000 meters. Photo: Transocean

Drilling has been halted on the semi-subermisible drilling rig Transocean Barents after drilling fluid was spilled during operations off Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

The Transocean Barents is currently located in the Suncor Energy-operated Terra Nova Field located approximately 350 km southeast of St. John’s.

Suncor Energy reported that on April 27, 2018 approximately 28,000 liters of synthetic-based mud (SBM) was accidentally released from the Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU), Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board said on Twitter.

There were no injuries and no seabirds or marine life observed in the area.
The well is safe and drilling has been suspended as Suncor investigates the cause of the discharge.
The Canadian Coast Guard has been notified.

— C-NLOPB (@CNLOPB) April 28, 2018

The harsh-environment, ultra-deepwater floater Transocean Barents is carrying out a 15-month contract with Suncor Energy from August 2017 until October 2018, according to Transocean’s latest fleet status report.

Production from the Terra Nova field began in 2002 using the Terra Nova FPSO vessel. The field is comprised of a combination of producing wells, water injection wells and gas injection wells, with production from the Graben, East Flank and Far East blocks.