Classification rules aim to advance deepwater MPD applications

Over the past decade, managed pressure drilling (MPD) techniques have gained wider acceptance for deepwater applications. Their success is attributed largely to the ability of rotating control devices (RCDs) and other MPD pressure control technologies to create a closedloop drilling environment with instantaneous adjustment of backpressure. While MPD methods are relatively routine for drilling land and shallow-water wells that employ a surface BOP, the extension of MPD to deepwater applications has left many operators with questions about reliability, barriers, riser gas management (RGM) and general riser interface issues.