Since drilling began on the Grand Banks in the 1960s, Jack-up rigs – which are less mobile than semi-submersibles or drill ships, and require more time and stable weather conditions to demobilize – could not be used for both safety and environmental protection reasons due to the hazards from icebergs and pack ice.

Last year, C-NLOPB and C-CORE co-sponsored a workshop to share up-to-date findings about ice and the Grand Banks. A general theme emerged indicating that we now know much more about ice on the Grand Banks than we did just 20 years ago. Some of the information includes documenting the frequency of ice and icebergs on the Grand Banks.

Based on its own review of ice and iceberg frequency, the Board was ready to consider if rigs, other than semi-submersibles, might be able to operate on the Grand Banks, at least for part of the year. C-CORE was engaged to analyze the ice frequency data to identify an ice-free season. C-CORE analysed 44 years of ice data.

At the same time, the Board conducted its own review of Jack Up rigs to ensure the rigs were capable of meeting safety and environmental conservation regulations and that the new generation of Jack-Up rig was capable of withstanding weather and water conditions common to the Grand Banks.

Results of this review indicated that advancements in the design of jack-ups over the past 30 years meant these units are now a possible option. Modern, harsh environment, heavy weather jack-ups are capable of coping with the severe meteorological and oceanographic conditions in this region. They are typically capable of operating in water depths up to 125 meters or more depending on the type of unit and the design requirements of a proposed area of operations.

The Board concluded that jack-up operations should be limited to the non-iceberg/pack-ice season. The C-CORE report provides general parameters; however, a key aspect to this new policy is that, each proposed drilling program will be reviewed using the current year’s ice conditions. Moreover, while ice plays a role determining when a program begins, weather patterns – fall and winter storms – will play a role determining when a program ends.

The combination of better knowledge of ice conditions and ice management, combined with technological advances in the rigs mean operators in the Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Area now have additional options when planning drilling programs