CRP Subea wins contract for Shell’s Whale deepwater development
CRP Subsea secured a contract with Shell for the supply of crushable foam wrap (CFW) for the Whale deepwater development, 200 mi south of Houston in the US Gulf of Mexico.
The initial order is for one well-set, with additional orders for four more well-sets expected throughout 2025. Each well-set comprises 1,798 CFW quadrants, each 1 m in length. The package also includes installation equipment, such as adhesive (one tube per two quadrants), adhesive dispensing guns, tie wraps and spanset straps.
CFW is an engineered syntactic foam, comprised of a thermoset resin and hollow glass microspheres (HGMS). It is designed to be installed around the inner drill casing, which is then immersed in the annulus fluid.
As pressure within the annulus increases, the CFW will collapse at a pre-determined pressure and temperature combination, as dictated by well conditions. This controlled collapse allows for the expansion of annulus fluid, dispersing potentially destructive pressure build-up.
