Drilling the intermediate sections of six wells with low-toxicity oil-based mud (LTOMB) posed handling and disposal challenges for the cuttings, which can pose an environmental risk. Discharge to the environment is prohibited in the UK North Sea unless the solids contain less than 1% total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH). The operator needed an environmentally reliable cuttings solution to handle LTOBM cuttings at the rig site and eliminate shipping the waste to shore.

The M-I SWACO offshore thermomechanical cuttings cleaner treatment system and the CLEANCUT cuttings collection and transportation system were selected to address these concerns.