This article, written by Technology Editor Dennis Denney, contains highlights of paper SPE 98945, "World-Record ERD Well Drilled From a Floating Installation in the North Sea," by A. Hjelle, SPE, T.G. Teige, SPE, K. Rolfsen, K.J. Hanken, SPE, and S. Hernes, SPE, Statoil, and Y. Huelvan, Schlumberger, prepared for the 2006 IADC/SPE Drilling Conference, Miami, Florida, 21–23 February. Well 34/8-A-6 AHT2 was drilled from the Visund field floating production and drilling unit (FPDU) in the North Sea with initial production in October 2005. The well was drilled to 9082 m measured depth (MD) and has an along-hole depth of 7593 m. Introduction The Visund oil/gas field is 150 km offshore the west coast of Norway in a water depth of 335 m. The field was discovered in 1986, with first production in 1999. The depth of the main reservoir is 2900 to 3000 m true vertical depth (TVD), with a maximum pore pressure of 434 bar. The field is 24 km long and 4 km wide. With this field shape, extended-reach-drilling (ERD) wells drilled both to the north and to the south will increase drainage area and thereby the total recovery from the field. The Visund FPDU is centrally located over the field. The Visund North satellites consist of two wells tied back to the FPDU with a 9-km-long subsea pipeline. In the early preplanning phase, the subject well was planned as a separate subsea development, drilled by a separate semisubmersible rig. A new technical and economical study showed that this well could be drilled more economically from the existing Visund FPDU, through existing subsea systems. Fig. 1 shows the well profile. Planning Phase The planning phase of this well was performed by use of the continuous-improvements model (Fig. 2). The first plan recommended drilling for a separate subsea-development well. After gaining experience, it was decided that the well could be drilled from the Visund FPDU. The drilling plan was completed together with a separate risk document covering critical events that could be identified before drilling the well. This risk identification process was performed in a workshop together with the service companies and the drilling-contractor personnel working on the Visund field. The detailed rig procedures that were to be used on the rig floor also were prepared onshore in the same type of workshops. This proved to be a good way of building a committed team and identifying risks and parallel activities that could be prepared before the operation. Peer assist and review were performed on this well to ensure that relevant experiences were included in the planning phase. After the well was completed, a final well meeting was held with the involved service companies ensuring that relevant experiences were recorded for the next well.