Monopod drilling platform with directional drilling

Abstract

Apparatus for providing directional drilling from an offshore drilling platform, the drilling platform being of monopod construction with a submerged base, a single vertical column extending up from the base and supporting a platform above the water, the column having a vertical moon pool extending downwardly from the platform and opening in the base. A conductor pipe for receiving a drill string from a drilling rig mounted on the platform extends from the platform through the moon pool, the conductor pipe curving in an arc. The conductor pipe is supported vertically at its upper end. The conductor pipe is supported at the lower end at a position displaced from the center of the moon pool. The upper and lower supports permit rotation of the conductor pipe about a common vertical axis, the radial displacement of the lower end of the conductor pipe from this axis due to the curvature of the pipe being adjustable.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.