Phillips Petroleum Co. U.K. Ltd. began template drilling on the Judy and Joanne fields in Block 30/7a (J-Block) in May 1993, and progress has been remarkable. After a template was set by a jackup drilling rig, two 70-in. holes were drilled for docking piles, which were run and cemented in place. Batch setting of nine conductors was completed within 12 days. Drilling then proceeded at unprecedented rates, including drilling a world record 8,631 ft of 12 1/4-in. hole in 24 hours. This paper discusses the innovative engineering, design, cost-reduction, and teamwork philosophy that has seen the project progress ahead of schedule and significantly under budget.