Early design decisions and robust qualification of subsea connectors can fundamentally impact the long-term integrity of subsea pipelines, warns Lloyd’s Register (LR), in a new study for the Norwegian Ocean Industry Authority (Havtil).
The report “Integrity of Connectors in Pipelines and Subsea Systems” provides an updated basis of experience for assessing the integrity of welded and mechanical connectors in pipelines and subsea facilities, highlighting how the right choices early in the design phase are crucial for safe and responsible operations throughout the entire service life.
Pipelines and subsea facilities are critical components of offshore energy production, connecting fields to processing and export infrastructure while operating in some of the world's most demanding environments. Ensuring their structural integrity throughout decades of service remains a key challenge for operators and regulators alike. The integrity of connectors in pipelines and subsea systems is critical for the safe and continuous operation of offshore infrastructure. Common failure modes for subsea connectors include leakage, material failure, mechanical failure, and corrosion, with leakage identified as the most frequent failure mode.
Drawing on industry data, LR maps common fault mechanisms and performance trends, concluding that decisions taken at the design stage have a direct impact on failure risk throughout an asset’s life. Operators need to ensure that connector design and qualification processes are sufficiently robust for such critical components.
Comprehensive qualification provides confidence in the integrity of the connector throughout service life, while early involvement of the original equipment manufacturer can support life extension by validating key design assumptions and performance limits.
The report makes the following recommendations to enhance the integrity and reliability of subsea connectors:
• Collaboration with manufacturers: Engage with connector manufacturers to leverage their expertise in identifying potential failure modes and developing mitigation strategies. Manufacturers can provide valuable insights into the design, qualification, and maintenance of connectors.
• Regular inspections: Establish a robust inspection regime, in collaboration with manufacturers, that includes regular visual inspections, cathodic protection surveys, and postinstallation testing to detect and address potential issues early.
• Life extension assessments: Conduct life extension assessments for connectors approaching the end of their design life. This should include evaluating the condition of the connector, the loads it has been subjected to, and its compatibility with the transported fluids. Particular attention should be made towards components which are a single point of failure for the connector.
Sean Murray, Global Technical Authority – Pipelines and Subsea at Lloyd's Register, said, “Subsea systems are expected to perform safely and reliably for many years in challenging operating conditions. The choices made during design have a lasting impact on their integrity and long-term performance.
“This project consolidates industry experience, operational data, and failure insights to support improved risk-based decision-making across the lifecycle of subsea assets. It highlights that, while subsea connectors generally demonstrate high reliability, their performance is strongly dependent on robust design, manufacturing quality, installation control, and rigorous qualification.
“By better understanding how different connector solutions perform in service, operators can make more informed decisions that enhance safety, reduce risk and improve through-life reliability of these critical components.”
Steffen Andreasen, principal engineer at Havtil, added, “Sharing experience and knowledge across the industry is key to reducing risk and improving structural safety. This study highlights how the integrity of subsea connectors depends on robust design, qualification, and integrity management, which together are essential for maintaining safe and reliable operations throughout the lifetime of subsea infrastructure.”
The inaugural Offshore Network D&A 2026 Awards, in partnership with CODA, will shine the spotlight on the projects, technologies and individuals helping to shape the future of decommissioning across Australia and the wider region.
With decommissioning activity continuing to develop across the region, the awards provide an opportunity to recognise the people and organisations finding new ways to improve efficiency, safety, sustainability and value throughout the lifecycle of offshore assets.
The award categories for 2026 include:
A judging panel full of industry leaders will decide who will where the crowns at this year’s ceremony, which will take place at the Crown Perth, 6100 Australia, on November 12th, 2026.
Guests will be treated to an evening of networking, entertainment, a three course meal, and the chance to raise a glass with the best in the industry.
Tickets to attend are available on the website.
Baker Hughes has won a significant award from bp to provide offshore stimulation services across the company’s UK North Sea operations.
Under the agreement, Baker Hughes will deploy a vessel-based stimulation solution, complete with its StimFORCE modular stimulation package to support well completions and production enhancement activities. The solution is designed to enhance operational reliability, minimise non-productive time and optimise recovery.
Executive Vice President of Oilfield Services & Equipment at Baker Hughes, Amerino Gatti, said, “By combining our vessel-based stimulation expertise, advanced intervention technologies and production optimisation capabilities, we are well positioned to help bp enhance reservoir performance, increase operational flexibility and unlock additional value from both new and mature fields across its North Sea portfolio.”
The dedicated vessel solution provides both schedule and operational flexibility, enabling stimulation activities to be executed efficiently.
Baker Hughes has a long-standing presence in the UK, helping operators optimise reservoir performance across the well lifecycle.
Wood, the engineering and consulting firm acquired by Sidara in March 2026, has outlined its role in maintenance and shutdown support in Australia’s Gippsland Basin, a region that supplies a large chunk of the country’s south-eastern gas demand.
For more than a year, it has provided services across the Gippsland Basin Joint Venture’s (JV) offshore assets in the Bass Strait and the Longford and Long Island Point facilities.
On July 1st, 2026, Woodside assumed operatorship of the Gippsland Basin assets from Esso Australia — Wood’s contract was first announced in January 2025.
In a recent article posted to its website — but drafted prior to completion of the Woodside operatorship — the consulting firm highlighted how a “strong alliance model” with Esso Australia was ensuring “reliable, value-driven maintenance across critical late-life assets.
”Every day in the Gippsland Basin, hundreds of Wood’s people – technicians, operators, planners, engineers and support staff — play a quiet but critical role in keeping Australia’s energy supply secure, it noted.
“The success of the Gippsland contract is grounded in an alliance model that brings Wood and the Gippsland Basin JV together as one team.”
Since 2020, it has also upgraded and modified key infrastructure through a diverse portfolio of onshore and offshore minor modification and major enhancement work.
Asset integrity management
Over 330 of Wood’s people — around 230 blue-collar and 100 white-collar — have become the engine room of safe and reliable operations, supporting the broader Esso Australia team across Gippsland’s mature assets.Focused on optimising operational performance, local personnel are responsible for planning and executing maintenance programmes with continuous improvement, the Wood article noted.
“Enhancing reliability, production and uptime are core drivers that guide our teams every day — and they work hard to do that while continually reducing risk, learning from experience and supporting Esso Australia’s expectations.
“From day one in January 2025, we ensured a seamless transition into the contract, completing all planned shutdowns safely and continuing to deliver value without operational disruption.”
Smarter maintenance strategies
With decades of production and thousands of hours of ongoing maintenance behind it, Gippsland is a basin with history.
According to Wood, a challenging mindset is needed to uncover optimal maintenance strategies that deliver reliability, and at pace.
“Our teams focus on compliance, prioritisation of critical maintenance and elimination of unnecessary work to strengthen operational performance, without compromising on safety,” the article added.
“Every improvement is driven by the people closest to the job — those identifying smarter ways to work, tightening processes and making sure that what gets done is what truly matters.
"By embracing rope access techniques to replace scaffold-heavy tasks, exploring drones for quick, efficient inspection and continuously challenging the status quo, we’re focused on finding better, safer, more efficient pathways forward."
As the JV’s assets move closer to eventual decommissioning, Wood concluded that its focus is to keep supporting the Gippsland assets with optimised, late-life maintenance that enhances production.
Norwegian technology company Control Cutter has appointed Steve Louis as Group Chief Commercial Officer and Managing Director of the US region.
In a LinkedIn post shared this week, Louis stated he “welcomes the opportunity to work with the talented team at our US facility in Broussard, Louisiana, and with my counterparts in Norway, the UK and Brazil.”
Louis continued, “I also look forward to the engaging with the many clients, subcontractors, and vendors who I have has the honour of working with over the last decade to address the growing decommissioning backlog in both the Gulf of America and Pacific.”
Louis joins the team with nearly 25 years of experience in offshore EPCI, subsea construction, and decommissioning, including senior leadership roles at TechnipFMC, Subsea 7, EMAS, and Promethean Decom. He is also the Chairman of the Offshore Network Decommissioning & Abandonment GOA Conference.
Bernt Arne Breistein, Group CEO of Control Cutter, said, "By combining the Group Chief Commercial Officer and Regional Managing Director roles in one position based in the United States, we put commercial decision-making closer to our customers while keeping strategies aligned across all our regions, the US, Norway, the UK, Brazil and beyond, as we grow. Steve's track record in decommissioning is exactly what this role calls for, and we are delighted to have him on board."
Control Cutter is a service provider which houses a portfolio of patented cutting tools for decommissioning, including conductors, casings, anchor chains, risers, umbilicals and flowlines. The company has bases in the UK, Norway, Brazil, and the US.
Offshore energy infrastructure across Australian waters is hurtling towards an unprecedented environmental and financial reckoning, yet regulatory safety nets appear ill-equipped to handle the fallout.
In a landmark ruling, the Federal Court has determined that fossil fuel giant Santos is not legally required to prove its financial capacity to clean up its ageing Reindeer gas infrastructure off Western Australia's Pilbara coast. The outcome of the legal challenge, brought against the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) and Santos by the Wilderness Society, has sparked fierce condemnation from conservationists and exposed severe regulatory gaps in national decommissioning frameworks.
Broken regulations and corporate liability
The Conservation Council of WA (CCWA) has labelled the court's decision a failure of process that leaves coastal ecosystems and public finances in acute jeopardy. Assessing the ruling, CCWA Executive Director Matt Roberts described the outcome as "of grave concern".
"This decision clearly shows that when it comes to regulating oil and gas corporations, Australia's laws are broken," Mr Roberts said. "In a judgement released on Friday, the Federal Court found that NOPSEMA was not legally required to be satisfied Santos had the financial capacity to clean up its ageing Reindeer gas field off the Pilbara coast."
Without statutory requirements demanding upfront financial guarantees before production concludes, operators can sidestep the monumental expenses of marine remediation.
“Our laws fail when they don't require multinational oil and gas corporations to take responsibility for cleaning up after themselves in our oceans. We've seen the failures of Australia's oil and gas decommissioning laws play out multiple times now," Mr Roberts stated.
A legacy of stranded maritime assets
The Reindeer verdict is not an isolated breakdown; it reflects a persistent pattern of abandoned liabilities across Australian waters, where corporate insolvency has repeatedly threatened public funds.
“Just last month, two companies, Pilot Energy and Triangle Energy both ceased trading, leaving a stranded asset sitting off the coast of Dongara in WA's Mid West, leaving a $200 million clean-up bill," Mr Roberts noted.
Highlighting earlier precedents, he added: “We've been here before, when Woodside offloaded its Northern Endeavour decommissioning liabilities to a company that went broke. After that debacle, the federal government said it would reform Australia's decommissioning laws, yet here we are, still waiting."
“By delaying these reforms any further, the government runs the risk of more unfunded liabilities and more stranded assets," he warned.
The scope of decommissioning by 2030
The volume of obsolete fossil fuel assets in Australian waters presents a critical logistical and ecological challenge as offshore infrastructure reaches operational retirement.
Mr Roberts pointed to official projections detailing the sheer magnitude of the work ahead:
"We have billions of dollars of oil and gas decommissioning work which will need to begin by 2030, according to the Department of Industry, Science and Resources."
“More than 5.7 million tonnes of material will need to be removed from our oceans nationally, with 89% of that infrastructure located in WA waters."
Urgent calls for legislative reform
To prevent the financial burden from shifting onto the public, environmental organisations are demanding comprehensive statutory overhauls and dedicated funding pools.
“We're calling on oil and gas companies to report on their liabilities project-by-project, to increase accountability and improve accuracy on cost estimates for decommissioning," Mr Roberts urged. "Oil and gas companies must be legally required to set aside dedicated, upfront clean-up funds now - not after they've already left, collapsed, or offloaded the liability onto a smaller player."
Leaving these obligations unaddressed carries severe ecological dangers. As Mr Roberts stressed, “Australian taxpayers and the marine life we all cherish are left vulnerable when corporations are allowed to leave toxic oil and gas assets to rot in our oceans."
"This disappointing legal outcome is yet another example of this process failing our communities, nature and the environment," he concluded. “This level of decommissioning work is a massive liability, and it's up to the government to make sure gas companies, not taxpayers, are the ones paying for the clean-up and the loopholes are closed to prevent the offloading of liabilities or delays.”
TAG Oil has updated its drilling plans in Egypt’s Western Desert after releasing its financial results for the six-month period ending 30 June, 2026.
The Canadian-listed company announced the start of the drilling of the T-200 well on 6 August, with hopes to complete work on schedule by 30 September.
This 4,250 metre vertical well is targeting the Abu Roash ‘F’ (ARF) formation, a naturally fractured reservoir at the location at the Badr oil field (BED-1).
After drilling and completion operations are completed by the end of September, the company said it expects to release well test results soon after.
In its results statement, during the three months ending June 30, 2026, TAG Oil reported that both BED-1 wells produced an average of 66 barrels of oil per day (bpd).
TAG is planning to use its expertise in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) techniques and apply horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracture stimulation to unlock the ARF reservoir potential in Egypt.
Crude oil sales delivered from BED-1 for the same period was 53 bpd, it added.The company, which has no debt, reported C$10.4 million in cash and cash equivalent and C$10.3 million in working capital, as of 30 June, 2026.
TAG Oil also reported “extended delays” in including additional exploration blocks into the Southeast Ras Qattara (SERQ) concession, which it added were beyond its control.
This has, in turn, delayed its commitment to resubmit a previously agreed proposal following enactment of a new law amending the concession terms.
In the meantime, the company announced that it is pursuing other open acreage opportunities in the Western Desert that are prospective for the unconventional ARF formation, with further progress updates to follow.
As well as developing the unconventional heavy oil ARF formation at BED-1 in the Western Desert, the company also hopes to explore the much larger SERQ concession.
According to TAG Oil, an independent reserves evaluation indicates the ARF target in BED-1 may contain more than 500 million barrels of oil in place and has a high probability for successful commercial development.
An independent volumetric assessment of SERQ indicates 3.2 billion barrels of oil in place.
Gone are the days of single-scope, piecemeal contracts ever since offshore operators have unravelled the cost and operational benefits of integrated services.
Synchronised delivery dramatically replaces the need for heavy-lift vessels mobilisation, making formidable end-of-life campaigns look like a cakewalk. Its also a win-win for both the operator and the integrated services provider as the former gets maximum price value even when the latter secures considerable profit as the sole provider with no other contractors to share the profits with.
An oil major with operations in the Gulf of America has selected Promethean Energy for the planning and execution of integrated offshore decommissioning work of a massive scale.
Ensuring cost and operational efficiency in late-life asset optimisation and offshore decommissioning, Promethean works in an integrated model that takes care of multiple aspects, including supply chain optimisation, operator-style planning, data-driven continuous improvement and intensive execution oversight. For this asset in the shallow water of the Continental Shelf of the Gulf of America that is nearing end of productive life, Promethean will deliver project management, engineering, regulatory coordination, contractor oversight, HSE management, and execution support. Danny Turner, Senior Vice President of Decommissioning will be spearheading a multidisciplinary team with roles across engineering, operations, regulatory, commercial and HSE.
The contract requires delivering a complex, multi-phase project spanning wells, facilities and subsea infrastructure in a safe manner, while navigating regulatory considerations. Regulations compliance, especially in decommissioning, is solid with overseers, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) now working as a combined entity -- Marine Minerals Administration (MMA) – within the Department of the Interior, US Coast Guard and relevant industry standards.
Five wells will be plugged and abandoned as part of the campaign, with two subsea pipelines needing abandonment as well. It will also apply for the removal of two offshore structures through to site clearance operations. While well decommissioning will begin this summer, offshore facilities removal activities will continue well into 2027.
“The selection of Promethean Energy reflects the confidence our clients place in our ability to safely execute complex offshore decommissioning projects while maintaining regulatory compliance and cost discipline,” said Martyn Fear, Chief Operating Officer of Promethean Energy.
“Our team brings extensive Gulf of America experience across wells, facilities and subsea infrastructure, supported by proven project excellence processes, a strong HSE culture and integrated data management systems that provide transparency across every phase of execution. We look forward to working closely with our client and our contractor partners to deliver this project safely, efficiently and responsibly.”
From introducing advanced technology for safe decommissioning executions to platform repurposing and everything in between, Promethean's activities in the Gulf of America run deep.
Zenith Energy Australia Pty Ltd has been selected to lead phase two of the Northern Endeavour decommissioning programme, Australia’s Department of Industry, Science and Resources confirmed in an 18th August, 2026 update.
“We have engaged Zenith to conduct planning, engineering and regulatory activities to plug and abandon the Laminaria and Corallina wells,” it noted.
Zenith is an independent well engineering and project management firm which has delivered offshore projects in the North West Shelf, Timor Sea, Perth Basin, Otway Basin and Bass Strait.
Phase two of the Northern Endeavour decommissioning focuses on six wells in the Laminaria field and two oil wells and one gas injection well at Corallina.
The Department said the programme would be conducted in two stages, to “help us complete works safely, efficiently and in compliance with regulatory requirements and industry best practice.”
Stage 1 will involve working with Zenith on:
• detailed project planning
• understanding and designing the engineering needs
• gaining regulatory approvals.The outcome of stage one will then determine whether to proceed with stage two, the Department said.
Stage 2 would involve plugging and abandoning the nine wells in line with regulatory approvals, including:
• installing permanent cement barriers at different depths in the wells
• pressure testing the barriers to make sure no fluid can flow to the surface
• removing well infrastructure above the seabed.
Separately, the Department also reported that Xodus Group would provide environmental services for phases two and three of the Northern Endeavour decommissioning programme.
It builds on the company’s experience providing technical assurance and advisory support during phase one work.
The company had confirmed its role in an earlier statement released on 3rd August.
The Department stated that Xodus Group will support environmental approvals for the next phases of the programme by providing technical assurance and advisory services; assisting to gain approvals under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999; developing regulatory approval documents and plans; supporting engagement with regulators; and providing implementation advice.
Xodus has partnered with Elemental Consulting Services who supported environmental approvals during phase one of the programme, the statement added.
PipeSense, a pipeline leak detection specialist, has expanded its capabilities to support offshore operations, following a successful project off the coast of Angola.
Working with a multinational operator, PipeSense deployed PipeScan, a pressure-pulse technology, to locate obstructions in two offshore pipeline networks. PipeSense’s team of experienced operators, engineers, and data scientists monitored a 20-inch natural gas pipeline and a 16-inch offshore crude and multiphase pipeline that was flooded with seawater.
With the natural gas pipeline, the company completed repeated pressure pulse testing to identify an obstruction approximately 11km downstream. For the second project, PipeSense installed instruments on both ends of the offshore crude and multiphase pipeline. Controlled pressure releases generated repeatable reflection signatures that identified the obstruction within approximately 700m of the launcher.
The projects highlighted how induced pressure pulse testing, high-speed pressure acquisition, and dynamic pressure wave reflection analysis can accurately determine obstruction location in offshore environments, all without interrupting normal pipeline operations or requiring specialised tools.
Josh Holmes, PipeSense’s VP of Business Development, said, “This project is a clear and concise demonstration that our approach to obstruction locating can provide a practical addition to the pipeline integrity toolkit for locating stuck pigs, hydrate plugs, debris, and other flow restrictions across a wide range of offshore pipeline applications.
Offshore and subsea pipeline operators undertake highly complex work every day to safely operate, maintain, and protect critical infrastructure in some of the world’s most challenging environments. This requires a continued focus on asset integrity, operational reliability, and the ability to identify and respond to changing pipeline conditions with confidence.
Our goal is to support operators in that mission by providing advanced technologies that deliver greater visibility into pipeline performance and help teams make faster, more informed decisions. Having demonstrated our capabilities across a range of onshore applications and complex flow conditions, we are excited to bring that experience into offshore and subsea environments. This project in Angola represents an important first step in what we believe will be a strong and exciting future supporting offshore operators around the world.”
Origin Energy has signed a multi-year deal that will see Pointerra’s cloud-based digital twin technology used to monitor approximately 750 km of gas transmission pipeline in Queensland — demonstrating how remote sensing and automated analytics can reshape the management of linear infrastructure.
The project was outlined in a blog written by Matthew James, VP of Business Development - Resources at Pointerra, and posted recently to the company’s website.
Pipeline operators have long faced a fundamental challenge: how to efficiently monitor hundreds or thousands of kilometres of geographically dispersed assets while maintaining visibility of changing conditions along the corridor, James noted in the blog.
“Reality capture technologies such as drones and LiDAR are making it possible to capture those environments in increasing detail. But capturing the data is only part of the equation. Turning large, repeated surveys into timely and consistent information that asset managers and engineers can use is where the operational value lies,” he said.
“That is the challenge Pointerra is addressing with its cloud-native digital twin platform, Pointerra3D.”
Pointerra commenced its multi-year programme with Origin Energy in July, which will deploy Pointerra3D as an enterprise pipeline monitoring and analytics solution across approximately 750km of Origin's gas transmission pipeline network.
The agreement followed a paid Proof of Concept that demonstrated how drone-acquired LiDAR and imagery could be processed and analysed through Pointerra3D to automate pipeline inspection workflows traditionally reliant on manual review and field-based processes.
Under the programme, Origin's pipeline network will be surveyed quarterly by drone, with Pointerra3D providing the digital environment connecting capture partners with Origin's asset managers and engineers, according to James.
Rather than treating each survey as an isolated dataset, the platform enables successive captures to form part of an evolving digital twin of the pipeline corridor.
This allows teams to identify and quantify changes between surveys and focus attention on areas requiring further investigation.
“Pointerra3D's Pipeline Monitoring Analytics Package provides automated data ingestion and QA/QC alongside analytics including terrain, vegetation and surface change detection; third-party interference detection; erosion volume quantification; depth of cover analysis; vegetation segmentation; encroachment analysis; and automated generation of points of interest,” said James.
“Analytics are targeted for delivery within 24 hours of receipt and validation of drone survey data, giving teams access to actionable information through a secure browser-based environment.”
This approach changes the role of reality capture from simply providing a record of asset condition to supporting repeatable monitoring and decision-making, he added.
“For owners of long linear assets, that distinction is significant. A pipeline corridor can extend across hundreds of kilometres of changing terrain, vegetation and land use. Manually reviewing large volumes of imagery and point cloud data is difficult to scale, particularly when surveys are repeated regularly.
“Automating that analysis allows asset teams to concentrate on identified changes, threats and exceptions rather than manually searching datasets for them.”
For Pointerra CEO and Co-Founder Ian Olson, the move from Proof of Concept into business-as-usual operations is an important demonstration of how automated spatial analytics can be applied to critical infrastructure.
“The Origin Energy contract is a significant milestone for the Company,” said Olson.
“It demonstrates the power of our disciplined PoC-to-BAU engagement model and validates the market demand for automated, cloud-native infrastructure asset monitoring solutions that reduce field exposure, improve compliance outcomes, and deliver actionable insights at scale.”
Gulf Marine Services, a provider of self-propelled, self-elevating support vessels, has announced a contract extension for one of its Small-class vessels operating in the GCC region
The extension, awarded by a major national oil company in the Middle East under an existing agreement, has added 183 days onto the current contract period, with two further three-month extension options also on the table.
The current backlog stands at US$659mn.
The extension will see the vessel continue to support the client’s offshore maintenance operations, and reflects the continued strength of demand for GMS’ vessels in the region.
Mansour Al Alami, GMS Executive Chairman, said, “We are delighted to have secured this extension, which reflects the confidence our clients continue to place in GMS to deliver safe and reliable support for their offshore operations. This extension further strengthens fleet utilisation, which remains central to delivery of our objectives.”
