GreenFire Energy Inc. and Stoic Transitional Resources have announced a pioneering collaboration effort for innovative geothermal energy solutions.
Through a cross-license agreement that covers GreenFire’s patented GreenLoop technology and Stoic’s patent-pending Flux Crossover, the companies will focus their efforts on repurposing existing oil and gas wells and non-productive geothermal wells to harness the potential of geothermal energy.
GreenFire’s Greenloop technology is a closed loop advanced geothermal system which provides solutions that assure the availability of resilient, sustainable and scalable geothermal energy for a range of applications, including power and direct use heating and cooling. The Stoic technology aims to enhance the GreenLoop performance.
Stoic’s Flux Crossover combined with the GreenLoop technology will enhance performance by optimising flow patterns, minimising parasitic heat loss and double heat transfer efficiency. The two companies announced a partnership last year for the development of geothermal projects through utilising abandoned wells in New Zealand and Canada.
Steven Brown, President of GreenFire Energy Inc., said, “We are pleased to be collaborating with Stoic Transitional resources. GreenFire Energy’s technology has the capability to economically repurpose idle geothermal wells and expand implementations in geothermal fields. Collaborating with Stoic’s technology will enhance performance and broaden GreenFire Energy’s solutions.”
Joe Tarrant, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer at Stoic, commented, “Our commitment extends beyond innovation to fostering sustainable partnerships and empowering communities. Stoic’s pioneering approach to clean energy aligns perfectly with our mission, emphasising the value proposition for data centre customers.”
With the race to a net zero future continues to heat up across the globe, more eyes are turning towards geothermal methods as a suitable alternative for energy. While the US continues to dominate the word stage when it comes to geothermal production, there is a giant lying under the surface across the Asia Pacific.
With Indonesia boasting a predicted capacity of 27GW, and both the Philippines and New Zealand ramping up their installed capacity year-on-year, APAC has become one of the key global players in the geothermal game, already producing 35% of geothermal generation worldwide.
However, the burning question that faces the region is do the myriad of issues presented by factors such as limited resources, a lack of governmental funding and a challenging topography to contend with mean that the colossal potential lying underground will have to remain as such, rather than be utilised as a fruitful source of energy?
As the majority of geothermal resources are associated with volcanic activity in high terrain, exploration projects become more challenging and require additional resources and infrastructure, such that the region may not have access to. Financial stability is also a crucial factor waging a war against the utilisation of geothermal energy throughout APAC as the resource is not necessarily a commercial viable option for many operators.
Nevertheless, measures are being put into place to mitigate against these challenges, with government policies changing to accommodate green energy funds and private sectors and investing higher sums into the industry, there is a hope of prosperous future.
The Asia Pacific Geothermal Transition Outlook attempts to analyse the key players within the region and outlines where the pitfalls and mitigations lay ahead of the inaugural GTS APAC 2024 conference in Jakarta from 9-10 July.
In a breakthrough exploration of 250mn-year-old granite in South China, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) has completed the drilling of Fushen-1 Well in Hainan.
At 5,200 m, it is the deepest geothermal exploration well in China.
Started in last August, the company notes this as a milestone reached in less than a year.
This has been made possible by Sinopec's deployment of several independently developed innovative technologies, including the combination of dual-drive drilling and high-pression injection, to reach the temperature limit of hot dry rock stipulated by the national energy industry standards, while forming the key technologies of detection and evaluation of deep geothermal resources.
Sinopec's next steps will include extensive research and field tests at Fushen-1 Well, building the first platform that brings together research, education, and experimentation of deep geothermal in South China. This will help formulate theoretical methods and technical systems applicable to the region, paving the path towards the country's 'Dual-Carbon' goal.
China's geological surveys have revealed that the hot dry rock geothermal resources within the range of 3 kms to 10,000 m underground in China's land area are equivalent to 856 trillion tons of standard coal. Every 2% of them equals 2,993 times the annual energy consumption of China in 2023. The country has an accumulated geothermal heating capacity of nearly 100 mn sq m with several multi-million-square-meter regional geothermal heating projects already built and in operation.
Contact has released a statement stating that its Tauhara project is likely to be online by winter this year, with an initial capacity of at least 152MW.
This comes as the company notes steady progress of the commissioning works at the Tauhara geothermal plant, post successful completion of remedial work to the steam separation plant.
Power station commissioning activities are all in place to start before it is synched to the system by early May. This will be followed by 30-day reliability run required to support commercial operations.
The company has acknowledged the project team's tireless contribution to deliver the Tauhara commissioning timeline and do justice to the project's worldclass standards. It considers the Tauhara geothermal project a part of Contact26, the company’s strategy to lead the decarbonisation of New Zealand.
Referencing the many mature offshore fields that are drawing ever-closer to retirement, Baker Hughes has published a 'Perspectives' article exploring why improving the cost for plug and abandonment is not only an industry opportunity but an industry imperative.
The article highlighted that, for the first time in history, a large proportion of offshore oil and gas infrastructure is now careening towards costly decommissioning as productivity wanes. According to Wood Mackenzie Lens data, by 2030 global decommissioning expenditure will hit an average of US$15bn a year, rising to US$25bn in 2035. Between 2021 and 2050, a staggering US$400bn will be spent.
Lorna Yuill, leader at Oil Field Services and Equipment (OFSE) Baker Hughes Growth Hub leader, said, “If we can properly support the well decommissioning phase, we can save our customers money while at the same time securing good outcomes for the environment.”
The team of OFSE Growth Hub has therefore sought to address this challenge and devise solutions to reduce the looming expense of decommissioning. One such envisioned answer is a Swiss Army-knife-life universal tool that can interface with virtually all vendor systems, offering advantages in terms of operators only having to deal with one supplier for one set of tools across a field of ageing wells.
“A customer might spend US$15mn on the single set of tools,” remarked Yuill, “but if they needed to go to four OEMs to decommission aging equipment across a field, they’d have to spend more than US$40mn on tools alone.”
She added that using just one set of tools to decommission the various components of any number of wells in a field, is more efficient, than having to use a variety of tools, and can therefore also reduce time spent on the decommissioning by between 30% and 50%.
View the full opinion piece from Baker Hughes, including real life examples of agnostic tooling being supplied, an exploration of how passive well monitoring systems can further help reduce costs and how the company is working to secure the safety of offshore decommissioning projects at: https://www.bakerhughes.com/company/energy-forward/aging-subsea-wells-brim-opportunity
Sapura Energy and Norway-based AF Offshore Decom launched their joint decommissioning venture called Kitar Solutions at OTC Asia 2024.
Sapura's strategic assets and AF Offshore Decom's extensive North Sea decommissioning expertise have resulted in Kitar Solutions, which will undertake decommissioning projects with a customised approach, while prioritising risk mitigation and sustainability.
Sapura Energy defines Kitar as a comprehensive suite of engineering, preparations, removal and disposal (EPRD) services that streamlines the decommissioning process, and reflects the company's dedication to advancing decommissioning techniques and promoting effective waste management and recycling.
Kitar Solutions boasts of unique capabilities from facility isolation and cleaning, removal and disposal of topsides, jackets and subsea structures, to engineering and verification surveys. It has dedicated zones for both ship disposal and offshore structure disposal, where installations can be dismantled, recycled and repurposed.
Offshore Network has released a free-to-download report outlining the developing prospects for the Asia Pacific’s offshore well intervention industry.
The wider energy sector is facing daunting challenges in the shape of increasing electricity consumption and the ever-increasing demand to limit environmental impact. While the rise of cleaner energy sources such as renewables appear unstoppable, there does, however, remain a place at the table for oil and gas, with fossil fuels set to continue to be an important component of the energy mix for the decades ahead. This trend is particularly pronounced in Asia, which is set to dominate global oil demand growth in 2024 and beyond.
While drilling has traditionally provided the answer to meeting growing demand, rising costs, uncertainty of success and environmental concerns are turning heads away from this activity and towards the potential of well intervention. The emergence of this is also being encouraged by the need for plugging and abandonment, a concern ever-growing in urgency as the region’s well stock continues to age. With market conditions opportune for well intervention to take centre stage, there remain some key challenges that must be overcome before it can fully step into the spotlight and fulfil its potential.
Offshore Network’s latest outlook assesses these key challenges such as collaboration and operator-service provider disharmony while examining the vast opportunities the region is offering.
Pertamina Geothermal Energy (PGE), an Indonesia-based company, has signed a Memorandum of Confidentiality Agreement with Turkish energy company Kipaş Holding to start a cooperation for the utilisation of geothermal energy.
The Indonesian Embassy in Ankara facilitated PGE’s efforts to seek cooperation in geothermal exploration with various companies throughout Türkiye. PGE and Kipaş Holding are both interested in carrying our exploration projects cooperatively in both Türkiye and Indonesia, and are open to the possibility of a joint investments elsewhere.
The signing of the agreement was carried out by Julfi Hadi, President Director of PGE, and Mehmet Şişman, General manager of Kipaş Holding, witnessed by the Indonesian Ambassador to Türkiye, Achmad Rizal Purnama.
“We are happy to have met with Pertamina Geothermal Energy and hope that the cooperation will be fruitful with an exchange of information and experience for geothermal energy sector improvement in both Türkiye and Indonesia,” commented Şişman.
Coretrax is set for further growth as the company has secured five multi-year contract wins for 2024 and plans to expand its footprint in the Asia Pacific region by a further 30%.
The latest deals encompass key milestones including the business’ first project win in Latin America and its first expandable casing patch deployment in the UAE.
Following a string of successful geothermal and carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects, Coretrax has secured its largest geothermal contract to date – a multi-year project in Denmark where it will deliver its Origin wellbore clean up technology across 17 geothermal wells.
John Fraser, CEO of Coretrax, stated, “We have experienced a period of sustained growth and are excited to be entering 2024 with a strong pipeline of work and plans for further expansion in the coming months. Our technology spans the entire well lifecycle which means we can support operators from drilling right through to the plugging and abandonment phase.”
The company is also expected to increase its 320-strong workforce by an additional 100 personnel across its bases in Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and the Americas.
“The coming 12 months will see us increase our headcount and footprint globally,” Fraser continued, “with Asia Pacific a particular focus for the business as we respond to increasing demand for our technology across countries including Australia, Brunei and Malaysia. We are also eager to extend our operations in the geothermal and CCS sectors with our circulation tools gaining a strong track record in these emerging markets.”
The contract wins come off the back of the company expanding its well intervention offering by acquiring a suite of new technology from Wireline Drilling Technologies.
Pertamina, an Indonesia state-owned oil and gas corporation, has revealed that it is exploring Rig-to-CCS (carbon capture storage) developments with Korea National Oil Company (KNOC).
The collaboration aims to repurpose offshore oil and gas platforms into CCS facilities and is being pursued through a joint study agreement. This was signed by Nicke Widyawati, President Director of Pertamina, and Dong Sub Kim, President & CEO of KNOC, in a bid to reduce emission and support net zero commitments.
“I highly appreciate this collaboration. Apart from enriching CCS studies, this collaboration also helps address Indonesia's challenges regarding abandonment and site restoration (ASR) of offshore platforms,” remarked Widyawati.
“The cost of conventional ASR or decommissioning is extremely high, necessitating an alternative ASR solution, especially reutilisation, in order to ensure the gradual and efficient implementation of ASR for these offshore platforms.”
Oki Muraza, the Senior Vice President of Research and Technology Innovation of Pertamina, added, “This collaboration could be extended to the development of Rig-to-Wind Farm, Rig-to-Fish-Farm, and Rig-to-LNG Terminal to transport natural gas to locations where energy facilities are yet to be established.”
Many companies are seeking to address the decommissioning challenge which is increasing in urgency. Click here to discover Offshore Network's unique report on the global decommissioning outlook.
Offshore Network’s newly released Global Offshore Decommissioning & Abandonment Report tracks the growing need for end-of-life activities that is becoming an increasingly pertinent issue across the world.
While decommissioning has its roots as far back as the 1960’s, it was only towards the end of the century, under mounting environmental sentiment, that national bodies and the community began engaging with the issue more acutely and discerning what this will mean for the industry’s future. Time and resources dedicated here have drawn the curtains further back, and the more that is revealed, the more daunting the decommissioning task has become.
In 2021, IHS Markit predicted that global offshore decommissioning spending could reach around US$100bn between 2021 and 2030, a staggering 200% increase compared to the previous ten-year period. In light of this, the information services provider asked whether the world was entering “a decade of offshore decommissioning” as it reacted to the data that suggested nearly 2,800 fixed platforms and 160 floating platforms could be decommissioned in that period, alongside more than 18,500 wellheads, 2,850 subsea trees and 80,000 km of offshore pipelines and umbilicals. Looking further ahead, the Energy Industries Council further predicted that this cost of decommissioning would continue to rise beyond that, hitting the US$200bn figure within the next 20 years.
Offshore Network’s unique report charts the rise of the decommissioning market across the globe, providing analysis on this within each of the key offshore oil and gas regions from the more mature regions of the North Sea and Gulf of Mexico, to those that are less far along in this journey such as West Africa.
PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy (PGE) has announced its cooperation with Chevron New Energies International (Chevron) and Mubadala Energy to embark on a Joint Study Agreement (JSA) to explore the geothermal potential in Indonesia.
The JSA aims to capitalise on the companies’ strengths and experience, namely bringing together PGE’s scale as the largest geothermal producing company in Indonesia, Chevron’s expansive capabilities as a multinational energy company committed to providing cleaner energy, and Mubadala Energy’s record in delivering reliable and efficient energy to the region while playing a continuous active role in the energy transition.
The agreement provides a comprehensive framework to conduct a joint study into developing the Kotamobagu Geothermal Working Area (WKP). The agreement falls in line with the Indonesian government’s recent announcement that the region will target an addition of 3.3 GW of installed geothermal capacity by 2030.
President Director of PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy, Julfi Hadi, said, “Our Joint Study Agreement this time aims to utilise the complementary strengths of the three parties in developing geothermal in Kotamobagu.”
Wahyu Budiarto, Chevron Indonesia Country Manager, commented, “This is Chevron’s fifith collaboration with Pertamina and we are excited about the addition of Mubadala Energy in the Kotamobagu WKP. We look forward to bringing into the partnership Chevron’s technical expertise and new geothermal technologies to explore renewable energy resources to support Indonesia’s energy transition goals.”
Mansoor Mohamed Al Hamed, CEO of Mubadala Energy, concluded, “With our track record of delivering strategic energy resources in Indonesia for over a decade, we are excited about this partnership with PGE and Chevron to explore the expansion of geothermal energy, an important segment of Indonesia’s clean energy growth ambitions. The opportunity to explore such projects is embedded in Mubadala Energy’s commitment to playing an active role in the energy transition as we continue to support Indonesia’s Net Zero targets.”
Page 4 of 10
Copyright © 2025 Offshore Network
