Europe

OWI MED 2022 is back as a live event after last year’s inaugural virtual launch. The conference will be held in Athens, Greece, on 20 September 2022. The hottest talking points within the Mediterranean and North Africa region, along with the latest well intervention intelligence from the region will be discussed at the event.

One of the key discussions at the conference will be learning how implementing new digital systems can result in more cost-effective and efficient well intervention and integrity processes. Operators can explore preventative maintenance efforts which can mitigate potential problems such as corrosion.

Contributing to this topic, will be Mustafa Adel Amer, well integrity specialist from BAPETCO. He will throw light on well integrity management, right from a production obstacle to a production booster. Mustafa will review surface-controlled subsurface safety valve (SCSSV) failure statistics in BAPETCO over the period 2010 to 2018. Mustafa will also explain the assessment of risk of failing in SCSSV and analyse wells criteria to define safe well operation with failed SCSSV.

Mustafa will be holding a panel discussion on ‘value of well integrity in reducing methane emissions’. It will seek answers to what the global industry can do or is currently doing to bring down its methane emissions from oil and gas operations. The discourse will explore the role of well integrity to reduce methane emissions for existing wells still in production and analyse whether well integrity has an impact in reducing methane emissions in abandoned wells.

Reach out to the details below:

Joseph Watson
Project Manager
T: +44 (0) 20 3409 5720
e: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Seafarer, belonging to vessel-based subsea well construction and intervention services provider AKOFS, has just completed mobilisation for an upcoming three-well campaign as part of the five-year contract for well intervention for Equinor on Nowegian Continental Shelf (NCS).

The work has been performed at the Myklebust Yard in Norway. The OneTeam model implemented by AKOFS, was responsible for completing an intensive mobilisation without any serious safety incidents.

Following successful riser-less interventions since second half of 2020, Equinor and AKOFS have mobilised for a riser-based campaign using coiled tubing through an option in the contract. The AKOFS Seafarer has proven to be an extremely efficient vessel for riser-less interventions year round on NCS, thanks to its unique set-up, size and lay-out as well as the OneTeam model implemented by AKOFS and its operating partners Archer, WellTec and IKM Subsea. Utilising its flexibility, a high pressure work-over riser system has now been mobilised and added to the vessel together with a coiled tubing spread and fluid return treatment system.

The AKOFS Seafarer is now en-route to Equinor-operated fields Norne, Åsgard and Statfjord where well objectives will include scale, sand and debris removals, perforations as well as installation of plugs and screens.

Serica Energy plc, a British independent upstream oil and gas company with operations centred on the UK North, has provided an operations update outlining its successful well intervention campaign on the Bruce Field.

Serica’s first ever light well intervention vessel (LWIV) campaign, part of the company’s ongoing plan to add value and extend the life of its Bruce facilities, has now concluded without any safety incidents or environmental issues.

The initial well (Bruce M1) was re-entered for the first time since 1998 and, after a successful scale removal and water shutoff, a significant reperforation and new perforation campaign was executed with the well returned to production.

Rates from the well have since increased from around 400 boe/d before intervention to more than 1,800 boe/d.

A similar programme was followed on the second well (Bruce M4) and production rates for the well increased from around 450 boe/d to more than 2,400 boe/d. The results from these two wells are at the upper end of the range of expectations and it is expected that there will be an uplift to independently assessed reserves.

This programme has increased confidence that further uplift can be achieved from future well interventions. Subsequently, plans to perform similar interventions on other Bruce and Keith wells, both subsea and from the platform, are now being accelerated.

Serica’s production performance in 2022 is benefitting from the significant investment in the Rhum R3 well reintervention, the Columbus development project and now the LWIV campaign. Serica’s average net production in July has averaged over 29,150 boe/d and YTD average net production is 26,832 boe/d.

Mitch Flegg, Chief Executive of Serica Energy, commented, "I am delighted with the significant progress that Serica has continued to make during 2022. The impact of the substantial investment programmes undertaken in the last three years has seen increased production levels providing responsibly sourced gas to the UK domestic market, protecting security of supply, and reducing the UK’s reliance on imports as part of the transition to a lower carbon future.

“Serica has no debt, limited decommissioning liabilities and with growing cash reserves is well positioned to continue to invest in further projects and other opportunities to add shareholder value. We have just completed a well intervention campaign on Bruce that has boosted net production by over 3,000 boe/d and provides further evidence of the value in Serica’s assets that can be realised through measured and expert operatorship.

“Operations have also commenced on the North Eigg exploration well with potential for transformational results, while we are now accelerating further well intervention work on Bruce and Keith following the success of the recently completed campaign.”

Well decommissioning specialists Well-Safe Solutions have signed an agreement to plug and abandon (P&A) 14 wells on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS).

The deal is the first scope agreed for the Well-Safe Defender semi-submersible rig, which the company purchased in June 2022. The project, for an undisclosed value, will see the rig mobilising in March 2023 for approximately 250 days of work.

Neil Ferguson, Operations Director at Well-Safe Solutions, said, “This is a very exciting time for our teams, with a little over a month between Well-Safe taking ownership of the Well-Safe Defender and the signing of this contract with our latest client.”

According to the company, the Well-Safe Defender is currently undergoing a host of efficiency enhancements as part of its integration into the business as well as the completion of its recertification ahead of mobilisation in March 2023.

Gavin Robinson, Commercial Manager at Well-Safe Solutions, said, “We are delighted to assist our client, a leading European operator, with meeting their decommissioning obligations on these historic fields. Like the Well-Safe Guardian and Well-Safe Protector, the Well-Safe Defender is a dedicated decommissioning asset converted from a drilling rig. Clients benefit from a greatly reduced carbon footprint and quicker mobilisation times as a result, as no virgin steel is required for a new-build rig.”

“In addition to the clear economic benefits of this approach, we expect this work to generate approximately 60 new positions offshore, with several supporting roles also required onshore. This will take the total estimated headcount in Well-Safe to 330 people in early 2023,” Gavin added.

The contract announcement is the latest in a summer of growth for Well-Safe Solutions, which previously announced a well decommissioning contract with Ithaca Energy as well as a capital funding boost of more than US$59mn (£50 million) by new and existing investors.

Allseas has celebrated yet another major offshore milestone after completing the removal of Repsol Norge’s 30,000 tonne Gyda platform in a matter of days.

Pioneering Spirit delivered the platform’s jacket to Asker Solutions’ disposal yard in Stord, Norway, less than 48 hours after removing it from the southern Norwegian Sea. The latest job for vessel’s jacket lift technology is one of the heaviest ever, but well within the 20,000 tonne lift capacity.

The jacket was set down directly onto the quayside and reunited with it decommissioned drilling and production topsides. Aker Solutions expects to recycle around 98% of the facilities.

Split across two campaigns, Pioneering Spirit completed the removal, transport and load-in to the disposal yard of the entire Gyda platform, its 32 conductors and template in 12 days.

To facilitate removal of the jacket, the structure’s 24 foundation piles were cut below seabed level. Main hoist blocks suspended from the Jacket lift system (JLS) beams were connected to pre-installed rigging and the entire structure lifted and aligned with the lifting beams. As the jacket was vertically fabricated and installed, the structure could not sustain loading in the horizontal position during transport.

The solution of transporting the jacket in a near-vertical (60%) position, with interface supports and grillage made delivery of the complete jacket to the yard possible. Pioneering Spirit only requires days in the field to remove entire platforms and subsea facilities, eliminating the need for multiple trips and a support fleet. Saving time and reducing vessel operations to a minimum significantly reduces the vessel’s emissions footprint.

“Our mission at Allseas is to remain a frontrunner in the offshore energy market by pioneering ground-breaking technology to meet the industry’s ever-changing needs,” said Allseas President Edward Heerema. “The Gyda platform removal strengthens our reputation as a game changer in the industry. Again we have shown that Pioneering Spirit provides a significantly faster, safer, more efficient and sustainable option for the removal and installation of offshore facilities.”

The world’s largest construction vessel will now mobilise for further heavy lift commitments. These include further jacket removals, as well as installation of a major offshore wind transmission station and jacket in the German North Sea that will supply clean electricity to tens of thousands of homes.

In what has been a busy year for Pioneering Spirit, the vessel has already lifted and transported more than 90,000 tonnes of decommissioned and new offshore facilities for the offshore energy industry in 2022, deploying both its Jacket lift and Topsides lift systems.

To fill a glaring gap in the decommissioning market, Voll Marintek Limited is pioneering the HWU-150 Lean Machine, a dual jack lifting system with key advantages over rigless operations and MDR to deliver significant cost, risk and climate benefits for the industry.

Dennis Vollmar, CEO of Voll Marintek Limited, spoke to Offshore Network to discuss his innovative solution in detail and explained how he identified this opening in the market.

“So we realised there was a gap by knocking on doors really. We had deep interactions with different operators, service providers and contractors and realised there was space for something new.

“It comes down to knowing well conditions. Wells which are coming to the end of their life are usually decades old and in this time the way data is collected has changed. In many cases you don’t even know which revision is the most updated one. In these cases, you have two options: either a customised approach with the deployment of specialised workover units for each subtask or use a rig.”

There are drawbacks to both. In the former, rigless workover units require intensive planning, a detailed knowledge of well integrity and, due to their simplicity and dependency on crane support, they are highly vulnerable to unforeseen events and weather conditions. Rigs on the other hand have more capacity and can simplify the planning and execution phase, but generally have a very high spread cost and carbon footprint.

Voll Marintek, therefore, has developed the Lean Machine, a multipurpose unit to fill the void between these two options.

“The Lean Machine is basically a hybrid solution between a hydraulic workover unit (HWU) and a modular drilling rig (MDR). It combines the main features of a HWU such as fast assembly, lightness, compactness and only requires a small footprint in addition to the benefits of MDR such as drilling, milling, making pipe connections respectively handling different pipe types conventionally and in a safe manner.”

The dual jack lifting system is a modular adaptable multipurpose unit which has the capacity to be upgraded with additional features so that it can be customised for each project and adapted to various interfaces. It consists of different modules designed to cover a specific P&A task which can be stacked on top of each other, extending the previous operational envelope of the complete system (this is called ‘The Happy Meal’). This means it can be upgraded with existing modules at the offshore location to perform sequential tasks instead of mobilising specialised equipment for each subtask or oversized workover rigs.

The operator can choose the options required based on additional costs for each contingency as desired always keeping integrated costs in mind. Importantly, the compactness of the 10 ft container footprint and the lightness of each module (around 12 mt) allow its assembly on a skid beam substructure, heave compensation platform or in a derrick structure of an existing rig.

Explaining the benefits of the system, Vollmar commented, “Cost and risk are the main drivers here. When looking at costs for an operation you want to see exactly the expenditure that will be incurred. Often this is not possible without an extensive preparation phase and even then unforeseen circumstances can occur – which is why rigs are often used.

“What we are doing is to see how we can make the whole process lean. So when you know the potential work scopes you need to perform you can configure the machine to it but, if you have the eventuality of making adaptations (maybe to enhance the operational envelope or even downsize it), you can do that in the field and this is where costs can be significantly reduced.”

Vollmar claimed that the deployment of the modular adaptable unit to tackle challenges within the P&A and decommissioning space will enable the highest potential cost savings available. The faster pipe recovery system alone allows cost savings of US$1mn per well based on a five day execution phase reduction. A global operator has already performed a preliminary total cost analysis in comparison to conventional solutions and identified a cost reduction above 30% for his 100 well campaign.

The high cost of a rig is also mirrored in its high carbon footprint, a somewhat neglected but increasingly pressing concern for the oil and gas industry. HWU’s of course have an advantage here, but poor weather, unforeseen events and the mobilisation of additional equipment to cover all P&A phases can bring down operational efficiency and extends the time duration for a P&A campaign– which is not a problem for the Lean Machine.

Mounting market interest

While still at the start of its journey, the Lean Machine is already attracting attention and suitors which is driving it steadily towards commercialisation.

“The interest in regard to decommissioning is operators who see themselves as delay asset management companies and want to change or look at game changers to reduce the cost of decommissioning,” Vollmar remarked.

“There is also interest beyond decommissioning in production enhancement, for example. As the oil and gas prices increases, we need to look at solutions which reduce costs and simplify the process. Usually, you can collect wells with the same well challenges which only require wireline (for example) for a campaign. Then you need to get a certain threshold to justify the costs to mobilise other equipment. Our approach gives you the advantage as it is multipurpose and has all this included. You can combine now all the different well interventions and justify the cost much easier, which obviously increases the recovery factor of mature fields.” The wide application range simplifies wireline, side track drilling, coiled tubing, ESP runs, conductor pulling, life well interventions or slot recovery operations. On top, the dual jacking system reduces operational time by almost 40% and its offering a hoisting capacity up to 250mt.

For the next steps on its promising journey, Voll Marintek will be conducting a FEED study in September 2022 for which they have been granted a significant grant by Innovate UK. The company will look at different potential well designs which would require P&A and test the technical, commercial and operational feasibility of the Lean Machine against them. Over the course of the study, further engineering and optimisation of the solution will be undertaken.

“We are already receiving interest from operators to manufacture the system and offer it at a rental rate. The idea here would be we manufacture the system, rent it out and then provide maintenance and support when needed,” surmised Vollmar.

While Europe is the launch pad, it is clear that Vollmar has no intention of shackling his ambitions to this region, but instead envisioned the Lean Machine being rolled out across the globe.

“This solution has been developed through niche market research and I looked at a lot which are not currently provided for with a sufficient solution. For example, Australia and Brunei have a lot of wells in four to five metres water depth which you cannot enter with normal jackups. So you need to engineer something which is light, compact and could be added to any vessel of opportunity. But, at the same time, you don’t want to make any large vessel modification. So companies have been looking at lift barges to put a cantilever on but this is not economical or would only be so with a contract for 5-10 years as, again, you need to make modifications. It would be much easier to have something light and compact which could be put on top of the wellheads and even deployed by a jacking barge (or between two).”

“In Asia and Africa, people did not really think about workovers and so you often find wells with a production facility incredibly close. Workover equipment is only feasible if you look really deeply into interfaces and have the time and resources to do it. The Lean Machine could really help here and can be easily adapted depending on how much space is available at location.”

While it was clear that Vollmar is very much ready to take on the world with the Lean Machine, for now it is time to build the foundations. After the start of the FEED study, the next steps for Voll Marintek will be building alliances, manufacturing and testing and field trials before commercialisation – currently targeted in 2024/25. Without doubt, however, there will be many in the industry following this progression with great interest.

THREE60 Energy, a leading independent energy service company offering complete asset life cycle solutions, has acquired Fraser Well Management, a well and pipeline operator and well management specialist, in order to strengthen its wells credentials.

THREE60 Energy will become one of only two companies that can undertake the role as outsourced duty holder (installation operator), pipeline operator and well operator across the asset life cycle, further positioning the company as a strategic services partner.

Fraser Well Management’s services span the complete well lifecycle, both onshore and offshore, with comprehensive end-to-end well and pipeline operator solutions provided to customers across the world. The company also provides well management, decommissioning, specialist engineering, and commercial services, with sustainability as a key operational consideration.

All of Fraser Well Management’s personnel will transfer to the THREE60 Energy team.

Walter Thain, Group CEO at THREE60 Energy, commented, “The capabilities and expertise that Fraser Well Management has accumulated will greatly benefit the integrated solutions we offer our customers throughout the asset life cycle. We are immensely proud to have our new team members join THREE60 Energy, as we can continue to provide better energy together.

“As we continue to transition into sustainable and renewable energies alongside traditional means of energy production and storage, there has never been a more pertinent time to invest in the future of our business and our place in the energy supply chain.”

Lasse Hermansson, Managing Director at THREE60 Energy Norway, added, “The breadth of transferrable knowledge across THREE60 Energy is crucial for capitalising on the synergies across disciplines, and the addition of Fraser Well Management’s skills and people will greatly add to our expertise.

“This not only enhances our UK capabilities, but provides additional competencies and services to our Norwegian and global business. We are extremely excited about the acquisition and see a great cultural and collaborative fit with the excellent team at Fraser Well Management.”

Nick Ford, Managing Director at Fraser Well Management, remarked, “We have watched the rapid and sustained growth of THREE60 Energy alongside our own development and can see the synergies that the integration of Fraser Well Management’s service offerings combined with that currently provided by THREE60 Energy will provide our clients better solutions to their energy needs. This deal is a natural progression for our services and people, as both can continue to grow and expand under THREE60 Energy.

“As late life, CCUS and decommissioning play an ever more significant role, we are proud to be part of THREE60 Energy Group as the company delivers in these key areas.”

Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC (TAQA), an integrated utility company in the Europe, the Middle East and Africa region, has announced  the completion of safe and successful removal of the Brae Alpha West drilling rig and the Brae Bravo upper main jacket in the northern North Sea.

The operation, which was the latest in TAQA’s extensive UKCS decommissioning programme, involved the removal and transport of more than 12,000 tonnes of material from the Brae field in the UK North Sea.

The HAF Consortium, Heerema Marine Contractors and AF Offshore Decom, were contracted to execute the operation on behalf of TAQA.

The Heerema-operated Sleipnir semi-submersible crane vessel first removed the 1,000 tonne Brae Alpha Rig 1, in a single lift on 20 June.

Sleipnir then moved to Brae Bravo to remove the 11,000-tonne upper main jacket. This forms part of TAQA’s decommissioning obligations and follows the removal of the Brae Bravo topsides modules and flare bridge, jacket and tower last summer – one of the largest topsides removals in the UK North Sea.

Both Rig 1 and the Brae Bravo jacket have been safely offloaded at the AFOD Environmental Base in Vats, Norway, and are being processed with the aim of reusing or recycling 95% or more of the material, which is expected to be completed in 2023. The entire operation was successfully completed with zero health and safety incidents.

Donald Taylor, TAQA Managing Director for Europe, commented, “TAQA’s extensive late-life portfolio positions us at the forefront of decommissioning in the UK. By adopting valuable lessons learned during last year’s successful Brae Bravo topside removal campaign, we are continuing to develop our skills and capabilities supporting the transition from operations to removals and disposal.

“The coming years offers some of the most interesting challenges and opportunities for our workforce and wider industry. TAQA is proud to pioneer this change while maximising the value of our assets and playing a valuable role in the energy transition.”