Europe

Neil Greig, Sales Manager Helix well Ops (UK) Ltd, presented at the Offshore Well Intervention Mediterranean 2021 conference to highlight the capabilities of the Subsea Services Alliance and how these could be utilised in the Mediterranean.

Greig started the session by giving a detailed explanation on how intervention operations are performed from riser based vessels using dynamic positioning before adding that Helix has various intervention assets around the world capable of performing such work.

In areas such as the Gulf of Mexico the company tends to have heavier assets whereas closer to the Mediterranean in the North Sea the backbone of the fleet is made up of Light Well Intervention (LWI) vessels. These include:

Seawell ‒ A pioneered LWI vessel which provides platform for open water interventions, hydraulic, DSV and P&A services and is perfectly suited to pre-abandonment activities on old, weak well systems that require divers with the benefit of being agile in the field.

Well Enhancer ‒ Primarily an LWI and DSV asset but it is also the world’s first monohull vessel capable of coiled tubing intervention and, to date, has completed six successful campaigns with more planned.

Both vessels can perform LWI and DSV activities simultaneously bringing safety and efficiency as well as commercial advantages.

In terms of riser-based assets, Helix has a capable fleet made up of the Q4000, Q5000, Q7000, Siem Helix 1 and Siem Helix 2.

With the help of these vessels, Greig continued, Helix is able to perform operations on the full lifecycle of a field although the majority of their work is carried out in mid to later term life. They ensure maximum output of a reservoir throughout its life while avoiding damage. There is also opportunity to maximise the output of a well in ultra late life in order to offset decommissioning costs.

On the Mediterranean, Greig remarked that access to LWI in the region has been limited over the years whereas in the Gulf of Mexico, UK, Africa and Brazil there is always access to two-three LWI vessels at any one time.

Greig said, “When you want to start transporting assets to where there are not permanent vessels, this is where collaboration comes in. It is important for everyone to collaborate to make an agreement viable and get the asset in the region – you need all countries and operators to come together to create enough work. This happened in Africa and now we have some vessels down there which have scheduled work for the next few years. Once you start, there is every likelihood the work can be kept going.”

An example of excellence in Africa

Helix’s newest vessel, the Q7000, has continued its impressive streak of successful operations in West Africa where it has performed a variety of scopes including data acquisition, water shutoffs, milling, flaring, and more. It has already covered the majority of types of activities the company is looking to do with her.

Going through its advantages, Greig noted that being a DP asset it can transition at 10-11 knots (providing a significant ability to position itself without anchor handlers); its IRS single deployment means that hole trips are completed in hours not days; the Intervention Tension Frame (provided by Osbit) provides a safe working environment from which coiled tubing and wireline operations can be conducted; and the crew size has been reduced by 11 for coiled tubing and wireline and slickline operations.

Solving any problem

Greig remarked that throughout its history Helix has encountered every worst-case scenario that can be imagined and has used the full suite of tools to navigate them. Helix has, to date, performed more than 128 tree recoveries just from the UK and has conducted plug and abandonment on 155 suspended E&A wells. It has now worked on more than 1500 wells, including recently hitting 1000 wells in the UK as of August 2021.

Greig finished by noting that they have no intention of letting up but want to continue their expansion including into other parts of the Mediterranean. “There is an opportunity in the Mediterranean; it is just a case of starting the dialogue.”

The Decommissioning Insight 2021, published by OGUK, will set out plants for what could be the biggest marine removal programmes ever attempted.

OGUK has suggested that an estimated 1.2 million tonnes of disused oil and gas installations (ranging from massive rigs to well heads sitting on the seabed) are to be brought to shore for reuse, recycling and disposal in the coming decade. The report indicates that operators will spend an estimated UK£16.6bn on the decommissioning programme which will support thousands of jobs both fiercely and in the supply chain.

Around 95% of offshore material is typically already recycled but now the focus is moving more towards reuse ‒ where component parts, or even whole structures, can be redeployed for new purposes with minimal modifications.

Another key aim of the programme is to establish the UK as a centre of excellence for decommissioning which will set British companies and workers in high demand. Across 2020 and 2021, 234 wells, 21 platforms and 50,000 tonnes of other underwater structures were removed around the UK, highlighting the resilience of the industry even during the pandemic.

Joe Leask, OGUK’s Decommissioning Manager, commented, “Decommissioning is more than a great challenge. It’s also a huge opportunity for UK companies to show their engineering skills, powers of innovation and ability to compete on a global scale.

“OGUK’s 2021 Decommissioning Insight report shows that over the last five years the UK decommissioning industry has improved its efficiency and cut its costs by an estimated 23%. So, we have done better but I think we can still do a lot more.  If operators work together to create larger projects where we get economies of scale, then we can safely drive costs down even more.

“Decommissioning is also a key part of the UK’s transition to low-carbon energy and its aim of reaching net zero by 2050. This is partly because the installations being removed tend to be older and so generate more emissions relative to the oil and gas they produce. But it is also because of the growing opportunities for reuse, repurposing and recycling. This is already becoming common with forgings, pipeline valves, turbines and electrical kit. In the future some assets could be repurposed for new uses such as offshore wind and permanent storage of carbon dioxide by pumping it deep under the seabed.”

“This is going to be an exciting ten years – there’s a huge amount of work to be done and with £16.6 billion to be spent, there will be many opportunities for UK companies and workers,” Leask concluded.

During an introductory session on well intervention in the Mediterranean at the Offshore Well Intervention Mediterranean 2021 conference, expert panelists came together to share their thoughts, discuss the advent of technologies and explore the challenges involved.

Moderator Scott Clayson, Commercial Manager at Baker Hughes, provided an introduction to the session by commenting that the market ranges with fields from Spain to Italy with some subsea fields dating back 20+ years. There are fields off the coast of North Africa, Bulgaria and Romania which have added subsea production and, in addition, there has been an increase focus in the eastern Mediterranean where the subsea fields are around 9-10 years old. “Importantly based on some of the available data we have seen the majority of wells in the Mediterranean appear to be in peak intervention years in terms of their life cycle.”

Daniel Petrone, Life of Field Solutions Manager at OneSubsea, said that to explain the well intervention scenario in the Mediterranean region, he would have to divide it into East and West. “In the West, the arrival of well intervention in Tunisia, Algeria and Spain has been marginal. There have been some interventions in the past but in terms of well counts and offshore activities, they are marginal,” he added.

He added that one of the areas that have seen more activity in the East is Libya. “It has some offshore fields. The activity is potentially there, and geopolitically apt too. There is definitely a significant market in that country,” Petrone remarked.

Speaking about rigs, he opined that Israel and Cyprus are relatively new areas, where intervention is just starting to pick up but it is still a new market. “Egypt, which has a good number of dry tree wells, has also seen a major development from companies in subsea interventions. In terms of wells, a significant market is gathering more attention in Egypt.”

From an architecture point of view, one can find a mix of all in this area. “Dry tree wells, platforms and drilling rigs can all be found here. There is a lack of intervention vessels in the East but geographically, it is more accessible,” he added.

Agreeing to Petrone’s views, Mohammed Omar, Subsea Completions and Workover Engineer at Rashpetco, said it is indeed quite a similar situation in these areas.

Voicing her opinion on the subject, Fiona Robertson, Senior Product Manager, Systems & Technology at Baker Hughes, said, “It is interesting to hear details about well intervention in the Mediterranean by splitting them into two halves. The western Mediterranean region is perhaps more developed. However, new companies have tried their luck on the eastern side too. The West might be heading towards a lesser intervention situation and focusing more on the plug and abandonment process. The majority of vessels in the East are rigs with very few light well interventions.”

Based on his experiences with offshore wells and fields in Egypt, Abdullah Moustafa Mohamed Hegazy, Senior Production Technologist, BAPETCO, noted that the challenges that arise during recompletion include data availability and formation damages.

Robertson said, “There has definitely been a consideration for future intervention work at the initial point. When we have drilling wells in the past and we are learning as we go forward. When the Macondo disaster happened, the BOP (blowout preventer) caused so many problems and yet we use it as a primary safety device. There is a lot of well safety that also comes in to the picture.”

While speaking about planned and unplanned interventions, Petrone said, “If you have some sort of monitoring, you can foresee if things are going wrong. Then you can transform your unplanned into planned intervention.”

Technology as the key

The panelists were all on the same page regarding their opinions on technology being vital for interventions and being helpful in the future. “It is important to go digital to understand early signs of something going wrong. One can monitor if something is deteriorating,” Petrone said, while adding that it is important to anaylse data as it helps plan interventions better and time them better too. “Especially, when it comes to removing people from offshore activities, potential, and financial gain, technology comes in handy. It won’t solve intervention problems, but if you are aware early on, you can save money and time before it gets worse,” he commented.

Abdullah Moustafa added, “The reason to adopt technology should be the time factor as it can help save time. Some technologies are not available in the Mediterranean but outside the region, they are commonly used. Mechanical interventions have proven to be effective but sometimes we can’t use them, especially when they are multiple zones.”  

An environmental focus

Speaking about reducing carbon emissions, Abdullah Moustafa said, “We should try to minimise the amount of hydrocarbons released. This is one thing all companies should try to achieve. All companies need to transition to green energy, even the major oil companies in Egypt.”

Elaborating solutions for the carbon footprint problem, Robertson said, “If we use more light well interventions, it will reduce the carbon footprint as there is lesser fuel used, fewer individuals on board, and the operations are quicker. If we move away from rigs that could also help us reduce our carbon footprint.”

Adding his views to the issue, Petrone said, “The footprint of an intervention is lower than drilling a well. We are looking at decarbonising operations by making more electrical equipment, diesel powered ones, by removing people from offshore projects, and less flights which means less helicopter fuel to be burnt. In addition, if interventions are planned well, they can be completed quicker and will result in a much lesser carbon footprint.”

At the Offshore Well Intervention Mediterranean 2021 conference Alex Nicodimou, VP, Sales & Marketing, Well Intervention Welltec, hosted a session exploring the challenges and opportunities facing P&A operations in the region.

Nicodimou opened the session with a presentation explaining that the Mediterranean covers a diverse landscape in terms of geology, operating environments, cultures, languages, etc and that the way companies perform work across the region can vary considerably.

He noted that one of the reasons the region is such an exciting area, is that there are so many fields at different stages of development, and is home to some of the largest gas fields in the world which have yet to be drilled. For the latter he added, “There is a fantastic opportunity for P&A as for the first time, we have a region where wells can be planned with the world’s best practices and learnings incorporated from the very start. This is something that Welltec has been trying to address and incorporate through new technology.”

Nicodimou commented that new solutions are being developed to bring efficiency and cost saving to P&A operations, not to mention adapting existing technologies to be applicable to P&A ‒ something Welltec has found a lot of success in.

One area that has brought a lot of attention in the topic of well abandonment is carbon capture storage. Paolo Nunzi, Operations Support Manager ENI, said they have been harnessing this in the North Sea offshore UK. He said one of the most important things to consider in regards to CO2 storage is proximity to the coast as longer distance means more cost and (perhaps ironically) more CO2 produced in the process.

On the topic of new technology, Nicodimou asked if there was a current gap in the technological landscape.

David Dempsie, P&A Task Force Leader Repsol, replied, “Certainly within Repsol our aim is rigless technology. We feel it is perhaps not a missing technology but one that has the capacity to be applied beyond the traditional norms.”

He added that Repsol is looking to undertake a campaign for subsea abandonments within the next two to four years and is looking at rigless technology as a potential solution. He remarked that ultimately risk and economic considerations are what will influence this decision to utilise this technology and undertake such campaigns.

Coming into the conversation, Neil Greig, Sales Manager Helix well Ops (UK) Ltd, said, “We are looking at new technology in-house and working with other companies to develop rigless technology. We are confident we can get it to a place in the future where rigless can be used, even in more complex wells.”

He added that rigless can also bring massive benefits when it comes to data gathering. “You can go out with a rig and not know what you are going to encounter when you go into a well. Data gathering is essential to deal with all eventualities. You could arm a light well intervention vessel with a few extra tools; make it a swiss army knife, and go out with the minimum expectation of getting the tree cap off. Then, if accomplished, you can see if you can get access down to the reservoir to the required hold up depth and if so, see if it is a candidate for doing some pre-abandonment work such as plug and lubricating.

“If you manage to achieve all that you can finish the whole well completely rigless. Worst case scenario you have identified for a rig exactly what it will encounter and it can arrive with all the tools in the box. There are a lot of benefits from doing up front data gathering.”

Dempsie said, “We have a diverse portfolio so we can look at how to apply new technology in a stable environment, perhaps onshore. The biggest risk is if you take the technology offshore, you have all your eggs in one basket and if it does not work first time the appetite disappears. We have to be mindful and service providers need to understand this risk as well. We try to have a balance so we can support and encourage but ultimately, we have to step forward. We won’t see change in our performance unless we instigate change ourselves.”

The future of P&A in the Mediterranean

In terms of appetite for P&A work, Greig commented that the Mediterranean is more difficult as there has not traditionally been enough work to justify a permanent vessel in the region. So every instance when someone has a well which is a candidate brings significant transit costs. “We have only been in the Mediterranean once (2015) but we have been speaking to people for years. We have just not managed to generate enough interest to make it work.

“We need a catalyst to grow around. We think there is a big opportunity to collaborate and we get some vessels into the region. The alternative is we tie our North Sea boats up between October and February which historically happens in UK. What would be favourable is to take these boats into a region more suited to winter months.”

Luca Martini, Well Engineering Manager ENI, touched on collaboration as a way to facilitate further work in the region. He said, “What we try to do is put together our [operators] needs and get a single vessel performing campaigns in line in order to share mobilisation costs. We have regular meetings every three to four months with other operators to pick this up and see if there are any opportunities for synergies but we should be speaking more.”

SRJ Technologies has announced that it has been awarded a new consulting contract and a contract extension totalling UK£100,000 by SBM Offshore.

The contract extension was won off the back of the successful completion of a previous contract to undertake detailed engineering analysis of SBM’s future FPSO designs. This was part of its Fast4ward programme.

Through the work, SBM will be able to optimise the design of machinery spaces without compromising integrity and long-term reliability. The contract extension covers additional in-depth engineering analysis to enable further FPSO design optimisation and to deliver additional cost savings.

The new consulting contract award is for a reliability analysis and maintenance optimisation to ensure safety system integrity on SBM’s FPSOs. The contract continues the consulting work SRJ has been delivering to SBM over the last year to support the ongoing implementation and roll out of a new ERP system across its fleet of FPSOs.

Alex Wood, CEO of SRJ, commented, “The SRJ consulting team is seeing great demand for its expertise in asset integrity management in all its forms – this cements our relationships with customers and gives us credibility as well as clear visibility of opportunities to sell our asset integrity solutions and products.”

Odfjell Well Services and Odfjell Energy have announced the launch of a plug and abandonment (P&A) and slot recovery alliance alongside companies within the energy industry.

The agreement has an initial duration of two years with an option to be extended. It has been titled, the ‘Odfjell Collaboration Alliance’.

The aim of this alliance is to provide a complete service offering of rig, modular rig, jacking unit, wireline, plugs and all other services needed to successfully execute projects within P&A or slot recovery operations. The focus will be initially in the Norwegian market, with ambitions to expand beyond the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

Kurt Meinert Fjell, senior vice-president of innovation and development, Odfjell Energy, commented, “We are delighted to announce the launch of this strategic alliance, a move which will provide a high-quality oil service solution within the energy market.

“Each member was chosen for their strong history, forward-thinking approach and commitment to quality, and brings their unique area of expertise to support the P&A or slot recovery activities. We are confident that the multi-operator approach will lead to cost-effective solutions that will benefit our clients.”

The Odfjell Collaboration Alliance is managed by Odfjell Energy and Odfjell Well Services. The members include TCO Group, Ardyne, Wellstrøm, Altus Intervention, Control Cutter, JWS Gruppen, Tyrfing Innovation, InterWell and Innovar Solutions.

Expro Group, an international energy services company with market leadership in well access and well flow optimisation, has completed its previously announced merger with Frank’s International N.V., a global oil services company offering a broad range of highly engineered drilling and completions solutions and services.

Mike Jardon, Chief Executive Officer of Expro, commented, “This is an exciting day for Expro and Frank’s as we bring our companies together to create a new global leader with the breadth of capabilities and expertise across the well lifecycle to better support customers. I would like to thank everyone at Expro and Frank’s for their great work in completing the transaction, planning for a successful integration, and positioning the combined company for long-term success.

“This is where the talented teams come together and we look forward to continuing to deliver cost-effective, innovative technologies and solutions, and best-in-class safety and service quality performance to our customers, all while advancing our commitment to creating a more sustainable business and lower carbon future.”

The merger will build on Expro’s strong position within the oil and gas market with accolades including:
• A leading position in large addressable markets, balanced business mix and global operating footprint;
• The ability to deliver cost-effective, innovative solutions to an expanded customer base
• Material exposure to an expected increase in production enhancement activity and an opportunity to capture significant cost and revenue synergies.
• Robust technology portfolio and innovation pipeline to capitalise on the digital transformation, facilitate the energy transition, and deliver on the promise of a lower carbon future.
• A strong financial profile, which reduces risk and increases strategic flexibility.
• Dedication to governance best practices.

"With our broad portfolio of services and solutions, enhanced scale, global operating footprint and strong, debt-free balance sheet, Expro is well positioned for an expected industry recovery and is well positioned to deliver compelling value for shareholders,” Jardon added.

The combined company has assumed the Expro Group Holdings N.V. name.

In order to accelerate the pace at which well P&A technology is qualified and commercialised, the Net Zero Technology Centre has launched an industry collaboration initiative with the ultimate goal of improving industry performance.

Supported by the Technology Leadership Board (TLB) and Oil and Gas UK (OGUK), the approach will enable new technologies to be trialled and tested in multi-operator collaboration field trials, enabling faster, lower-cost and wider industry adoption.

The Oil and Gas Authority has identified that well P&A represents circa 45% of UKCS decommissioning costs, or an estimated UK£23bn spend over the life of a basin, but technology best practice and innovation could help operators reduce this cost and deliver CO2-compatible well P&A techniques.

Over the next two years the well P&A collaboration initiative has committed to increasing the number of technology field trials, in low access cost land wells. This will support the validation and qualification of alternative P&A barrier materials, inspection and verification technologies and other P&A enabling technology streams to expand the reach of the rigless well P&A approach.

Keith Hogg, Project Manager – Emissions Reduction, The Net Zero Technology Centre commented, “This collaboration could be a true game changer in the way we approach technology development in the wells P&A space. It has the potential to accelerate the progress of technologies being field trailed and tested making them available to operators far more quickly.

“The success of this new collaborative approach has been driven by the commitment of the operators; Spirit Energy and Harbour Energy who participated in the first project together. It is this proactive attitude and willingness to collaborate and share information that we need other UK operators to replicate, as this is key to the future of this collaboration and meeting our industry commitment to a minimum of 35% cost reduction and 50% emissions reduction in well P&A by 2035.”

The wells P&A collaboration initiative will be managed by the Net Zero Technology Centre and overseen by a multi-operator steering group, with backing from Spirit Energy, Repsol and Harbour Energy already secured. The steering group will review up to five technologies per year, conducting a minimum of three field trials for each. The ambition for the initiative is to have six technologies qualified and adopted by 2025.

Carlo Procaccini, OGA Head of Technology and Co-Chair of the TLB, said, “Reducing well P&A cost has long been identified by the TLB and the OGA as a very important priority for our industry. Novel technologies have the power to achieve that. The TLB has been proudly supporting the efforts by the Net Zero Technology Centre, Spirit Energy, Harbour Energy and other partners to bring an ambitious field trial programme to life. Now is the right time to expand this programme to more operators and technologies to accelerate testing and adoption of a fuller portfolio of critical technologies for P&A efficiencies.”

Mike Richardson, Industry Technology Sponsor, Spirit Energy added, “Our industry has struggled to be truly collaborative in the past but this is a fantastic opportunity for operators to work together, reduce costs, accelerate new technology have a better range of plugging solutions available…. all at the same time!”