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At the Offshore Well Intervention Mediterranean 2021 conference, Remke Ellis, Domain Champion at TGT Oilfield Services, hosted a panel session to discuss the economics of well intervention and how to implement effective preventive maintenance plans in order to boost production.

Ellis opened the session by asking the panellists about ways to implement successful well intervention operations. With more than 10 years experience in completion workover well intervention, Atef Mohamed, Completion and Workover Supervisor at BAPETCO, explained that case study is essential and that key points of the operation that need to be addressed need to be set at the start – these include the scope of operation, a credible programme plan, an equipment checklist, an approved MOC, a calculation review as well as a crew and operator checklist.

Mustafa Adel Amer, Well Integrity Specialist at BAPETCO, added that the delivery of the technical aspect of the operation itself from the asset team has a big contribution to a successful project. Amer, an engineer and natural gas analyst with years of experience in the upstream oil and gas sector, gave an example by noting that the delivery of the right range of the reservoir pressure and the right range of perforation contribute to the operation being done efficiently and safely. For instance, wrong delivery of reservoir pressure can lead to safety hazards and equipment loss. Strong delivery and communication between petroleum engineering and well operations, with clean delivery of technical aspects is needed for a successful operation.

Proper well control of the operation

Mohamed spoke about measures of proper well control, commenting that operators have to differentiate between rig-based well intervention and rigless operations. When working without a rig, hazards exist because they are dealing with high well pressures. The engineers have to also confirm all the equipment is certified and depression tested. After the operation is started, the operators have to determine whether they are deploying slickline or E-Line because there are noticeable differences between one another. If they are going with whole tubing, confirming the proper functioning of check valve becomes crucial because whole tubing needs to be controlled from both inside and the outside. This option is not valid incase of slickline, or Eline because of the presence of the wire and the control around it.

Amer added that setting scenarios before going to the operation proves to be quite handy. For example, simulating scenarios of what can go wrong can help the team in repairs and in case of an unexpected event, implement measures to deal with it. Rather than dealing with it on the site, it is always good to have prior knowledge about shortcomings.

Training for the drills in well control situations for the crew is also very important and it is crucial to determine the weaknesses of the crew and if they can deal with it correctly in case of an emergency.

Checking for discrepancies in oil wells downhole

Oil pressure plays a major role in well intervention. The operators have to select the appropriate casing for the reservoir. For example, if higher oil pressure is detected, the operator might as well choose a higher-grade casing to deal with the amount of pressure. The panel concluded that oil pressure plays a major role in well intervention and having the right equipment for it also makes a huge difference in carrying out the intervention in a safe and efficient manner.

The panellists concluded by noting that, in order to increase production in both gas and oil wells it was important that that well integrity and production enhancement worked together before also acknowledging the growing influence of data analysis in the well intervention space – a phenomenon which will only serve to enhance campaigns in the future.

First Marine Solutions (FMS), an offshore moorings expert, awarded a seven-figure contract by well decommissioning specialist, Well-Safe Solutions.

The agreement will see FMS provide its full spectrum of marine consultancy services, including provision of equipment, marine services, and survey and marine engineering.

Earlier this year, Well-Safe Solutions announced it had secured the contract to execute all well decommissioning activity within Repsol Sinopec UK’s Buchan and Hannay fields. FMS’ contract will commence with this 14-well project.

Steven Brown, FMS Managing Director, said he is incredibly proud to be associated with such an innovative project. He remarked, “This well P&A campaign represents a shift in the offshore decommissioning commercial landscape for which we applaud Well-Safe Solutions. I believe its decision to award this contract to FMS firmly establishes our reputation as the North Sea’s leading integrated mooring and marine service provider.

“The agreement has been four years in the making – a period of time that has seen FMS evolve to an impressive extent through significant investment in personnel, technology and facilities. Since 2017, our workforce has increased fourfold and is now led by a management team of industry experts, allowing us to strengthen our position not only in the North Sea but across a number of international markets; we look forward to supporting Well-Safe as it expands its global business.”

Commenting on the contract award, Lou Duncan, Rig Manager at Well-Safe Solutions, noted, “As we prepare for the deployment of the Well-Safe Guardian, it’s vital to us that we utilise trusted partners to enable timely and safe fulfilment of our obligations.

“Key to our philosophy is the importance of collaboration in order to capture, retain and share knowledge for the benefit of our clients and future operations. We’re looking forward to working alongside FMS during a period of strong growth for Well-Safe Solutions.”

In an operational and financial update, Hurricane Energy has announced that it has successfully completed the plugging and final abandonment (P&A) of the Lancaster 205/21a-4z well.

The well is located in the Lancaster Field, West of Shetland in Scottish waters, which was discovered in 2009. The company is implementing a phased development of the field with the first phase of development, the Early Production System (EPS) coming on stream in June 2019.

During November 2021, the company plugged the 205/21a-4z well for a cost of c. US$1mn. Hurricane also disclosed that US$2.2mn of decommissioning security (previously classified as restricted cash) has now been released back to the company and has been used in part to fund the P&A activity.

Neptune Energy has awarded a decommissioning contract to Maersk Supply Service (MSS) for the Juliet field in the UK southern North Sea.

The decommissioning work, which will be carried out in early 2022, will utilise innovative technology to reduce the time and costs associated with the removal of the subsea infrastructure.

Piping spools and umbilicals will be removed using the Utility ROV Services system (UTROV), a remotely operated tool carrier equipped with multiple attachments for the recovery of subsea equipment, reducing the necessity for multiple vessels and equipment providers to carry out the complex work.

The UTROV system was previously used for work on the Juliet field in 2019 and will be deployed from the Maersk Forza Subsea Support Vessel.

Neptune Energy’s UK Managing Director, Alexandra Thomas, commented, “Work on decommissioning Juliet is progressing well and the activities undertaken by MSS will finalise the work on the pipelines and enable us to move forward with plugging and abandonment operations.

“The use of such innovative technologies is enabling operators to reduce the time, costs and environmental impacts associated with such operations, and ensures the safe and efficient removal of decommissioned subsea infrastructure.”

Olivier Trouvé, Maersk Supply Service’s Head of Integrated Solutions, remarked, “We are looking forward to mobilising our engineering capabilities and specialised assets to provide safe and efficient operations.”

The Juliet subsea assets were installed in 2013. Production ceased in 2017 and formal cessation of production was approved in December 2018 by the OGA. The Juliet facilities comprise two subsea wells tied back to the Pickerill ‘A’ Platform, which is owned and operated by Perenco (PUK).

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.”