Perenco UK has completed a campaign of velocity string installations on five wells at the West Sole Charlie platform in the Southern North Sea (SNS), situated 70 km east of Perenco’s Dimlington terminal on the Yorkshire Coast.
The campaign was conducted by the Petrodec HAEVA rig and has delivered sustained production gains of around +5 MMscf/d, in line with expectations.
In a technical and commercial feat, the company completed ahead of schedule. Each of the wells are seeing improved production rates, running with 100% uptime, withouth the need for cycling. Two of these wells were brought online from scratch as they remained shut-in and were not producing.
The net effect is a new production rate for the West Sole field sustained above the 30 MMscf/d level. Recompletion using velocity strings is a proven technology in fields that are no longer producing at their original high gas rates.
In the case of West Sole, the original completion with 5½” tubings were no longer optimal, given the now partially depleted reservoir. Inserting velocity strings of narrower diameter helps to increase the fluid velocities, thereby sustaining production at lower pressures and allowing extension of field life. Perenco had previously deployed this technique to good effect in 2020 at the Hyde field and decided to continue with similar deployment at West Sole Charlie. Other SNS fields, such as Apollo, are also being evaluated for the same.
Perenco UK SNS Managing Director, Jo White, said, “Demand for gas in the UK is set to remain high, so enhancing recovery from domestic gas fields is vital for both energy security and for improving overall emissions intensity. Local natural gas resources have a significantly lower carbon footprint than imported liquified natural gas (LNG), which today accounts for a high proportion of the balance of supply. West Sole was the first offshore natural gas field to be developed in the UK. Since 1967, it has delivered cumulative production of more than 2.2 trillion cubic feet of gas. It remains a significant production hub in the SNS offshore gas network, with potential for future development and tie-in of nearby gas discoveries. Through renewal and application of new technology a sustainable and productive future remains possible for decades to come for the West Sole field.”
The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has warned North Sea operators that they must act now on well decommissioning or risk losing the support of the associated supply chain which will begin to look elsewhere in search of work.
Repeated delays to well plugging and abandonment work, competition for rigs from overseas and cost pressures are pushing up the estimated bill for decommissioning on the UK Continental Shelf – information made clear in the latest Decommissioning Cost and Performance Update from the organisation. According to this report, operators expect to spend about UK£24bn on decommissioning between 2023 and 2032, up UK£3bn on the forecast for the same period in last year’s report.
The NSTA has drawn attention to the importance of sharing knowledge, learning lessons and producing robust plans which helped lower the cost of decommissioning by an estimated UK£15bn between 2017 and 2022. However, it stated that further improvements have been difficult to achieve as much of the low-hanging fruit has been picked.
More than half of the overall estimate of UK£40bn (in constant 2021 prices) is to be spent during this 10-year period, which shows near-term actions will set the direction for the sector. Embedding good practice now and striking a balance between supply chain capacity and demand for its services is crucial, the NSTA reports.
Pockets of operators continue to collaborate, perform admirably and deliver savings, but the majority need to improve by doubling down on their planning. Operators spent around UK£2bn on decommissioning last year, which was in line with forecasts, but they completed much less work than originally planned. In regard to P&A, the NSTA stated that operators can keep their costs under control and meet their regulatory obligations by engaging early with the UK’s world-leading supply chain, providing details of their inactive wells and, most importantly, placing contracts to get the work done.
Hundreds of wells will need to be decommissioned every year as more oil and gas fields shut down, the NSTA explained. However, operators only achieved 70% of planned well decommissioning activities last year. Some operators, it continued, are deferring in hope that prices will go down in the coming years. However, failing to award contracts reduces the supply chain’s revenues and ability to invest in capacity and resources. Rig contractors are actively seeking opportunities in other regions where operators offer longer, more secure contracts. If this trend continues, prices will increase, as reflected in market forecasts.
In addition to exploring the use of sanctions, the NSTA is spearheading a project to identify which UKCS wells will be ready for decommissioning between 2026 to 2030 and assess the supply chain capacity required to undertake the work in a timely and cost-effective manner.
“With spending forecast to peak at UK£2.5bn per year in the current decade, decommissioning can ensure that the UK’s world-leading supply chain is equipped to help operators clean up their oil and gas infrastructure over the next 50 years and support the carbon storage sector, which will rely on many of the same resources,” said Pauline Innes, the NSTA’s Supply Chain and Decommissioning Director.
“I am concerned that this huge opportunity to safeguard highly-skilled jobs and support the transition will be wasted if operators fail to tackle their well decommissioning backlogs. The supply chain wants to do this work, but it is not physically tied to the UK. Its skills and resources are in demand in other regions, and we are starting to see companies marketing their rigs elsewhere. Operators need to use the supply chain, now, or risk losing it.”
In its latest operations update, British independent upstream oil and gas company, Serica Energy, announced that its investment plans for the Bruce and Keith Light Well Intervention Vessel (LWIV) campaign is on track to take place between March and May 2024.
This follows previous campaigns in 2022 and 2023, which have delivered low-cost incremental production. The intervention is expected to restart production from the Keith field this year following successful preparation work on the Keith subsea facilities carried out in 2023. Additional well interventions from the Bruce platform are scheduled for the second half of 2024.
Besides well work on the Bruce and Keith fields, investments in 2024 include four wells in the Triton area (Bittern B1z sidetrack, Gannet E GE-05, Guillemot North West EC1 and Evelyn EV-02). The start date of the B1z sidetrack is set in March 2024. This well and the subsequent three wells are scheduled to take about three months each, meaning that drilling will continue into 2025. Serica has also exercised an option to keep the rig for a further well following completion of the fourth well in the programme (EV-02).
Serica is maturing plans for two infill wells on the Bruce field too with the aim of drilling in 2026.
Abandonment costs in 2024 are forecast to be about £14 million (pre-tax) net to Serica. These will be incurred mainly on the final decommissioning of the Arthur field, situated in the UK Southern North Sea, which was held by Tailwind Energy.
Reflecting on Serica's investment focus on enabling maximum production like from the Bruce and Triton assets, Mitch Flegg, Chief Executive of the company, said, "Production in 2024 is expected to be higher than in 2023 with guidance between 41,000 boe/d and 48,000 boe/d for the year. This reflects a range of outcomes in a year of significant activity including the speed with which the scheduled drilling and well work deliver incremental production.
"Serica's strategy of investing in its assets continues to be central to our record of consistently achieving high levels of reserves replacement, combined with increased levels of production. We are looking forward, therefore, to the start of the four well Triton area drilling programme in March, with the benefits of added production expected to start coming through in the second half of the year. During 2024 there is also an extensive programme of interventions in both platform and subsea wells on the Bruce and Keith fields. The objectives include re-establishing consistent production from the Keith field.
"In addition, Serica has a healthy portfolio of potential new projects. This includes the possible developments of the Buchan and Belinda fields, which offer the prospect of further replacement of produced reserves and incremental production from 2026 onwards. Our plans for drilling two Bruce infill wells, the first new wells on the field since 2012, are progressing and, during the next eighteen months, we will be participating in the Parkmead operated Skerryvore exploration well situated in the UK Central North Sea. As a UK taxpayer, Serica will benefit from tax relief for its share of the associated development and exploration costs.
"Serica is extremely well placed, therefore, to continue its track record of replacing reserves and increasing production. This platform has been achieved while maintaining a very strong balance sheet, which is both the result and enabler of our strategy to invest and grow organically and through disciplined M&A."
Irish company TerraThermo Ltd and alfa8 Colab Ltd (alfa8) have announced the signing of an Investment Agreement to financially support the development of Projekt Thermo, a 12MW deep geothermal power plant project in Germany.
The investment made by alfa8 covers the provision of up to EUR€1mn in working capital to advance Projekt Thermo to a financial close, and up to EUR€32.5mn in future financings for the project.
TerraThermo will use the working capital to undertake technical and financial due diligence on the project, with the intention of reaching financial close in Q4 2024/Q1 2025. The company is also in discussions with the European Investment Bank EIB for a potential parallel investment to fund up to EUR€32.5mn for the project, in addition to the investment already provided by alfa8.
The first stage of Projekt Thermo is to develop a 12MW ‘Hot Dry Rock’ geothermal power plant in Lower Saxony, Germany, marking the first of many deep geothermal generation and energy storage projects to be developed by TerraThermal in Europe.
John Ashbridge, CEO of TerraThermo, is “extremely pleased” to welcome alfa8 as an investor in the project, given the company’s “focus on first-of-a-kind technology and our matching visions and expectations of what can be achieved in the geothermal energy industry in the coming years.”
Erin Glen, COO of alfa8, commented, “TerraThermo is focused on delivering a first-of-a-kind, deep hot dry rock geothermal project in Europe. We are excited to team up with them to accelerate the development of geothermal technology in Europe. At alfa8, we are on a mission to deploy catalytic capital into the energy transition and promising first-of-its-kind technologies that can accelerate the path to net-zero.”
Wells and subsurface specialist, Elemental Energies, has announced the acquisition of Norway-based well management and consultancy company, Well Expertise AS.
Expected to generate revenues surpassing £50mn in 2024, the acquisition also adds significant growth to Elemental's North Sea expansion ambitions in Norway.
The Well Expertise acquisiton is the latest in a series of strategic acquisitions by Elemental Energies, including Vysus Senergy Wells in December 2022, Norwell Engineering in May 2023 and Sentinel Group in February 2024.
The acquisition established the companies' shared growth ambitions in well management services across oil and gas, decommissioning, geothermal, and carbon capture and storage projects.
Mike Adams, CEO of ElementalEnergies, said, “Norway is a pivotal region for us through its stable energy policy that prioritises both security and transition, aligning with our core ambitions as a business. As a mature market, Norway faces the challenge of managing new production with decommissioning and energy transition which present significant opportunity. This deal marks the start of the next chapter for both companies, as we build a strategic global wells and subsurface partner that will allow operators to outsource larger and more diverse projects with confidence.”
Sigve K. Næsheim, who will continue as CEO of Well Expertise and head up Norway operations, said, “This acquisition marks a significant milestone, underscoring our commitment to providing best-in-class well engineering and project management services. From the outset, our strategic alignment with Elemental Energies has fostered a shared vision to become the go-to global well management partner for projects spanning exploration,production, decommissioning, CCS, and geothermal. As part of Elemental Energies, we are able to expand the development opportunities for our team, bring new perspectives to our projects,and deliver expanded capabilities to our clients.”
Stig Seland, Commercial Manager of Well Expertise and one of its founders, said, "At Well Expertise, we have built long-term relationships with our customers through our collaborative and customer-first approach, which has been the cornerstone of our success. I am very pleased to announce that we can now offer an even broader range of services to our clients. Rest assured, our commitment to putting customers first will remain our primary focus as we continue to support the future of Norwegian energy."
Backed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and Salon Kaukolämpö Oy, Lounavoima is developing a geothermal heat well storage at its waste-to-energy (WtE) plant at the Lounapuisto circular economy park in Salo.
Following good test run from the first well, three additional wells are now being constructed. The final heat well is expected to be completed by the summer of 2025.
Upon completion, the WtE plant will have six geothermal heat wells with a combined output of 6MW.
Waste heat produced by the WtE plant is stored at a depth of more than 2 kms in the geothermal heat wells to cover the district Salo's heating requirements during the winter.
The first well which was tested last winter runs 1,600-metre-deep, producing 450 MWh of energy from January to March.
A second heat well, which is undergoing tests, was drilled in the autumn of 2023 and a third was drilled in the winter of 2024. Its pipework will be completed in the late summer.
Finnish company Geomachine Oy deployed new drilling equipment which were specially designed for the exploration of the heat wells, achieving a target depth of 2,000 metres. The heat pump process was delivered by Calefa Oy.
Once all the heatwells are brought onstream, the six new geothermal heat wells will have a combined output of as much as 14 GWh a year, which is equivalent to the annual heating need of approximately 700 single-family homes.
“The heat well production will always be used first if the district heat output of the WtE plant isn’t enough. This allows us to primarily replace the need for starting oil heating plants and, in many cases, we can also avoid the need to start a backup power plant,” said Lounavoima and district heating company Salon Kaukolämpö's Managing Director Petri Onikki.
“We have such top expertise here in Finland. Even though the new technology development project has not always gone smoothly, the results have exceeded our expectations. The geothermal heat wells have a multiplying effect on heat production in Salo,” said Onikki. “The project is a successful example of concrete circular economy work at Lounapuisto,” he added.
Shell UK Ltd has signed a contract with Mermaid Subsea Services Ltd to utilise the offshore company's services for a multi-year engineering, preparation, removal and disposal (EPRD) well head severance (WHS) project in the North Sea.
Planned in three annual batches, the first phase of the decommissioning project is scheduled to begin later this year. The WHS solution will be delivered by a bespoke vessel for which Mermaid will be accumulating key stakeholders accross the supply chain.
The initial campaign will involve the removal of well head protection covers from the sea floor, before lifting them to the surface for transportation onshore.
The well head flow base structures will then be retrieved using specialist tooling.
The final activity will cover well head severance and recovery operations, for which bespoke underwater cutting tooling and techniques will be deployed by Mermaid.
Each stage of the project will be followed by clearance of debris, as well as seabed and over trawl surveys where necessary. All the recovered materials from the project will be put to reuse and recycling.
Scott Cormack, Regional Director for Mermaid Subsea Services (UK), said, “This a milestone contract for Mermaid and we are very grateful to Shell for putting their faith in our team. We look forward to kicking off work this year.
“The North Sea is on the cusp of a multi-decade decommissioning boom and Mermaid plans to be front and centre of that with our bespoke solutions and leading expertise.”
SLB and Ormat Technologies have entered into a strategic collaboration to develop integrated geothermal projects which reduce the associated risks while improving overall economics and ensuring long-term reliability.
The integrated offering will provide developers with a comprehensive suite of solutions, including exploration and resource assessments to power plant commissioning and operation.
Both SLB and Ormat will provide operators with traditional and next-gen geothermal solutions, such as enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) and advanced geothermal solutions (AGS), with SLB obtaining a license of Ormat’s ESG patent.
The collaboration combines Ormat’s expertise in geothermal fields and project development, power plant design, manufacturing, operations, and engineering, procurement and construction capabilities with SLB’s expertise in reservoir characterization, well construction, completions and production technologies.
Irlan Amir, Vice President of Renewables and Energy Efficiency for SLB, said, “Geothermal energy represents a significant opportunity for the energy transition, providing clean, baseload renewable power. By combining our expertise with Ormat’s, we can help customers unlock the full potential of geothermal resources and accelerate the deployment of this sustainable energy source.”
Paul Thomsen, Vice President of Business Development at Ormat Technologies, commented, “Ormat’s world class geothermal development and technology expertise perfectly complements SLB’s significant reservoir knowledge and well construction technologies and expertise. Together, we can deliver more projects, offering exceptional value to our developers and contributing to a cleaner energy future.”
The Ministry of Energy has awarded Equinor the Albondigas and Kinno licenses in the North Sea for CO2 storage development.
Considered important building blocks for developing the Norwegian Continental Shelf into a leading area for CO2 storage in Europe, each of the licenses are expected to have a storage capacity of 5 million tons of CO2 annually.
"We are very pleased to see the Norwegian authorities have made new CCS storage acreage available for exploration and that we have been awarded these two licenses. We see that demand for CO2 storage is increasing in several countries, and it is crucial to bring forward new CO2 storages quickly, so that we can offer industrial solutions that can support large scale decarbonisation of hard-to-abate industries in Europe," said Grete Tveit, Senior Vice President for Low Carbon Solutions in Equinor.
Equinor expect 4-8% real base project returns for its early phase CO2 storage business, and further value uplift potential when commercial markets are developed.
Equinor is maturing a ship-based solution and a massive pipeline to connect industrial emissions in Europe with storage opportunities at the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The planned pipeline named CO2 Highway Europe will have capacity to transport 25-35 million tons of CO2 per year from Belgium and France.
The Albondigas and Kinno licenses will serve as additional storage opportunities to the Smeaheia storage license which was awarded to Equinor in 2022. Smeaheia will be used as the anchor storage for this pipeline development.
Equinor is also about to complete the first phase of the Northern Lights CO2 transport and storage facility together with Shell and Total Energies. It will be ready to receive CO2 by the second half of this year.
"Scale-up of CO2 transport and storage is essential to meet the interest and demand for this type of services. Gaining access to more CO2 storage capacity aligns well with our ambition of having 30 to 50 million tons of CO2 transport and storage capacity per year by 2035," said Tveit.
The UK National Geothermal Centre (NGC) has been launched to accelerate the UK geothermal sector and enhance the role it can play in decarbonising the UK’s future energy mix.
With funding from the Net Zero Technology Centre (NZTC), Durham University, SHIFT Geothermal, and The Reece Foundation, the NGC aims to support research and innovation, develop expertise and drive the creation of a policy, regulation and investment framework which enables geothermal advancement. It will drive collaboration between government, industry, and academia, promoting the integration of geothermal energy into the future renewable energy mix as a low carbon option for heating homes and industries, and power generation.
The geothermal sector has the potential to meet 10GW of the UK’s projected heating demand and 1.5GW of the anticipated electricity demand by 2050. Geothermal expansion could create 50,000 jobs for the future and result in an annual reduction of 10 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions.
Nigel Lees, chair of the NGC, said, “The launch of the National Geothermal Centre today represents a significant step in realising the opportunities that geothermal energy provides the UK. For several decades there has been a growing and meaningful contribution to our understanding of geothermal potential in the UK, yet we remain in the nascent stages of development with pockets of knowledge and expertise.
“The Centre will embrace and build on this, working collaboratively with all stakeholders to ensure a common understanding of the opportunities and challenges whilst giving a consistent voice and advocacy to fully unlock the geothermal potential in the UK and play a crucial part in the delivery of our net zero ambitions.”
Norwegian energy producer Equinor will deploy Emerson's suite of Roxar downhole monitoring tools to achieve optimal results from the Rosebank oil and gas field offshore the United Kingdom.
With an estimated capacity of more than 300 million barrels of recoverable oil resources, the Rosebank field is considered a significant asset in meeting the UK’s energy security requirements. The first phase of the Rosebank field development will involve a refurbished, electrification-ready floating production storage and offloading vessel connected to a subsea production system. Startup of the Rosebank field’s first phase is planned for 2026-2027.
Emerson's advanced well completion monitoring systems enable advanced oil recovery techniques, optimise reservoir performance and verify well integrity in real time. A challenging task amid harsh environment conditions, the Roxar integrated downhole network technology provides an uninterrupted coverage of pressure and temperature data from active wells, which leads to safe operation, production optimisation and well integrity maintenance.
While Europe has often spearheaded geothermal progress and innovation, the past few years have played witness to a stagnated playing field as financial blockades and unclear legislation has somewhat slowed the project pipeline. However, after funding through both private and public channels continues to gain momentum, the region has the resources and drive to become a major market player within the geothermal market once again.
In January 2024, the European Union Parliament overwhelmingly endorsed a resolution that called for a new geothermal energy strategy to be implemented across the region. The resolution calls for an industrial alliance on geothermal energy, as well as the installation of an insurance programme to mitigate against financial risk. This endorsement is a huge step for the region and will hopefully provide reassurance and confidence in the market to warrant further investment.
However, while the parliamentary push is a step in the right direction, concerns are still being drawn around the commerciality of the commodity for geothermal, and the debate about whether the long-term payoff and associated risks are worth the investment.
With the above issues and more industry insights set to be discussed at the upcoming GTS EU 2024 later this year, including topics around expediting growth, new technology and scalability, enhancing the transition, attracting external stakeholders and commercial considerations, the bespoke outlook offers an alternative look into the pioneering industry.
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