Middle East

At the Offshore Well Intervention Conference, Middle East and North Africa 2021 host Tural Yusuboc, Senior Engineer of Well Integrity at ADNOC, was joined by an experienced panel to discuss the pressures shaping the well integrity market and the factors that will drive change for the discipline in the future.

Briefly outlining its history, Fayez Issa, Group Well Integrity Advisor for ADNOC, commented, “Well integrity has gone through different stages. If you go back 30-40 years it did not exist, there was minimum knowledge. But then after many incidents and major catastrophes the knowledge of oil integrity has become a vital aspect of oil and gas. It changed a lot ten years ago after the events on the Macondo field in the Gulf of Mexico. Before, people could happily ask things like do we really need to log cement? Is it important to see variations? Do we need special requirements for a gas lift? Additionally, a lot of things were done at minimum costs. Now if a well is planned to last for thirty years it has to be designed to last that long, a change partially due to the environmental challenges and more stringent regulations.”

Nowadays well integrity is a much larger concern for the industry, emphasised by Neil Ferguson, Business and Sales Development Manager of Well Intervention and Integrity at Expro Group, who noted that Expro now has 50% of its portfolio dedicated to this discipline whereas 20 years ago it was just 20%.

Exemplifying why well integrity and surveillance is such an important topic in today’s world, Mustafa Adel Amer, Well Integrity Focal Point at BAPETCO, said, “Ten years ago BAPETCO started doing well integrity management systems which accelerated the building up of knowledge. But unfortunately after the crash in 2014 the company took the decision to save costs and stop things such as corrosion logs etc. Now after six years the company is going to pay more to fix the unknown causes of corrosion and will have to probe the wells.”

While the discipline has grown significantly over the last few decades, the panellists noted that there was still room for improvement. Ferguson, suggested that there was perhaps a bit of a disconnect from integrity as it was so often bound up as part of drilling and production. The participants suggested that if well integrity is kept within these departments it might not perform its role as effectively, but having well integrity as a separate entity within companies would empower it to do so.

Abandonment

Switching the conversation slightly, Ferguson turned the focus on well integrity related to abandonment. He said, “One of my concerns is how do we help customers safely abandon their wells when they need to stay abandoned. There is now an expectation that once abandoned, these wells stay that way forever. The next challenge is figuring out how to do best possible job to ensure integrity in not just in a well’s operating life but once it is abandoned also. I don’t think we will be able to just forget these wells once they are abandoned and there will be elements of risk that will continue to challenge the industry. We have a huge responsibility as we move forward as to what we categorise as well integrity.”

Abandonment remains a difficult topic for the industry as, at the bottom line, it does not return any profit. As the panellists noted, drilling wells is exciting as you then get the reward, but this is not the case with abandonment and so often it can be neglected. This is exemplified by Bloomberg projecting that more than 32 millions wells worldwide are no longer producing and awaiting proper abandonment.

To ensure these operations are carried out and, importantly, are done so in a proper way to ensure the integrity is not compromised, the panellists suggested that cost must be projected forward, so that operators can plan for these financial hit in advance rather than bear the brunt unexpectedly at the end of a well’s life. Additionally, more stringent regulations would ensure that abandonment would be a requirement, but of course the implementation of regulations varies from region to region. Ultimately, the panellists agreed, if there is an event relating to an abandoned well’s integrity, it could easily be a catastrophic event that will affect everybody, not just the local region. Therefore it is also the responsibility of the oil and gas industry, not just the regulators, to ensure the integrity and abandonments of wells is taken seriously and performed in an environmentally responsible manner.

The role of technology

The participants noted that technology has played, and will continue to play, a huge role in the well integrity sector and, in recent years, perhaps the most significant advancements have been made with AI and big data.

Ferguson said, “AI is used in just about everything else we do in day to day life, so why shouldn’t we use it to our advantage in our industry to give us a predictive view on well integrity issues. We are in the era of big data and digitalisation, and there is so much data to look at that is very easy to miss some key information. The capacity for AI to interpret data and predict well integrity issues in the future is a huge cause for optimism and I think it is going to be hugely important moving forward.”

Adel Amer commented, “One of the challenges of performing corrective actions was the unavailability of material. We had one well, for example, that had three failures and we couldn’t acquire the material to replace the faults for one and a half years. But just replying on a simple data model, we can plan ahead for such instances by seeing how many faults occurred in previous years to predict what material we will need in the future. I think more solutions like this are going to come up if we make data available to these smart minds.”

Although enormous strides have been made with digitalisation and AI the panellists noted that there were still areas for improvement which would greatly enhance well integrity capacity. For instance, Issa noted that while there is a lot of data being collected from various sources such as corrosion logs, cement logs etc, there was still not enough surveillance data being conducted. Improving this would only enhance the ability to predict issues and rapidly remediate them.

Another area of improvement is centred around data sharing. As noted, the more data available the easier it is to predict potential issues in the future and, while perhaps there is scope for acquiring more, collectively oil and gas operators hold a plethora of data from locations across the world. If companies were more visible with their data, it would enhance opportunities to rapidly remediate wells and ultimately capture value for operators.

“But this is something the industry is not keen on, sharing products and data. This hinders a lot of the opportunities that could be unlocked without really spending any money,” noted Adel Amer. “If we want to move forward in the digital era we need to exchange data and make data sets available.”

The Covid-19 effect

The panellists also turned to how Covid-19 had affected the well integrity discipline, noting that perhaps the most significant change, which will most likely last into the future, was the withdrawal on reliance from externals. For instance, Adel Amer noted that in Egypt typically the company orders a lot of materials from abroad but this was, of course, dramatically hindered by travel restrictions and so, instead, local companies began manufacturing more advanced equipment. There was also an emphasis on training to ensure that the expertise was available within companies rather than seeking it from exterior sources. Issa noted that in ADNOC the company has recently issued a well integrity e-learning which was mandatory not only for those related to the discipline but also drilling and operation etc to ensure all employees know what they should be looking for.

It was clear from the discussion that while the discipline of well integrity had taken great strides over the last few decades, things such as lack of surveillance and a reluctance to share data was holding it back. Addressing these obstacles would only enhance the field, which would ultimately lead to healthier wells with extended production lives capable of providing more value to operators and the industry.

SEAJET Systems has launched to the subsea intervention market to provide the ability for companies to own and operate the most advanced controlled flow excavation (CFE) technology without third party interference, providing a more flexible, cost-effective and efficient solution.

Established by industry leaders Hector Susman, a pioneer of industry-leading excavation equipment, and Faisel Chaudry, who has more than 15 years’ experience in the sector with Rotech Subsea, Reef Subsea and James Fisher, SEAJET offers one of the most versatile CFE systems on the market. Developed by optimising existing CFE equipment, the company’s build-to-order technology introduces advanced hydrodynamic properties suitable for a wide range of applications and variable seabed conditions. SEAJET offers a tailored aftermarket support package to inspire client confidence to own, operate and maintain their own-in-house CFE equipment.

Chaudry commented, “We’ve launched SEAJET to meet the significant demand for cable trenching and de-burial in the rapidly growing offshore wind market. In addition, the use of CFE equipment continues to escalate in the inspection, maintenance and repair, decommissioning and salvage applications across oil and gas and marine sectors. Our unique mix of expertise in this specific area of subsea intervention provides customers with a solution they can trust.”

Susman added, “Having designed 95% of the CFE tools available on the market today, with the new SEAJET excavator, I have taken all lessons learned over that 25-year period and introduced the most advanced CFE system to date. Our technology has been optimised to work in the widest range of applications and soil conditions. We have honed the real sweet spot between flow and velocity, resulting in something others cannot offer – a flexible solution with enhanced performance and a business model that has efficiency built-in at every turn.”

Headquartered in Dubai, with operations in Europe and South East Asia, the company currently employs a team of seven people. Together, the senior management team has delivered more than 30 builds of MFE/CFE systems and execution of over 600 trenching/excavation projects globally.

The rate of technological advancements is advancing, and it is pulling the oil and gas industry into new realms of digitalisation, automation, AI and more. The field has become more competitive and yet, despite this, the latest innovation from Blue Spark Energy, the wireline applied stimulation pulsing technology (the BlueSpark tool) which has the potential to radically increase the efficiency of well intervention operations, stands apart.

In a virtual webinar, Blue Spark Energy representatives Todd Parker, CEO, and Chris Grahame, VP of Sales and Marketing, presented the technology, describing it as the future of environmentally responsible wellbore interventions.

As Parker explained, the engineers at Blue Spark Energy have utilised electrical energy in a third format outside of AC or DC, high pulsed power, for application within the well intervention sector. High pulsed power is the idea of taking electricity and compressing it to be released in a very short period of time. Returning to school physics, power equals energy over time, so by reducing the time taken, the power is much higher. By example, Parker demonstrated a test in the Blue Spark Energy laboratory which used the energy equivalent to two cell phone batteries and releasing it in microseconds to generate power in the hundreds of megawatts range. The company has taken this and built a device to take electrical energy, compress it and then produce a high power output for use in the well intervention sector.

Production enhancement

So what can this technology actually do? Well, as Parker continued, “The primary application of this technology is to return oil wells to optimal production by removing blockages that could cause disruptions. The BlueSpark tool, through repeated high power pulses, can effectively remove organic and inorganic debris in production zones and reopen perforations which have been plugged either immediately after perforation or as the well has matured.”

Already Blue Spark Energy has deployed this technology in hundreds of wells across the globe and returned with some incredibly promising results. Listing some of these examples, Parker stated that in one example in the Middle East, a customer used the BlueSpark technology for two remote wells and found that the high power pulses were just as effective as coiled tubing acidisation methods and was able to more easily target specific zones. Additionally, the small footprint and ability to rapidly mobilise to the remote location (due to the small amount of equipment and personnel required) meant the BlueSpark tool produced the same result in just 10% of the time and led to an aggregate increase of 60% in oil production across the two wells.

Parker noted that the technology can be used to clear blockages across the wellbore – be that in the productive zone or the completion equipment further up – any part that has the capacity to create somewhere for debris to start building up the BlueSpark tool is effective at treating the disruption. It is also not restricted by the kind of debris that is obstructing the well, and anything from waxes, calcium carbonate or even iron sulphides can be treated. With other intervention methods you often need deeper diagnostics to ascertain what chemicals are required, for example, but all Blue Spark Energy operators need to confirm is if there is debris and where – they are not concerned with what it looks like or what it is.

To emphasise this, Parker added, “In the North Sea at an unmanned installation the operator encountered a barium sulphate scale build up in the tubing and across the surface controlled subsurface safety valve (SCSSV). Operators were unable to use conventional methods due to scale build up restrictions above the SCSSV and were therefore required to shut-in the well and set up a plug as a barrier below the SCSSV. We were able to take out a small wireline mast and within 24 hours place the technology across the SCSSV, remove the debris and put the well back into production. This was a 3500bpd producer in danger of being shut which we were able to rapidly treat without causing any damage.”

Multiple applications

In addition to cleaning screens and gravel packs in oil production, the BlueSpark tool has also been deployed for usage in other applications such as water source wells or improving geothermal efficiency, proving its versatility across the energy sector. In another case in the North Sea, Parker showed how the technology was used to improve the efficacy of decommissioning wells by removing debris to allow for a rigless type of decommissioning as opposed to section mill or something more complicated.

This technology, as Parker continued, is particularly suited when deployed by wireline tractor, and is compatible with all wireline industry equipment – if a perforating gun can be run off the wireline unit so can the BlueSpark tool. It is very transportable, able to be transferred in a helicopter for example, and is deployed in pairs to de-risk operating time. It also has an incredibly small environmental footprint, without using chemical fluids, explosives and requiring only a small amount of energy. Although the pulses are released at high power, due to the low energy used, there is no risk of damaging any equipment.

Saving money as well as the environment

After the webinar, Parker spoke to Offshore Network to shed more light on this innovative new technology and which markets the company is targeting in the future.

Parker said, “The process people are talking about a lot at the moment is the electrification of a lot of carbon intensive processes. The BlueSpark tool can become that intervention device that leads in the electrification of conventional well intervention techniques. There is no risk of creating a situation worse than you had before, no safety hazards, and finally you are reducing the carbon footprint of your intervention operations.”

Aside from the environmental and safety benefits, the BlueSpark technology also offers significant financial incentives as well. Parker added, “The costs savings mainly come from operators not having to move a rig or heavy equipment, and the ability to intervene quickly. It costs less to transport, there are less people required to move it, and it’s very fast to set up (there is no wellbore preparation). Looking from a fiscal perspective you are probably looking at being able to save more than 50% over using a conventional technique to accomplish the same result. We have case studies where we have saved customers days of operating time and millions of dollars.”

The story so far

Parker took some time to reflect on Blue Spark Energy’s journey so far which, at times, has been quite frustrating. He said, “The physics is basically high school physics, the engineering was not, so it took some time to build the tool robust, durable and slimmer to access more wellbores, but we finally had a commercial model in 2013 which we started to take around the world.”

“Unfortunately this is where you run up against the inherent conservativeness of the industry itself. From 2013 to 2018 we really faced that from a lot of operators who, broadly speaking were interested in new technology but really struggled to introduce it as it is radically changing their intervention, not changing a small part of it such as introducing a type of chemical. It took us a few years to get some customers to where they were comfortable making that change.”

Currently Blue Spark Energy has quite a large capacity, after deploying to more projects and manufacturing more assets to meet demand. It has ongoing projects in Nigeria, Denmark, Norway, the UK, Malaysia and the Middle East and, to date, has completed over 600 projects across the world working with a variety of clients such as Exxonmobil, Chevron, Shell, Equinor and more. Across the thousands of well descents attempted by the technology, it boasts a 99.6% operating efficiency and rarely creates downtime for customers. As there is a small amount of equipment and capex required to perform an operation, it is a relatively easy fleet to maintain. Additionally, as there are no complicated moving parts and the supply chain is quite simple, it is an extremely scalable business.

Looking ahead

Turning to the future, Parker commented, “Covid had an impact on business, 2020 was not our best year but it was our second best year. Now there is a tremendous backlog of wells that require maintenance and people want to do it rapidly and effectively, so we are envisioning a big uptake in activity in the short term. We think it is an opportunity for a lot of customers to see the benefit of this technology.”

Parker continued, “We want to continue to operate in logistically challenged regions, that is the easy argument. In some regions such as Africa, the Middle East, and Far East it is hard to get equipment to these locations, so why not try something radically different that is easy to get there.”

“The second dimension is we are still discovering additional applications. People are coming to us and asking, can we do it for this or use it for this purpose and we are continually refining the technology. So while there is a geographic spread there is also some technical growth we are seeing as well. Being able to help the decommissioning process, for example, to more effectively cut off any methane leaks in the future is exciting, as it is a big topic which at the moment has tremendous costs for operators. We are starting to get some real interesting air time in that space.”

Welltec has announced the agreement of a long-form contract (LFC) with Saudi Aramco which, following an extensive approval process, will see Welltec deliver completion products and services across the Saudi Aramco portfolio in any environment.

“Welltec began installing WAB metal expandable packers for Saudi Aramco in 2014 as part of a technology trial, and the award of a LFC demonstrates how far we’ve progressed since then,” said Kevin Wood, Well Completions Sales Director for Welltec Middle East.

Wood added, “Confirmation of this award represents a major step in our partnership with Saudi Aramco which also enables us to continue along the path of exemplary service quality in the execution of completions. With more products being qualified through Saudi Aramco this year, and the addition of an in-country Welltec manufacturing facility, it’s greatly appreciated that Welltec have been recognised through this award.”

More to come?

The approval procedure for this agreement has been extensive and thorough, and such a high standard of qualification brings with it the benefit of an expedited process for the establishment of future agreements between the two companies.

Hani Sagr, Area Vice President for Welltec Middle East, explained, “The LFC is the highest level of contract in the Saudi Aramco procurement processes. It provides the best possible foundation for the provision of our technology and services to Saudi Aramco, enabling us to continue growing our partnership as well as our overall presence in the region.”

“The qualification process included a number of site visits, inspections and audits, with full and detailed reports covering the entire Welltec organisation with particular focus on our manufacturing process,” added Sagr, who also noted that it was in December 2018 when proceedings began in earnest.

“This is not only an excellent recognition of the great teamwork between Welltec and Aramco, it also highlights our commitment to the IKTVA programme geared towards in-Kingdom value creation,” Sagr concluded.

The combination of this award and the continued expansion of in-house manufacturing at local level serves as an excellent platform for the future and continued growth in neighbouring countries. The agreement also comes in a strong period for Welltec which has seen an admirable financial period in the face of Covid-19, the penning of deals with companies such as Petronas, and a change of executive who has promised to expand the company’s business potential to new heights. To read more on Welltec’s progress, click here.

Aquaterra Energy, a leader in global offshore engineering solutions, has secured a five-year deal with a major Middle Eastern operator to provide green and brownfield riser analysis so that, combined with other recent project wins in the Middle East, the company will now deliver an estimated UK£1mn of riser analysis work over the five-year period.

Acting as a primary riser analysis supplier, Aquaterra Energy will manage and deliver multiple scopes of long-term work using its in-house analysis teams. Located in Abu Dhabi and Qatar, the contracts incorporate a wide range of recurring brownfield riser analysis projects, with future greenfield opportunities. The brownfield platform modification projects include slot recovery, slot addition and assisting development of inspection programme of existing conductors.

Coping with ageing infrastructure

Martin Harrop, Riser Analysis Manager at Aquaterra Energy, commented, "With the region shifting its focus to ageing infrastructure, there is a growing appetite for experienced riser analysts amongst operators. As the operations are often non-standard, we have been working closely with our client's engineers to find solutions to challenging operational concerns. Our analysis has generated many cost-saving, operational and decarbonisation benefits for our clients in the region.”

Andrew McDowell, Operations Director at Aquaterra Energy, added, “The Middle East is embarking on its next stage as an oil and gas producing region. Operators are now continuing to invest in new projects but also finding themselves with a glut of legacy assets coming to end-of-life from earlier generations of investment. To safely and efficiently maximise output, our expert riser analysts are perfectly placed to support operators with both green and brownfield projects. With a long-term contract in place, I see this as the start of a major period of growth for us in the region.”

Al Gihaz Contracting, part of Al Gihaz Holding, has announced its acquisition of assets, intellectual property and the management systems of Enshore Subsea, a UK-based subsea trenching company, providing seabed intervention services to major projects across industries around the world.

The acquisition will see the creation of a new joint venture with the aim of forming a leading seabed intervention and construction management services provider. The joint venture will rely on the acquired specialised assets of the company, the skilled team and the company’s successful track record of completed projects to aid the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s drive to generate 58.7GW of clean energy by 2030 as part of the Saudi Vision 2030.

Sami Alangari, Group Vice Chairman of Al Gihaz Holding commented, “With this acquisition, Enshore Subsea will benefit from the technical and financial expertise of Al Gihaz Contracting, which for many years has been a leading power and manufacturing services provider locally and internationally. We will be able to provide competitive, resilient and diverse services to cover projects globally, and in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This investment is in line with the Vision 2030 of the Kingdom and will pave the way for a strong involvement of the Group in this field.”

Enshore Subsea

Enshore Subsea will be based out of the existing operational facility in the port of Blyth in the UK, which is supported by a skills base that facilitates the supply of services into the global offshore seabed intervention market. Services will include subsea engineering and construction management, skilled manpower supply and equipment rental for subsea trenching, seabed intervention, development of seabed tooling technology and submarine flexible product installation. The expertise of the existing management and operational teams from Enshore Subsea will remain with the joint venture.

Pierre Boyde, Managing Director of Enshore Subsea, said, “I am delighted that through this cooperation with Al Gihaz, we are able to take the company forward with a sustainable cost base, renewed energy and focus on our areas of expertise. We aim to be the Contractor’s contractor of choice, supporting seabed intervention projects worldwide.”

International trade has been severely impacted over the last week after the Ever Given container vessel ran aground amid high winds and a standstorm in the Suez Canal, effectively shutting off the important maritime route, but now service has resumed as the vessel has finally been pulled free.

It is estimated that around 12% of total globe trade passes through the Suez Canal each year, and the effective sealing off of the channel has caused widespread disruption which has left few industries unaffected: it has been suggested that around US$9.6bn worth of goods has been held up each day. For the oil and gas sector, it was another setback after a challenging period which has seen hydrocarbon prices plummet over the last year. Although oil is still set for a fourth quarterly gain, the disruption in the Suez Canal provoked a dip in prices with West Texas Intermediate falling as much as 2.5% and Brent also falling.

Unwedging the Ever Given was no easy feat. With the vessel measuring nearly 400m and weighing almost 220,000 tons it was not a case of a simple manoeuvring operations once it became stuck. After nearly a week of continued efforts, in the early hours of Monday 29 March, thanks to the efforts of Egyptian and international salvage teams, the stern was finally freed. However, as was warned at the time, there was still much to do as the bow was still stuck rock-solid.

However, after achieving refloating once the tide had risen, efforts were redoubled and the Ever Given was fully dislodged on Monday afternoon (GMT). With the ship free to continue on its journey, traffic can finally flow once again after six days of holding, although it will take some time to clear the backlog of, according to Leth Agencies, more than 360 ships awaiting passage (some estimates suggest this could take up to 4-5 days). However the worst has been overcome, and the relentless efforts of the salvage crews and onshore workers to free the ship has surely saved several more days of disrupted maritime trade.

Saipem, a leading company in the engineering, drilling and construction of major projects in the energy and infrastructure sectors, has been awarded a contract from Qatargas worth more than US$1bn related to the North Field Production Sustainability Pipelines Project located offshore and onshore the Qatar peninsula.

The contract (EPCL package) entails the engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) of offshore export trunklines and related onshore tie-in works and is part of the development of the North Field production plateau, which also includes the EPCI of offshore facilities (“EPCO” package) previously awarded to Saipem in February.

The scope of work for this award (EPCL package) includes three export trunklines starting from their respective offshore platforms to the Qatargas North and South Plants in Ras Laffan Industrial City for a total length of almost 300 km, as well as associated onshore tie-in works and brownfield activities on existing onshore and offshore facilities. Pipelaying operations will be executed by the DE HE and Saipem Endeavour vessels.

Stefano Porcari, Saipem E&C Offshore Division COO, commented, “This additional contract awarded by our key client Qatargas strengthens our consolidated relationship and represents a further proof of the trust in Saipem’s ability to deliver challenging projects and is a sign of success of our positioning strategy in Qatar. We are very proud to increase our contribution to such a strategic development for the country.”

Double haul for Saipem

This agreement is an expansion of the US$1.7bn contract awarded by Qatargas to Saipem for the EPCI of various offshore facilities for the extraction and transportation of natural gas, including platforms supporting and connecting structures, subsea cables and anticorrosion internally cladded pipelines. The agreement also included the decommissioning of a pipeline and other significant modifications to existing offshore facilities.

Saipem will enhance the overall project execution, comprising both EPCO and EPCL scope of work, by combining relevant planned schedules and project management. Once completed the project aims at increasing the early gas field production capacity to 110mn tonnes per annum. Saipem will start activities immediately and project completion is expected by mid-2024.