Latest News

• Region: North Sea
• Date: May, 2023

TechnipFMC has been awarded a significant contract by Equinor to provide riserless light well intervention (RLWI) services on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

The two-year contract (valued between US$75 and US$250mn as per TechnipFMC’s definition of significant) runs from 2024 to 2025, with options to extend for each of the three subsequent years. TechnipFMC will provide production enhancement, production data, and pre-plug-and-abandonment services to Equinor using the RLWI method.

RLWI enables well interventions from a monohull vessel, eliminating the need for a riser and the rig required to connect the riser to the subsea well. Instead, remotely operated Well Control Systems are used to facilitate operations on the seabed. This reduces cost and complexity, increases efficiency, and accelerates the timeframe for increased production.

Jonathan Landes, President, Subsea at TechnipFMC, commented, “TechnipFMC has been providing RLWI services to Equinor since 2006. Over that period, the average duration of an intervention has been reduced by nearly two-thirds thanks to improvements in process and technology, aided by the collaborative relationship with Equinor’s dedicated RLWI team. It is a pleasure to continue developing that relationship as we help our client meet demand for energy.”

• Region: North Sea
• Topics: Decommissioning
• Date: May, 2023

Elemental Energies has added to its extensive portfolio through the acquisition of Norwell Engineering (North Sea Well Engineering).

This is the second acquisition for Elemental Energies in just five months after it acquired Vysus Senergy Wells, a subsidiary of Vysus Group in December 2022. These are part of a series of strategic acquisitions to cement its position as the leading wells-focused energy consultancy.

The latest deal will increase the company’s total workforce from 75 to 105. Current clients will continue to be supported by the same long-term engineering specialists.

Elemental Energies’ Chairman, Martyn Fear, commented, “Norwell Engineering is a fantastic addition to our business. Their unrivalled experience in delivering major wells projects around the world further strengthens our capability and expands the opportunities to partner with operators, EPCs and other service companies. Their team has delivered more wells than any other independent consultancy, and decommissioned more wells than any of their peers. This impressive track record and reputation for excellence combined with our own extensive in-house capabilities now gives us a competitive edge on a global scale.”

Iain Adams, Managing Director of Norwell Engineering, added, "I’m extremely proud of our team at Norwell Engineering. Over the last three decades we have delivered many industry firsts and been behind multiple flagship projects from drilling wells in world record water depths to delivering more than 500 project managed wells globally since 1989. As we look to the future and how our world-leading expertise can support the transition of the energy sector through decommissioning and to low carbon, joining Elemental Energies is a natural fit and we look forward to integrating our teams to provide best-in-class, independent engineering and project management across oil & gas, decommissioning, CCUS and geothermal projects.”

Elemental Energies is currently working on a number of energy projects including a landmark carbon capture and storage project for the INEOS-led Greensand project, a number of major decommissioning campaigns in both the UK and Middle East, and multiple deepwater field development projects.

Established in 1989, Norwell Engineering has become the go-to wells specialist for large-scale and challenging projects. It has built a reputation supporting governments, regulators and the largest IOCs in delivering expert, independent advice. It has also built a leading reputation in decommissioning, completing its first dedicated well decommissioning project in 1996 and currently acting as project managers for both wells and facilities decommissioning on the UAQ field decommissioning campaign, offshore UAE.

Michael Dafforn, Director of Elemental Energies, remarked, “Elemental is committed to engineering the energy transition, and the expert team from Norwell Engineering will form an integral part of our ambition to build the leading independent consultancy for wells projects, across upstream, decommissioning and low carbon around the world.

“The Norwell team has earned an enviable reputation for successfully managing the largest and most challenging wells projects for clients around the world over the past 34 years, and we are delighted to welcome their wealth of expertise, team and clients to the company.”

• Region: Middle East
• Date: May, 2023

Saipem has been awarded two new offshore contracts, one for an Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation (EPCI) project in the Black Sea and one for decommissioning activities in the North Sea, with the total value amounting to approximately US$850mn.

The first contract was assigned by Turkish Petroleum OTC for the second phase of the Sakarya FEED and EPCI Project, and entails the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of a 16” pipeline, 175 km long at 2,200 m water depth in the Turkish Black Sea Waters. The offshore operation will begin in summer 2024 and will be conducted by Saipem’s flagship vessel, Castorone.

The other contract has been assigned by EnQuest Heather Ltd. for the decommissioning of the existing Thistle A Platform located in the UK sector of the North Sea. Saipem’s activities will include the engineering, preparation, removal and disposal of the jacket and topsides, with possible extension to further subsea facilities. The services will be carried out by the Saipem 7000, one of the largest semi-submersible heavy-lifting vessels currently in the world.

Fabrizio Botta, Saipem Chief Commercial Officer, said, “These important awards demonstrate Saipem’s excellent competitive positioning in the Offshore Engineering & Construction market a sector that is experiencing a full expansion momentum of which Saipem is ready to seize the opportunities.

“The contract awarded in the Black Sea is a confirmation of Siapem’s prominent positioning and of its long-standing relationship with the clients. The North Sea contract, finally, is a further example of Saipem’s capabilities in a segment where the combination of innovative engineering, unique assets and safe operations is crucial.”

• Region: Australia
• Topics: Decommissioning
• Date: May, 2023

Helix Energy Solutions’ Q7000 vessel has berthed in Port Taranaki to carry out a crew exchange and load up on supplies before heading to complete the third stage of the Tui oil field decommissioning campaign, which is set to take approximately three months to complete.

Port Taranaki’s head of commercial, Ross Dingle, said the port was pleased to support the project, having also provided berthing services and laydown facilities for the first two stages.

Port Taranaki is working with New Plymouth-headquartered energy consultancy, Elemental Group, which is providing project management assistance of New Zealand operations for Helix Energy Solutions.

Nick Jackson, Elemental Group Director, said, “All up, there will be a team of more than 100 on the Q7000, over half being Kiwis and Aussies in operations roles working alongside the Helix crews, as well as several specialist roles, such as wireline and cementing.

“We’re excited to be a part of the project. I worked on some of the original Tui exploration wells, so it’s nice to be involved in restoring the mauri of the area.”

• Region: Gulf of Mexico
• Date: May, 2023

C-Innovation (C-I), an affiliate of Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) and its family of companies, has announced the completion of its 46th well intervention in the Gulf of Mexico.

C-I, a leader in providing turnkey intervention services for the global subsea industry, also successfully completed three new riserless zone perforations, an industry first in both deepwater and high-pressure operations. The well intervention programme provides increased efficiency along with faster response times for emergent situations through the quick mobilisation and deployment of a vessel. C-I specialises in downhole operations, including production injection and integrity logging, caliper measurements, and setting water shut-off and zone bypass plugs. With more well intervention operations planned for 2023, C-I has played a pivotal role in increasing output for operators in the Gulf of Mexico.

George Wilson, Riserless Light Well Intervention Project Manager, C-I, said, “We are very proud to be a part of increasing oil production in this challenging geo-political climate. Riserless interventions on vessels offer both time and cost advantages over riser interventions. C-I’s programme offers the added benefit of dedicated dock space with advanced fluid tracking for faster between-well maintenance.”

C-I’s well intervention programme, which made its debut in 2017, has performed 31 hydraulic interventions and 15 mechanical interventions. The mechanical interventions included a total of 85 successful wireline runs, both e-line and slickline. C-I recently completed its longest mechanical intervention on board the vessel, Island Venture. With 79 days offshore, the operation included 22 e-line and slickline runs, as well as 22,205 barrels of fluid pumped into the well.

Wilson added, “C-I is a fully integrated service provider for our clients. Our turnkey solutions for well interventions alleviate the hassle of coordinating and managing the multitude of subcontractors needed to address complex jobs."

• Region: Gulf of Mexico
• Topics: Decommissioning
• Date: May, 2023

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have suggested the cost of permanently plugging and abandoning the inactive oil and gas wells across the waters near Alabama, Louisiana and Texas could be upwards of US$30bn.

A paper released in the Nature Energy journal stated the area is home to 14,000 inactive wells that have not produced for five years and are unlikely to be reactivated in the region that has become the epicentre of US offshore oil and gas operations.

Leaks from wells closer to shore are more likely to damage ecosystems and release GHG emissions compared to deepwater wells. Studies have found that more than 90% of inactive wells are in shallow waters, and the costs to perform P&A services on those alone would be US$7.6bn.

The findings could help states makes decisions regarding their clean-up priorities, especially as US$4.7bn in federal funding has been authorised by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Liability falls to prior owners to plug and abandon wells in federal waters if the current owners become insolvent and are unable to cover costs. Large US oil companies currently own or have previously owned 88% of the wells in federal Gulf of Mexico waters and would legally shoulder the P&A liabilities.

However, in individual state waters, each jurisdiction handles liability differently, and prior ownership isn’t relevant. States oversee plugging programmes for orphaned wells whose owners have claimed bankruptcy.

“The bulk of the cost comes from plugging wells in deeper water where the environmental consequences are less than for shallow wells closer to shore,” said Mark Agerton, an Assistant Professor at UC Davis and lead author of the paper published.

“That money is probably better spent on state waters where they can’t go after prior owners for clean-up costs and it’s going to be a cheaper clean-up job with more environmental benefit.”

• Region: All
• Topics: Integrity
• Date: May, 2023

Saipem has been crowned the winner of the 2023 Spotlight on New Technology Award by Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) for its FlatFish Autonomous Underwater Inspection Drone.

The award is assigned by OTC for those who revolutionise the future of offshore energy through technological advancement and innovation. For this year’s Spotlight on New Technology award, Saipem was among the 15 technologies and 13 companies selected from around the world. The winners are selected against five key criteria: the technology’s novelty in the marketplace, innovativeness, demonstrated success, broad commercial appeal, and ability to make a significant impact across the offshore community.

FlatFish is an advanced underwater inspection drone which aims to inspect and monitor complex subsea infrastructures in an innovative and safe manner, from shallow waters down to 3,000mwd. The drone features an advanced AI-based control system and navigation features combined with state-of-the-art inspection capabilities which have been demonstrated in a deepwater pilot project executed at almost 1,800mwd offshore Brazil with the support of Shell Brasil, Saipem, Senai CIMATEC and Petrobras.

FlatFish is also part of the Hydrone platform, a ground-breaking subsea robotics programme conceived to support remote, vessel-free operations in order to reduce costs, risks and environmental impact of offshore operations, boasting 90% fewer CO2 emissions compared to conventional ROV services.

Mauro Piasere, Chief Operating Officer of Saipem’s Robotics and Industrialised Solutions Business Line, said, “This prestigious award is a testament to Saipem’s commitment to the development of cutting-edge solutions for the offshore energy market, namely for subsea asset integrity and security surveillance, enabling further cost efficiency and decarbonisation efforts for all future subsea developments for our energy clients.”

• Region: All
• Date: May, 2023

Nauticus Robotics, a developer of autonomous robots using artificial intelligence (AI) for data collection and intervention services, has been awarded a US$2.7mn contract extension with Leidos Holdings.

The extension allows for the continued development of Aquanaut-derivative in preparation for customer adoption decisions and government opportunities expected this year.

The subsea platform is an unmanned underwater vehicle (UAV) with advanced AI and sensing capabilities. It can perform a growing number of jobs without posing a hazard to human divers. The programme has now received US$14.5mn from Leidos since 2022 and the technology is expected to underpin major future opportunities.

Like the Aquanaut, the derivative robot features technology to support security activities and is advancing to complete more challenging missions. The award allows further autonomous behaviour and operational capability enhancements to toolkit, Nauticus’ proprietary software package developed to enable an ecosystem of autonomous actions for subsea vehicles and services as the foundation for this work.

Nicolaus Radford, founder and CEO of Nauticus, commented, "I am very proud of our team's performance resulting in this follow on award, further cementing our partnership with Leidos. This very important work combines great attributes from each company to deploy a truly novel subsea capability."

• Region: North Sea
• Date: May, 2023

Subsea intervention technology specialist, Interventek, has agreed to supply a complete set of 20,000psi open-water well intervention shear and seal values to Trendsetter Engineering Inc.

The agreement allows Trendsetter exclusive global rights to deploy the 5-1/8” open-water valves for the next five years, with the first set to be delivered later this year.

The 20K Revolution valves are designed as a compact, modular addition for lightweight subsea intervention systems. They will provide the safety-critical well control function within Trendsetter’s new 20K Trident Subsea Intervention System, which is scheduled for the first field operations on a high pressure, high temperature (HPHT) subsea completion and intervention campaign in the Gulf of Mexico.  

Interventek has previously supplied Trendsetter with serval 15,000psi Open-Water Revolution Valves, which were successfully deployed on multiple campaigns using its 15k Trident Intervention Systems.

Tony Kitchener, Sales and Marketing Director at Interventek, said, “Our new 20k Open Water Revolution Valves is leading the way in HPHT subsea well intervention safety. Qualified to rigorous API-17G and API 17TR8 standards, the valve maintains the superior cutting and resilient sealing capability that our unique technology is known for, delivering a future-proof solution for today’s operators.

“Our Revolution design is flexible and scalable so, with Trendsetter’s valuable and long-standing collaboration, it was natural for us to push ahead together to deliver the world’s first open-water HPHT intervention solution.”

Mike Cargol, Vice President of Services at Trendsetter, commented, “Interventek’s compact and high-performing Revolution valve is the ideal choice for our range of lightweight and modular Trident intervention systems. This technology is the key to achieving a reliable HPHT solution with around a 60% size and weight saving compared to other offerings.

“The result is a robust system which can be reconfigured to support hydraulic, riserless or open-water risered interventions and mobilised quickly on a broad range of vessels with minimal modifications. The bottom line for the operator is enhanced safety, rapid responses, increased operational efficiency and reduced costs.”

• Region: North Sea
• Topics: Decommissioning
• Date: May, 2023

Perenco and Petrodec, a decommissioning services specialist, has announced that the A2D platform topside – located in the Amethyst Field, UKCS – has been safely removed for final dismantling.

The operation was successfully conducted using Petrodec’s patented ‘skidding’ technique deployed by its dedicated jack-up the ‘ERDA’ in the southern North Sea. With a weight of 1,179 tons, this was the heaviest Amethyst topside to have been removed so far.

The news follows the Hydrocarbon Safe (HCS) Campaign on all platforms and brine flushing of intra-field and export pipelines, the plug and abandon of all platform wells, and the removal of C1D, B1D and A2D topsides with a combined total topsides weight of 2,900 tons. The final operations to remove the topsides and four steel jackets of platform A1D are scheduled from January 2024.

The Amethyst field was one of the later-life assets acquired by Perenco from BP in 2012 as part a package of SNS assets. Perenco subsequently consolidated its position to 100% on Amethyst by acquiring the participating interests of Centrica and Murphy Oil in licences P.005, P.030, P.050 and P.133. Amethyst consisted of four conventional fixed jacket wellhead structures with helipads and cranes installed.

The platforms A1D, A2D, B1D and C1D had six or nine slots, and six or seven producing wells. The field stopped producing in 2020, following which Perenco UK started the application for decommissioning operations in collaboration with Petrodec.

Rainier Verhulst, Petrodec’s General Manager, said, “The successful and safe skidding operation to remove the heaviest topside to date exemplifies Petrodec’s technical ingenuity as a decommissioning specialist, bringing together the technical expertise of a contractor and the reliability of a decommissioning operator.

“It also clearly highlights Perenco’s integrated approach to late-life assets, first extending the production lifespan of assets by operational efficiencies and investment, then developing innovative and fit-for-purpose solutions to safely decommission the facilities. I would like to thank all of those involved.”

• Region: Latin America
• Topics: Decommissioning, Integrity
• Date: 28 April 2023

Brazil has posed itself as one of the key drivers in the Latin American market that is driving the region's growth in the international oil and gas game. A net oil importer until 2014, Brazil has become the top producer in Latin America in 2016, and since then has enjoyed uncontested leadership in the region. While this represents a great opportunity for the region’s oil and gas sector, from the operators to service providers supporting them, there is a looming decommissioning wave on the horizon. 

The global oil market has been witness to many ups and downs since the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic. Far from stability, it has weathered a persistent conflict in eastern Europe; re-emergence of Covid-19 in China; major, consecutive price cuts by OPEC+ nations, and a global uptake on renewable activity. The IEA, however, has indicated that oil demand would remain steady until it reaches a peak in the mid-2030’s at 103mn bpd before beginning to plateau. It predicted that despite the global energy mix changing to accommodate the surgence of renewable practices coming to the forefront, fossil fuels will still hold a 60% share within the energy game until at least mid-century. 

The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) in Brazil has big plans on drawing investment to the country's petroleum sector. It will be focusing on the various ways to drive exploration in frontier areas and call for investments in mature, as well as marginal, economic fields. Owing to these ambitious goals, there is a dual opportunity for both greenfield development and production enhancement through well intervention.

Besides the active role of Petrobras on advancing the country’s oil and gas industry, new players are also emerging as the state-owned Brazilian Petroleum Company has been passing on its mature assets to several entities from BW Energy to Trident over the last few years. Petrobras itself has plans to decommission 26 of its floating platforms, with the P-32 asset scheduled to begin the process this year.

On the other hand, high marketed utilisation rates of offshore rigs, especially in Latin America following the eastern European conflict, led to a supply chain gridlock. While many operators are considering collaboration between companies in order to use the same vessel for their respective assets, logistically, that process could also present challenges. 

Another challenge in the well intervention industry lies in tackling the high costs involved in the process. This has resulted in the popularity of a slightly more fresh-faced method – riserless light well intervention (RLWI). Used instead of heavier vessels, this has the potential to significantly reduce cost of operations and minimise environmental impact – an increasingly pressing concern for operators.

• Region: North Sea
• Topics: Decommissioning
• Date: Apr, 2023

Well-Safe Solutions, a contractor which offers the complete package for well decommissioning, has unveiled a D300 saturation diving system aboard the Well-Safe Guardian rig.

The addition, makes the semi-submersible the only one of its type in the North Sea with this capability.

The custom-built dive spread, with capacity for up to 15 persons, enables safe access to legacy subsea wellhead and christmas tree systems from the 1970s onwards which were originally designed for diver intervention.

“With 48% of overall decommissioning expenditure in 2022 focused on well abandonment alone, Well-Safe Solutions has identified a clear market in mature basins such as the UK Continental Shelf for this technology,” commented Phil Milton, Chief Executive Officer at Well-Safe Solutions.

“The dive spread system installed on the Well-Safe Guardian is a cost-effective, flexible alternative to the industry standard, which typically sees a light well intervention vessel (LWIV) used to plug and lubricate the well before completing decommissioning operations with a standard semi-submersible mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU).

“Our ‘single asset solution’ offers an alternative to the conventional approach and does not require multiple vessel mobilisations and demobilisations. This results in lower operating costs, minimises the risk of weather-related disruption and boosts overall project efficiency.”

Milton explained that comparative analysis studies have demonstrated the value this solution can bring to the wider decommissioning industry as it streamlines processes and costs alike.

“Our data shows that the use of the Well-Safe Guardian to plug and abandon (P&A) five wells over three fields in the North Sea generates a 15% total cost reduction and is 44 days quicker than using a LWIV and MODU pairing,” continued Milton. “We are delighted to be able to bring this solution to market as part of our vision to become the industry’s well decommissioning partner of choice.”

The manufacture, transport and fitment of the dive spread was carried out at Burntisland, Rosyth and Methil ports on the east coast of Scotland.

The system is designed to enable diving operations to be carried out in support of well decommissioning. Typical operations supported include cleaning, deconstruction, barrier testing, manual tree cap removal, reconfiguration of hydraulic controls and flowline removal.

Following further systems integration and testing, the Well-Safe Guardian will mobilise early summer 2023, returning to the Buchan field operated by Repsol Sinopec Resources UK to plug and abandon nine wells using the saturation dive system, the Trident well intervention system and the blow out preventer, realising the full potential of this single asset solution. UK-based RockSalt Subsea will support Well-Safe Solutions with diving services and personnel during all saturated diving operations from the Well-Safe Guardian.

David Whitehouse, Chief Executive Officer of Offshore Energies UK, added, “The UK offshore energy industry has a long history of developing world-class solutions to the challenges it has faced and continues to face.

“This latest development and adoption of technology on the Well-Safe Guardian from Well-Safe Solutions shows an absolute commitment to drive forward innovation to improve efficiency for the plug and abandonment of wells. These efficiency improvements will also have a positive impact on safety and environmental performance.

“After 50 years of operating in the North Sea, this level of dedication to UK innovation is important as we continue to meet the UK’s energy needs using home grown jobs, skills and technology.”