Rovco has successfully completed a contract awarded by Well-Safe Solutions to support its plug and abandonment and decommissioning operations in the southern North Sea.
Rovco provided Well-Safe Solutions with field survey operations, to ensure the safe and efficient decommissioning of a platform which ceased production in 2015. Last year, Well-Safe Solutions signed an agreement with Ithaca Energy to plug and abandon six wells on the platform and work will continue to be carried out by the company this year.
The project utilised the VOS Star, on charter from Vroon, equipped as standard with Seaeye Leopard work-class ROVs, fitted with multi-beam echo sounders, the highest quality 4K stereo cameras, manipulators, recovery basket and photogrammetry technology to carry out specialist hydrographic surveys and underwater asset inspections.
As part of the project, the company supported the client with debris survey and clearance solutions in water depths of 20 to 30 metres, as well as habitat characterisation surveys to mitigate risk and eliminate uncertainty about seabed conditions prior to the client deploying a jack-up vessel at the site.
Using its innovative SubSLAM X2 technology, Rovco also performed jacket inspection operations, providing the client with highly detailed 3D models of the platform footings to precisely identify any scouring across the structure.
Powered by sister company Vaarst, SubSLAM X2 produces 3D reconstructions of underwater assets in real-time, from which users can take measurements with sub-millimetric accuracy. Mounted on an ROV, travelling dynamically at general visual inspection speed, SubSLAM’s ability to zoom in, rotate and fly means that it can provide full coverage of a structure from all angles, as well as the seabed and surrounding environment.
Simon Miller, Chief Revenue Officer at Rovco, commented, “Being awarded a second contract with Well-Safe Solutions underlines their confidence in Rovco’s proven track-record.
“Accurate data sets from subsea surveys and inspections is key to the safety and efficiency of their operations and they know they can rely on our people and our technology to provide the highest quality data in real-time.”
“We’re pleased to be able to play a continuing role in decommissioning and the energy transition in the North Sea, supporting Well-Safe Solutions in its quest to safely and cost-efficiently plug and abandon wells in the Southern North Sea.”
This is the second contract that Rovco has secured with Well-Safe Solutions, having previously performed survey work on an abandoned subsea wellhead in UK waters in 2021.
As sanctions against Russia increase by the day, Europe has been thrust into a position of vulnerability as supply disruptions become a threat to the region’s oil market. However, as West Africa ramps up its production numbers, especially within Nigeria, the region may be the saving grace needed for European imports. Accordingly, Nigeria alone is expected to capitalise on its 37 billion barrels of crude oil reserves in order to expand its exports into Europe.
It is no secret that the global oil market hasn’t experienced a notion of stability over the last couple of years, as both the Covid-19 pandemic and the geopolitical situation across eastern Europe tipped the proverbial scales from one extreme to another in quick succession. In a two-year period, the price of oil ranged from the historic lows of US$21.87 (WTI) to the staggering heights of US$122.11 (WTI). Thankfully, the price has now plateaued to remain in the region of a healthy US$80, but given the turbulence of the last few years, the future remains uncertain.
What is certain, however, is that even with the increased vigour placed on alternative energy sources and supporting the energy transition, renewable energy still has a long way to go until it can meet the global energy demand, meaning that at least for the next few decades, oil and gas is here to stay. As the demand for energy continues to soar, the gauntlet falls to individual regions increasing their production levels and making their own stamp on the global oil market. This change in focus gives the West African region a prime opportunity to take its place among the big hitters, especially as focus has turned into using marginal fields to up production. In 2020, 57 marginal fields became accessible for local companies to start production work on, tapping into the reported one billion barrels of oil that lie within.
With increased production, however, comes an increased demand for vessels to complete the scope of work. Once the pandemic neared its end and production returned in full force, the demand for vessels grew tenfold, creating a bottleneck in supply. It wasn’t only the demand for vessels which grew exponentially, but extreme inflation levels of up to 21% in Nigeria meant the cost of the vessels grew as well. It became not only a situation of sourcing a vessel, but sourcing an affordable one. Even with the strong presence of service providers Helix and TechnipFMC in the region, there is still a huge backlog of projects awaiting attention.
What has become apparent in the region is that collaboration between sectors is a necessity. As the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act (the ‘Local Content Act’) highlights the importance of self-sufficiency in the global oil landscape, priority of the marginal wells is now given to indigenous companies as opposed to international/multinational operators. With that in mind, local companies will need to rely on the expertise presented in other sectors to fully exploit the potential in these wells if they want to utilise the resources to their fullest.
The OWI EU 2023 conference is just around the corner, coming to Abderdeen from April 25-26, and looks to be back bigger and better than ever in order to capitalise on the breadth of opportunities being presented by companies across the entire well lifecycle.
Building on the success of last year’s first face-to-face format after the pandemic, Offshore Network’s flagship conference has undergone a complete revamp to maximise its offerings to its clients in order to promote the most valuable elements OWI EU has to show.
One of the biggest changes to the conference this year is that of the technology showcase hall, where the largest expo in the event’s history will be held, doubling in size to allow the most diverse technologies and services on the market to be demonstrated. This makes way for exhibitors such as Helix, TechnipFMC and Welltec to have the opportunity to showcase their innovations to regional, major and independent European operators.
Another key highlight at OWI EU 2023 is the new ‘Consult an Operator’ feature, where organisations can hear about a current challenge Shell and BP are facing, and then have the chance to book a closed-door appointment with the operators to pitch a solution. As well as there, there are ample opportunities for networking across the 10 sessions which are incorporated into the agenda, especially as 35% of the registered delegates are major, independent or national operators. These session also include a dedicated drinks reception, courtesy of IWCF and in celebration of Offshore Network’s 10th birthday party.
With this year’s tagline ‘Evolving the industry: Unlock the value of your well stock by utilising revolutionary production enhancement, well integrity and P&A tech in line with regulatory guidance and current market dynamics to exceed goals’ – OWI EU 2023 is set on aiding the necessary steps forward into implementing a more efficient and sustainable roadmap for transformation within the industry.
For more information and session details, the full brochure can be downloaded here. Any questions regarding the conference please reach out to Isobel Singh at
This year’s OWI Middle East and North Africa (OWI MENA 2023) conference promises to be grand affair as sights are set to broaden the format and shine the spotlight towards operators in the Gulf and North Africa equally.
With the tagline of this year’s conference being ‘future-proof your intervention projects to exceed environmental targets and optimise well programmes by utilising transformative digital and downhole technologies’, OWI MENA is the only place to offer key learnings to the well intervention community in order to the build the best roadmap for future growth.
Constantly evolving and growing, OWI MENA 2023 boasts the largest roster of speakers to date, with 20 operator speakers set to lead discussions on key topics such as market status, sustainable well programmes, well integrity, innovative technologies and end of life. Speakers include representatives from ADNOC, Shell, bp, Aramco, and many more.
After taking on board client feedback, there is a huge appetite within the community to hear from North African operators, and this year there is a dedicated spotlight session for the region. OWI MENA 2023 will also exhibit two networking sessions, three breakout workshops and more than 12 demos in the Innovative Technology Showcase Hall in order to further promote collaboration between delegates. 40% of attendance will be from major, independent or national operators, as well as 35 % from expert technology providers, meaning there is ample opportunity to expand individual networks.
For more information and session details, the full brochure can be downloaded here. Any questions regarding the conference please reach out to Rachael Brand at
Well-Safe Solutions has signed a multi-year framework agreement with Apache Corporation (now a subsidiary of APA Corporation) to decommission wells in the North Sea, as part of the company’s Plug and Abandonment Club offering.
The deal will provide Apache with access to the specialist decommissioning assets Well-Safe Defender and Well-Safe Guardia to complete the P&A work on its well stock.
Chris Hay, Director of Strategy and Business Development, Well-Safe Solutions, said, “We are ready to assist Apache with its well decommissioning requirements, affording it the flexibility to book its wells into our campaigns when required.
“Our multi-well, multi-operator P&A Clubs give our clients cost certainty and leverage the cumulative experience gained by our specialist decommissioning teams on both assets across hundreds of wells to date.”
Separate from the frame agreement, Apache has secured a slot for Well-Safe Solutions to plug and abandon subsea wells in the UK Continental Shelf. This work is expected to begin in 2024 as part of a continuous campaign, enabling Well-Safe Solutions to maximise schedule flexibility and improve efficiencies for the member companies within the campaign.
The P&A Club’s focus on operational and cost efficiency aligns with the industry regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority’s, target to reduce the cost of decommissioning upstream oil and gas infrastructure in the UKCS by 35% by the end of 2022.
Europe’s largest provider of well integrity solutions, Unity, is developing a new additive manufactured lightweight gate which can be retrofitted to Christmas Tree gate valves to remediate seal integrity issues in low-pressure wells.
The gate has been designed as a solution for late life, depleted and shut-in offshore wells, where the tubing head pressure is too low to effectively seat the gate and seal the well. The patented design reduces the weight of the gate by around 60%, while retaining its intrinsic strength and would save operators around UK£250,000 per well by replacing a single surface component rather than the complete well control package.
The new technology is a result of a collaborative research and development project with Net Zero Technology Centre and Spirit Energy.
Technical Sales Director at Unity, Stuart Slater, explained, “The use of metal additive manufacturing means that we can offer attractive cost-savings and efficiencies to the industry, reducing raw materials, waste and operator investment in stock holding. The delivery of single items is fast and more energy efficient than traditional forgings, with an impressive 90% average reduction in lead times.
“But the real saving in this case is achieved by approaching the problem from a different angle, so rather than replacing the whole surface well control package we can quickly replace just a single small component, which offers huge cost and efficiency benefits.”
According to the most recent ‘Wells Insight Report’ from the UK’s North Sea Transition Authority, the current active UKCS well stock comprises of 2,629 wellbores, 1,661 of which are producing, while the number of shut-in wells rose by 65 to 781 in 2021. Shut-in well stock is now at a historical high, with 30% of all wells being shut in as significant intervention on infrastructure is cited as one of the top three limiting factors.
Unity’s technology is entering the latter stages of development as prototype testing has already been completed on a 2-1/16” gate, with a 5-1/8” gate now in manufacture to qualify the product for commercialisation.
Data and subsea service provider, Reach Subsea ASA, has secured a decommissioning contract for work in the North Sea.
The contract represents about 40 project days for execution in Q1 2023, and will see the utilisation of the Olympic Delta vessel. Reach Subsea have an existing cooperation with Olympic Subsea for the vessel, and both parties have agreed to extend their collaboration for the entirety of 2023.
“The market activity is high, and we are pleased to see that we are able to secure contracts across a range of segments. Continuing the good cooperation with Olympic both on ROV services and joint marketing of vessels, shows that our common service offering has been well perceived by clients,” said Jostein Alendal, CEO of Reach Subsea.
The extended collaboration comprises an additional 150 days of frim work for the two ROVs currently mobilised on the vessel. Reach Subsea is contracted to provide this service to Olympic for the charter duration to a tier 1 oil and gas contractor.
DOF Subsea has been awarded an Engineering, Preparatory works, Removal, Transportation, Recycling and Disposal (EPRD) contract by Norwegian energy giant Equinor Energy AS.
The contract is in relation to the Heimdal subsea decommissioning works and includes the recovery and disposal of approximately 2,000 tons of subsea equipment. The offshore work is scheduled in two main campaigns across three DOF vessels between 2024 and 2028, with project management and engineering work to start immediately. The preliminary work will be delivered by DOF’s expert cessation team based in Bergen, Norway.
Mons S. Aase, Group CEO, DOF, said, “I’m pleased that we are once again trusted to deliver a complex subsea project for Equinor. I look forward to completing the project successfully and safely.”
Heimdal is the Equinor-operated field in the North Sea, which has been operational since 1985. The contract states DOF Subsea are responsible for the removal, dismantling and recycling of the main platform topsides and jacket.
Aker Solutions can now offer operators a Second Life Report on the raw materials a platform contributes to the circular economy as part of its decommissioning offering in light of the fact that 99% of a drilling platform can be recycled.
The report spotlights the quantity of materials yielded in decommissioning work, and for topsides with heavy lift records, that leads to a lot of valuable raw materials. Maintaining more sustainable economic activity relies heavily on reusing as many materials as possible, as far less energy is used in the recovery of recycled materials than in the production of newer ones. Steel recovered offshore has many unique qualities and uses that can be capitalised on.
However, the process of rendering these huge structures into salvageable materials can be a brutal endeavour. For example, on its final journey, the drilling platform used in the Norwegian Valhall oil and gas field was carried on the Pioneering Spirit heavy lift vessel only to be left at the Aker Solution’s Stord yard in May 2022 as large machines waited to demolish it. The 6,700 ton platform was first stripped of all hazardous materials and electrical waste before it was levelled by explosives. This process, however, speeds up the demo and makes it safer by bringing down heavy structures to ground level, avoiding the need to work from height.
The original Valhall installations have produced over one billion barrels of oil equivalent since the field entered production in 1982, with two platforms having been recycled at the Stord yard, and a third will be decommissioned later this year. While the original structures will continue on as raw materials, Aker Solutions has aided Aker BP in extending the life of the remaining Valhall centre for an extra 40 years.
Aker Solutions has already accumulated a pipeline of orders for structural teardowns in the North Sea, and already have some 40,000 tons of recovered hulks awaiting dismantling and recycling at the Stord’s yard.
Ocyan, an oil and gas company with a sustainable attitude and knowledge to provide solutions for the industry, has announced that a Solstad Offshore's vessel has arrived in Brazil, ready to perform decommissioning activities.
The Normand Cutter, which is under Ocyan’s management, will perform decommissioning work on Petrobras subsea structures at Campos Basin and Sergipe-Alagoas. The vessel finally arrived earlier in January after the contract was awarded last year.
Normand Cutter is an offshore construction vessel (OCV) of 127.5 m long, equipped with a crane presenting lifting capacity for 300 tons, in addition to a flexible pipe lay system of up to 100 tons and pipe storage of up to 1250 tons. The ship has a crew capacity of 114 people, however Ocyan’s onboard team will be composed of 23 people.
The vessel arrived in Brazil after beginning its journey in Norway. On 12 December 2022, Normand Cutter departed from the country onto Scotland where collection and pipe lay systems were deployed. Now in Brazil, the vessel will perform the first campaign for the collection of equipment at Campos Basin, where it will remain for two weeks to then unload the structures at Vitória (ES). At the end of this first stage, still at Espírito Santo, it will perform the last stage of equipment deployment – rollers and reels for storage of flexible pipes – necessary for the sequence of the project.
André Luiz Magalhães, Executive Manager for Subsea Construction at Ocyan, commented, “This is the first decommissioning contract for offshore production fields in Brazil and we can say that we are at the forefront when it comes to the national production chain. The project will give us experience and a great expertise. This project marks the return of Ocyan to the subsea construction area. We expect a bright future with new opportunities in other companies, including international operators.
“After all this trajectory, in February, Normand Cutter will start to operate definitely at Campos Basin, collecting structures of FPSO Cidade do Rio de Janeiro and FPSO Cidade de Rio das Ostras, and in the second semester, it will initiate the work at Sergipe Alagoas Basin, in the area of the FPSO Piranema. All material will be treated and sent for recycling. Offshore services under the contract will last for approximately one and a half years,” explained the executive.
Rafael Guigon, Director for Subsea Construction Contracts at Ocyan, added, “For Ocyan, the presence of the Normand Cutter in its fleet is a strategic point and will provide a window of opportunity for new subsea construction contracts. From now on, we can search for other projects that require this kind of asset as a work tool for activities performed in this area. This vessel will allow the execution of simultaneous projects.”
Decom Engineering (Decom) has kicked of the new year with numerous project wins and work scopes valued in excess of seven figures.
The decommissioning specialist has secured new projects in Africa, Norway, Thailand and Singapore, while strengthening existing ties in Malaysia.
The UK-based company will mobilise chop saws and supporting crews in Q1 2023 to support campaigns in the Gulf of Thailand, and over in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Decom will provide a C1-24 chop saw with hot slab functionality to assist in the recovery of a production jumper in depths of up to 1,000 m. The acquisition of this work scope came about after Decom was able to successfully prove its technology could success where others had failed.
In Norway, the company will provide support through a tier 1 contractor to a major operator during the summer campaign to cut concrete coated pipelines with its new C1-46 chop saw.
Decom Engineering Managing Director, Sean Conway, commented, “It is an encouraging start to the year to have an array of international work on the books, and it confirms that out chop saws and operational cutting expertise is seen as an integral component of complex subsea asset recovery and decommissioning projects.
“Our strategy is to continue investing in expanding the capabilities of our chop saws to meet the technical challenges faced by clients, and we are in the process of developing a larger chop saw, capable of cutting piping infrastructure up to 46” in diameter.”
Oilenco Norge AS, sister company to well intervention and abandonment company Oilenco Ltd, has appointed Dean Reynolds as Business Development Manager for their Norway operation.
Reynolds will transfer from Oilenco to Oilenco Norge AS after four years with the market-leading company and will be responsible for the growth of the Oilenco brand in Norway.
Reynolds, who has more than 20 years’ experience in the oil and gas industry, commented, “Oilenco is an innovative company bringing together bespoke design engineering expertise and custom manufacturing services to support clients with the most demanding of challenges. In my new role as Business Development Manager for Oilenco Norge, I will be responsible for developing client relationships, raising awareness of Oilenco products and capabilities, whilst demonstrating our compliance with the latest industry standards and high-quality service the company provides.
“Over my career I have gained valuable knowledge and experience from the front end, working offshore, understanding the needs of engineers, as well as supporting oil companies to provide a superior service to their customers. I am sincerely grateful to work for a fast paced, forward thinking company like Oilenco and to be given this opportunity to showcase our evolving product range to the Norwegian market.”
Blair McCombie, Operations Director, Oilenco Ltd remarked, “Oilenco have been working alongside oil and gas companies in the Norwegian sector since 2008, and following the establishment of Oilenco Norge in 2021, it is critical we have a dedicated operation and technical support in region. This appointment strengthens our position and shows commitment to provide a more collaborative service to our clients. As a significant producer of oil and gas, we look forward to supporting the Norwegian sector, bringing efficiencies to their well intervention operations through our design, manufacturing and engineering capabilities. Dean is a great asset to the company and addition to the Oilenco Norge team, and with his technical knowledge and years of experience, is a talented resource to work alongside our client to supply the service they require.”
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