Latest News

• Region: All
• Topics: Decommissioning
• Date: Feb, 2022

Fugro has signed a four-year agreement with Heerema Marine Contractors for survey and positioning support services onboard Heerema’s heavy lift crane vessels.

Fugro’s worldwide reach and technology offers Heerema a solid support base for their global project portfolio, ensuring optimised offshore operations that minimise environmental impact. Fugro will use their innovative vision technologies, such as QuickVision, 3Direct and InclinoCam, combined with remote services and expert teams to optimise Heerema’s offshore installation and decommissioning campaigns across Europe, the Americas, Middle East, and APAC regions.

Fugro’s survey Geo-data and positioning support will assist Heerema in identifying seabed structures and debris while providing centimetre level precision for installation projects. Real-time touchless inspection and monitoring technology offers a much safer, more efficient and sustainable solution to offshore operations.

Remote support will also enable Heerema to monitor their operations in real-time leading to faster and more informed decision-making as their projects progress.

Thijs Prins, Fugro’s Service Line Director Marine Asset Integrity, commented, “Our vision-based technologies and remote services improve staff safety, significantly reduce project complexity, accelerate turnaround times, and allow operations to be conducted in a wider weather window – critical benefits for Heerema as they complete campaigns over the next four years. We’re proud to be delivering innovative solutions that support the responsible installation, maintenance and decommissioning of offshore energy assets.”

D&A GOM 2022

At D&A GOM 2022, the offshore community is set to reunite face-to-face to discuss the challenges and opportunities marking decommissioning and abandonment in the region, listen to sessions delving into current complex situations and network to help each other optimise their strategies. To find out more, download the brochure: www.offsnet.com/da-gom/conference-brochure

Or contact: 

Joseph Watson
Project Manager
Offshore Network Ltd.
t: +44 (0) 20 3409 5720
e: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

• Region: Australia
• Topics: Decommissioning
• Date: Feb, 2022

To ensure planning and management of increased levels of decommissioning activity, the Australian Government has made changes to the offshore oil and gas decommissioning framework.

These enhancements were made after extensive consultation with the public, industry and regulators. The first of a suite of measures will come into force on 2 March, 2022. The updated guidelines will assist the offshore oil and gas industry to understand and comply with the changes. The measures will strengthen and build on existing provisions in the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (OPGGS Act) and regulations.

Policy, legislation and regulatory enhancements cover three themes – financial oversight, planning and management, accountability and trailing liability. Work is on to implement enhancements to the decommissioning framework over the coming years.

Changes to the legislation

The first stage of implementation included legislative amendments. The Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Amendment (Titles Administration and Other Measures) Act 2021 (Titles Administration Act) gives effect to key measures of the enhanced decommissioning framework. It also implements relevant recommendations from the independent Walker Review into the administration and liquidation of Northern Oil and Gas Australia.

The Titles Administration Act increases oversight of changes in titleholder control, expands existing trailing liability provisions, increases regulatory scrutiny of the suitability of companies operating, or looking to operate, within Australia’s offshore petroleum regulatory regime and expands information-gathering powers.

To give full effect to the changes in titleholder control and trailing liability measures, amendments were made to The Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Regulatory Levies) Act 2003 (Levies Act) and Regulations under the OPGGS Act and the Levies Act.

Under these amendments, a person who receives a remedial direction will need to comply with the same regulatory requirements as a titleholder. This includes environmental management and safety requirements. The amendments also include changes that enable the regulator and titles administrator to recover the costs associated with administering these measures. This means anyone receiving a remedial direction or applying for a change in titleholder control will need to pay associated levies and fees.

D&A Aus 2022

From 10-11 May, the first ever Decommissioning and Abandonment conference will be arriving in Perth, Australia to provide the offshore community with the best blueprint for the wave of decommissioning projects on the horizon. For more information, download the brochure here: https://offsnet.com/da-aus/conference-brochure

Or contact:

Erin Smith

Global Accounts & Australasia Regional Manager

Offshore Network

t: +64 289 900 118

e: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

• Region: All
• Topics: Decommissioning
• Date: Feb, 2022

Senergy Wells, a Vysus Group company, has secured 15 new contract wins in wells disciplines globally, stretching from Mexico, through Europe and Africa to southeast Asia.

The contracts, worth more than UK£5mn to the company, include a range of projects with numerous customers, including Energean, Repsol, Shell, Chevron, TAQA and Harbour Energy UK.

To support the breadth of international projects secured, Senergy Wells has embarked upon a recruitment drive to bolster its expertise across services from exploration to decommissioning.

Matt Rothnie, SVP Senergy Wells & ModuSpec, commented, “We are naturally delighted to have secured such a wide range of contracts to deliver projects across the world for a range of customers from energy independents to super majors and NOCs. It’s also encouraging that the type of work covers the complete spectrum of the asset lifecycle from wildcat exploration and front end engineering, through field development, well construction and design, and ultimate decommissioning.

“This positive start to 2022 comes as we bring back the Senergy name. Vysus Group is extremely proud of its heritage and the legacy companies which give us our unique breadth of deep domain expertise. Our experience in the well engineering, operations and project management sector originated within Senergy – and this is a name still instantly recognisable by many in our industry as a service provider and trusted partner for well operators. It’s not just what we do but importantly how we do it, how we show up for our customers. That is why we’re bringing it back.

“The calibre of projects we are supporting this year is fantastic and testament to the proven technical delivery of our team. We look forward to continuing to help our global customer base deliver efficient operations throughout 2022 and beyond.”

• Region: Middle East
• Topics: Integrity
• Date: Feb, 2022

TGT Diagnostics, which deals with through-barrier diagnostics for the oilfield, has announced the launch of ‘Horizontal Flow’ diagnostics with Cascade3 technology.

This new system, specifically designed for horizontal wells, provides asset teams with more realistic flow modelling and precise continuous flow profiles in a wide variety of completion and reservoir settings, including fractured formations.

Horizontal Flow diagnostics, supported by the all-new Cascade3 flow analysis platform, is a purpose-built system incorporating the industry’s most advanced thermodynamic and hydrodynamic modelling codes to transform temperature and other well system data into continuous reservoir flow profiles. Essentially, these flow profiles reflect flow both in and out of the reservoir and thus deliver the most accurate and detailed picture of well – reservoir flow behaviour.

Mohammed Hegazi, TGT’s Chief Executive Officer, while speaking about the technology, said, “Understanding the flow dynamics in a well system is the solution for better well and reservoir performance. This is especially true for horizontal wells where fluid flow can be incredibly complex. Horizontal Flow is the most powerful flow analysis product ever created for horizontal well systems. It overcomes many of the challenges faced with conventional production logs and enables operators to maximise hydrocarbon recovery while operating in the safest, cleanest and most economical way possible.”

Ken Feather, TGT’s Chief Marketing Officer, explained that improved understanding provides a much-needed opportunity to optimise performance. “The transition towards cleaner energy and declining opportunities for new field developments means that operators are shifting investments towards recovering more from existing assets. Horizontal wells promise enormous efficiency and economic gains but are notoriously challenging to manage. Horizontal Flow with Cascade3 solves many of the diagnostic challenges faced by Reservoir and Production Engineers, providing them with the insights they need to reduce operating costs and energy consumption, and increase ultimate recovery.”

The complete and accurate downhole assessment Horizontal Flow with Cascade3 offers means that diagnostic deployments can provide a wealth of information from a single programme, thereby reducing uncertainty and avoiding the need for subsequent deployments. Yulia Fesina, Cascade project manager, said “The Cascade3 workflow can also be used to estimate or validate other key parameters that reservoir and production engineers may find extremely valuable, including reservoir pressure, permeability and skin factor. This independent verification of key parameters can help reservoir engineers to resolve uncertainties and improve history matching and dynamic reservoir models.”

Horizontal Flow diagnostics are now available to upstream operators through TGT’s comprehensive range of True Flow answer products.

• Region: Australia
• Topics: Decommissioning
• Date: Feb, 2021

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) has taken note of the additional US$239mn that Woodside Petroleum Limited (Woodside) has provided for its decommissioning requirements.

In its financial report for the year ended 31 December 2021, Woodside estimated that the extra costs would primarily come from the removal for rigid plastic-coated pipelines.

ASIC continued that Woodside has also improved its disclosure of the basis to provide for future restoration costs. This includes disclosing the types of offshore and onshore infrastructure assets for which full removal has been provided; that full removal has not been provided for certain pipelines and infrastructure, parts of offshore platform substructures, and certain subsea infrastructure; and an indication of the additional costs if certain items for which full removal has not been provided for are not exempted from full removal by The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority.

Although acknowledging the extra capital that was being observed, ASIC, as part of its financial reporting surveillance programme, also raised concerns about the offshore infrastructure assets that were not included for full removal in the restoration provision in Woodside’s financial report for the year ended 31 December 2020, and the adequacy of related disclosures. ASIC said that it is continuing its inquiries about why Woodside did not allow for the full removal of certain infrastructure assets in its financial report.

D&A Aus 2022

From 10-11 May, the first ever Decommissioning and Abandonment conference will be arriving in Perth, Australia to provide the offshore community with the best blueprint for the wave of decommissioning projects on the horizon. For more information, download the brochure here: https://offsnet.com/da-aus/conference-brochure

Or contact:

Erin Smith
Global Accounts & Australasia Regional Manager
Offshore Network
t: +64 289 900 118
e: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

• Region: All
• Topics: Integrity
• Date: Feb, 2022

Weatherford, a leading global energy services company, and LYTT, a provider of real-time insights to energy asset operators through intelligent sensor data extraction and acoustic fingerprinting, have signed an international collaboration agreement to create a new offering helping customers revitalise and optimise their energy assets.

The collaboration will target all lines of business, industries and platforms. It will combine LYTT’s proprietary sensing insights with Weatherford’s expertise in distributed fiber-optic sensing (DFOS), deployed through Foresite, an industry leading platform.

The agreement will see LYTT’s edge-computing, analytics and data visualisation positioned with Weatherford’s optical-sensor reliability and expertise to deliver ForeSite Sense, powered by LYTT. This solution will help empower customers to confidently manage injection profiling, diagnose well-integrity issues, regulate sand production, and enhance production efficiency.

Daryn Edgar, CEO of LYTT, commented, “Our platform is growing at the pace of our customers’ challenges, which is why creating an ecosystem by linking our unique offerings and customer bases is vital. With over 1,700 installations globally, our collaboration with Weatherford will give customers the opportunity to extract additional value from both existing and planned installations worldwide.

“We are excited to work with Weatherford to help deliver additional value with previously inaccessible critical insights, helping their customers to detect what matters most instantly and continuously, revitalising energy assets.”

Girish K Saligram, President and CEO of Weatherford, added, “In today’s environment, operators seek to maximise returns and optimise production while reducing their carbon footprint. We are excited to work with LYTT and believe our combined technologies and expertise will provide operators with the necessary visibility and analysis to achieve more efficient, profitable and sustainable operations.”

• Region: All
• Topics: Integrity
• Date: Feb, 2022

The Scottish Enterprise, Scotland's national economic development agency, has given UK£765,000 to Worley, a global provider of project and asset services in the energy, chemical and resources sectors, for full pre-production testing of its pseudo dry gas (PDG) liquid removal system.

Worley’s Enhanced Subsea Gas Tieback Project reduces operational CO2 emissions in gas fields by more than 90%, while increasing technical and commercial viability.

The technology removes the need for topsides and costly compression by reducing back pressure in the pipeline and the shape of the resistance curve. This reduces the associated high carbon emissions and allows for greater tie-back distances.

Andy McDonald, Head of Low Carbon Transition at Scottish Enterprise, commented, “As the energy industry strives towards sustainability, it’s important to support solutions that enable decarbonisation. The pseudo dry gas technology developed by the Worley team in Aberdeen and supported by Scottish Enterprise will contribute to lower carbon emissions across industrial processes.”

Worley’s pre-production testing will build upon the first prototype which was created and tested in 2020. The scope includes the fabrication of a large-scale unit, a magnetic drive subsea pump, and a supporting subsea control system. These are being tested as a system under pressures of more than 130 bar over the expected operational envelope, with a variety of hydrocarbon fluids.

Ahead of this project, Worley conducted several techno-economic concept field studies for various operators. These studies demonstrated the system’s improved recovery levels compared to competing technology, due to efficiency gains within a tie-back. The studies also showed that upstream CO2 emissions are reduced by the elimination of compression-based systems.

“Driving lower carbon technologies to help our customers is aligned with our purpose of delivering a more sustainable world,” said Andrew Berryman, Group President of Technology Solutions at Worley, “It’s significant that PDG has been identified by industry and government bodies as an enabler for emissions reduction and look forward to expanding its use in industry.”

• Region: All
• Topics: Integrity
• Date: Feb, 2022

With more and more producing fields showing late life symptoms like aging well stocks and high water cut, which can lead to well integrity issues, Hemant Kumar, Technical Advisor for Production at Halliburton, explained why well integrity management is becoming more important than ever.

Many gas fields report high CO2 and H2S content which can be challenges for pipe metallurgy and reliability. Faced with increasingly stringent regulations, a shrinking experienced workforce, and the need to control costs, E&P operators are getting serious about well integrity management (WIM).

Path to better well integrity management performance

DecisionSpace Well Integrity Management software is designed to help minimise risks and associated production losses by streamlining well integrity monitoring and analysis. With automated and integrated workflows, it delivers rapid diagnosis of well barrier elements to spot well integrity risks faster and execute preventive and remedial maintenance in time. It helps end users in rapidly identifying high-risk wells, taking corrective actions faster, and mitigating issues to maximise well availability.

Integration with WELLCAT software gives DecisionSpace Well Integrity Management software a better ability to detect the down hole integrity risks early on and help prevent downtime or environmental hazards. “Over 80% of the operators globally trust WELLCAT for its advanced engineering calculations required for well design,” Kumar added.

Workflows in DecisionSpace Well Integrity Management software automatically fetch engineering calculations to continuously update the Stress and Load envelopes of the tubulars and alert end users if actual operating conditions of the wells trend closer to those envelopes. Kumar said this approach gives end users a better understanding of how changing operating conditions impact the integrity of the wells, which is not always possible with the simple MAASP-based operating envelopes.

Flexibility for customisation

DecisionSpace Well Integrity Management software is built on the E&P industry’s fully open, interoperable DecisionSpace platform which offers E&P companies flexibility for customisation and the ability to create well integrity management solutions tailored to their unique business processes and IT environment.

Any WIM software needs to work in a heterogenous technology environment. It needs to talk to a multitude of data sources and adjust to changing modes of operations or expansion. An inability to adjust adds to architectural complexity and cost of ownership, and E&P companies may need to procure additional technologies to keep up with the growing needs of their business.

The underlying DecisionSpace platform connects with a variety of data sources and accommodates evolving workflows, visualisation, and analytical needs without requiring additional technologies. The platform is the foundation to all Halliburton’s digital offerings and is supported by long-term product roadmaps and R&D investments. With a track record of successful implementations globally, it brings to E&P companies the assurance of referenceable quality and future readiness.

• Region: Latin America
• Topics: Decommissioning
• Date: Feb, 2022

Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. has been awarded a field decommissioning contract by Trident Energy do Brasil (Trident Energy).

The project, located offshore Brazil in the Pampo and Enchova Clusters in the Campos Basin, is expected to commence in late 2022 for a firm period of 12 months with options to extend.

Helix will provide a riser-based well intervention vessel (either the Siem Helix 1 or Siem Helix 2); a 10k Intervention Riser System; project management and engineering services; and, in conjunction with Helix’s Subsea Services Alliance partner Schlumberger, fully integrated plug and abandonment well services.

Trident Energy owns and operates four platforms in the Campos Basin, and its Brazil operations are part of a global organisation backed by Warburg Pincus with a stated focus on operating and redeveloping mid-life oil and gas assets.

Scotty Sparks, Helix’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, commented, “We are pleased that Helix has been awarded this major decommissioning contract. This is another step forward in the execution of our strategic objectives which include diversifying our client base in the region while continuing to provide best-in-class and global leading decommissioning services. We look forward to developing our relationship with Trident Energy.”

Daniel Stuart, Helix do Brasil’s Director of Operations, added, “Our rigless well intervention services offer a lower cost and lower greenhouse gas intensive solution for decommissioning offshore wells compared to rig alternatives. We believe that delivering this milestone field decommissioning project will support future growth in the region, and lead to additional opportunities.”

• Region: Latin America
• Date: Feb, 2022

Baker Hughes has expanded its presence in Guyana by opening a new local supercentre facility for oilfield services and equipment.

Spanning more than eight acres, the supercentre will support regional customers and bolster Baker Hughes’ localisation efforts within South America.

In the country, the company currently provides drilling services, drill bits, and drilling and completion fluids to several drilling rigs, with its completions and wellbore intervention product line supporting all upper completions for development wells in Guyana.

Baker Hughes’ Turbomachinery & Process Solutions (TPS) and Upstream Chemicals businesses also provide technology and solutions to the second floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel in Guyana, known as Liza Unity as well as other projects in the region.

The supercentre has been built together with Baker Hughes’ existing completion warehouse and liquid mud and completion fluids plant, providing full support to customers in Guyana and Suriname. It represents a multimillion-dollar investment from Baker Hughes over 15 years and includes a workshop, warehouse, and laydown storage yard including maintenance facilities and equipment.

The facility is expected to employ more than 100 employees within five years, and the majority are expected to be Guyanese.

“This announcement significantly expands Baker Hughes’ ability to support Guyana’s energy goals and its leading oil and gas projects,” said Maria Claudia Borras, Executive Vice President for Oilfield Services at Baker Hughes, during the facility’s opening ceremony.

“Baker Hughes is well-known in the region for service and technical excellence, and our new Guyana supercentre will bolster our efforts to expand even further into the evolving market. We are proud to be here, and we look forward to this exciting next phase in our work.”

• Region: North Sea
• Topics: Decommissioning
• Date: Feb, 2022

EnQuest, a production and development company, with operations in the UK North Sea and Malaysia, has provided an update on its operational performance, decommissioning business and for the year 2021.

The company also reported that its debt reduction continues with strong cash flow and improved macro conditions.

EnQuest chief executive, Amjad Bseisu, commented, “Our decommissioning business performed better than expected, while our emissions were 45.7% below the North Sea Transition Deal 2018 baseline, and close to the 2030 target of 50%. I am very pleased we are industry-leading in emission reductions and am excited about our new energy initiatives around Sullom Voe.

“The supportive macro environment and higher oil prices allow us to look forward to organic growth to offset natural declines. We remain focused on continuing to reduce our net debt while selectively investing in our low-cost, quick payback well portfolio. At the same time, we will continue to be disciplined with respect to M&A opportunities.

“EnQuest’s business is strongly positioned to play an important role in the energy transition. We will do so by responsibly optimising production, leveraging existing infrastructure, delivering strong decommissioning performance and exploring new energy and further decarbonisation opportunities.”

The company also reported that during the year, a production enhancement programme, including a coil tubing intervention campaign was undertaken, restoring four wells to production. Repairs to a compressor gearbox failure which resulted in single train operations during much of the fourth quarter of 2021 were completed and both trains are now in operation.

• Region: Latin America
• Topics: Decommissioning
• Date: Feb, 2022

Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras has opened a public consultation to obtain information from suppliers on alternative technology for retrieving flexible pipelines in the Marlim field, off Brazil’s southeast coast.

According to the state-run oil firm, the service to be hired is particularly challenging because some of the pipes that lie 1,250m under water do not have the necessary structural strength to guarantee their retrieval.

That is, under the premise that the pipelines would not support their own weight under a catenary (curves forming a U shape) equivalent to or close to the water depth in which they are installed, they must be retrieved using a resource or tool that is submerged to the proper water depth.

The tool must avoid dredging the seabed and not come in contact with any equipment that may be installed there, remaining at a minimum distance of 30m from the seabed.

The recovery must be done by a reel system within the standard used by Petrobras in its operational bases. In addition, there is a need to use smaller vessels, such as ROVs (remotely operated support vessels), for example, as there are currently a reduced number of operational bases that support vessels of the size of PLSVs (pipelay support vessels).

A possible solution proposed by Petrobras comprises a recovery method consisting of descending a reel drive system to a fixed distance from the seabed, close to 50m (enough to avoid colliding with obstacles and subsea systems), therefore minimising the catenary generated during the recovery.

The completion and submission of the public consultation, with the title ‘Subsea Reel Drive’, must be done by 4 March, 2022.

Located in the Campos basin, the Marlim field is going through a revitalisation process, which encompasses the installation of two new FPSOs (Anita Garibaldi and Anna Nery) and the decommissioning of several production units (P-18, P-19, P-20, P-26, P-27, P-32, P-33, P-35, P-37 and P-47) and associated subsea equipment.