isol8, an Aberdeen based oil and gas services firm, has received a UK£3.5mn investment from BGF to support its long-term growth plans and develop its zero-emissions product portfolio as its expands its services into the wellbore construction sector.
It is estimated that successful deployment of isol8’s technology could unlock savings of between UK£1.5mn to UK£7mn for platform and subsea wells abandonments. This could translate to savings of between UK£2bn to UK£5bn in North Sea well decommissioning costs.
isol8 is the only company in the world known to use underwater soldering to create metallurgically bonded alloy barriers to seal off oil and gas wells. The firm designs, develops and deploys its industry leading Fusion Barriers, providing a longer lasting and more environmentally friendly solution to traditional cement-based methods.
The drive to decommission
Andrew Loudon, CEO of isol8, commented, “Decommissioning is now a huge focus in the North Sea and we’re partnering with clients to help them significantly reduce their asset retirement costs.
“Now, with the support of BGF, we are in a strong position to broaden our zero-emission product portfolio and accelerate the production of new products, including our casing annulus packers and tubing packers for well construction.
“The BGF team fully understands and supports our vision, and their expertise and business knowledge will be invaluable as we embark on this next chapter together.”
As part of the transaction, BGF Investor Richard Pugh will join the board of isol8 as an investor director, alongside newly appointed independent director Nigel Avern. Nigel is the former CEO of Peak Well Systems, nurturing the business from a small start-up to an international company with market leading positions in well intervention tooling and bridge plugs. Nigel led the successful trade sale of Peak to Schlumberger. Formerly, Nigel spent 18 years with The Expro Group working in range of marketing, technical and general management roles.
Pugh said, “isol8 has huge potential to use its cutting-edge Fusion technology to generate very large savings in plug and abandonment and intervention operations – both of which are markets where we expect long-term growth and where Aberdeen continues to have world-leading expertise.
“At the same time, by ensuring a gas-tight seal, Fusion provides the industry with a much lower emission solution than cement, going some way to address the long-term challenge of de-carbonising the sector. This funding round will support an exceptional management team in completing the final push to commercial adoption, working in parallel with a number of operators who have shown real commitment to the technology.”
At the OWI LATAM 2021 conference, Artur Barbosa, Business Development Manager at Archer, gave a presentation on secure and efficient P&A of wells, which focused on the company’s Stronghold Barrier setting and Barrier Verification systems, part of its suite of recovery and P&A solutions. The presentation demonstrated how the Stronghold systems provide an economical and effective alternative to traditional plug and abandonment (P&A).
Barbosa started by giving an overview of Archer, a global oil services company with a 45-year history and strong focus on safety. Its solutions support drilling services, well integrity, intervention, P&A and decommissioning. The company operates in 40 locations in 19 countries across the globe, with more than 5,000 employees.
“In our current portfolio we have 33 platforms, three subs, and two modular rigs, where we are responsible for operations, maintenance and certification of drilling equipment on these assets; rental division providing specialised equipment for offshore operations; engineering solutions for enhancing customers’ assets performance; cased hole wireline services; and oiltools, which provide solutions for well cleaning and cementing, slot recovery and P&A,” he explained.
“Archer can provide all these services in an integrated services contract model, reducing the interfaces with subcontractors and making Archer the focal point of drilling and well services activities,” he stressed.
Barbosa gave an outline of Archer’s wide-ranging capabilities and solutions across the well lifecycle from exploration and development through workover intervention, to abandonment and slot recovery. He emphasised that Archer can provide the customer full life cycle in P&A and slot recovery solutions for cut and pull, casing exit and barrier setting and verification.
“The advantage of the Stronghold barrier system is it eliminates the need for milling during P&A operations,” he explained.
“For barrier setting, the Stronghold Barricade system is designed to perforate a selected casing section, wash and clean and set a permanent barrier,” he said. It reduces P&A costs by creating a rock-to-rock barrier in one trip.
“The Barricade Plus is an improvement on the system; it deals with higher circulation and pressure and bypass capabilities, and is designed to deal with larger casing sizes,” he continued.
“For barrier verification we have the Defender, which is designed to verify the integrity of the barrier, and it’s the most efficient way for us to P&A a well.” It enables operators to perforate and test an annular barrier in a single trip.
“The Fortify is an improvement on this system, with a unique pressure verification system,” he went on.
Barbosa added that the company has conducted more than 200 successful jobs all over the globe, resulting in US$250mn in savings for customers.
Barbosa explained in detail the schematics and operation sequence of the systems, and shared some technical paper references where these technologies and their benefits are explored in depth. These include SPE-191528-MS (TotalEnergies), SPE-193945-MS (Aker BP), SPE-193989-MS (Shell) and SPE-197149-MS.
He also referred to a case study illustrating the successful deployment of the Stonghold Barricade in the Gulf of Mexico. In this case, a major deepwater operator needed to set a 330ft cross sectional cement barrier in 13 3/8” x20 casing. This well, in over 6,000 ft MD water depth required a cement barrier to be placed just above the 20” casing shoe in order to meet the qualifications to plug and abandon the well.
The Archer 13 3/8” Stonghold Barricade was successfully deployed for washing and cementing of the 330ft long interval with even rates at 1200 lpm. The tests run after performing the operation firmly tagged top of cement 6ft above the planned height, and a successful positive/negative test allowed the operator to move on with the completion of the plug and abandonment.
Barbosa gave another example of the application of the Barricade washing tool , where it was used with the Thor casing cleaning and recovery system, which is designed to perforate, clean and recover the casing in a single trip, the method being to move the friction in the casing, and recover the casing.
“The challenge is where we have significant barite, where it would be very time consuming to recover the casing, with multiple cutting required. With this solution we could make two cuts in the casing, perforate, wash out the barite, activate our plug and recover the casing. That was the business case for one of the jobs with our Thor system. In this case the customer was finding it difficult to pull the casings out, so we used our Samurai cutting tool to cut the casing with two cuts, then ran in hole with the Thor, washed the section and recovered the casing.”
The presentation stimulated a number of questions, which were addressed in a lively q&a session to conclude the session.
Global completions specialist Tendeka has secured more than US$30mn worth of international contracts within the last quarter, for implementation over the next three years.
This is in addition to long-term work it has secured with operators for its swellable packers and sand and inflow control technologies across key energy hubs, including the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), North Sea and Australasia.
Tendeka is also delivering its first significant FloSure autonomous inflow control devices (AICDs) campaign in the USA, following a successful trial earlier this year.
To support the inflow control of wells, Tendeka has installed more than 50,000 FloSure AICDs around the world. The field adjustable FloSure AICDs preferentially chokes unwanted produced fluids whilst promoting production of oil from the entire length of the well, leading to greater recovery, lower water cuts and less gas production.
Deployed as part of the lower completion using zonal isolation packers to divide the reservoir into compartments, the AICD can be integrated with sand control screens for soft formations.
Tendeka’s SwellRight Swellable Packers provide a permanent packer solution suitable for many applications where a pressure seal or zonal isolation is required.
Brad Baker, CEO at Tendeka, said, “To secure a number of multi-year, international agreements is always satisfying, but even more so with what the industry has been going through over the last 18 months. It has been an uncertain time for the sector, but due to the hard work of our team and our investment in technology, we have forged even stronger relationships with our global customers to enhance their operations.
“These wins for our sand and inflow control technology cements our position in the market as the industry leader of inflow control technology.”
Tendeka is also the developer of the PulseEight dynamic downhole reservoir management system, which is the world’s first re-deployable wireless completion with control, power, monitoring and communications already on board.
EXCEED, an industry-leading specialist in delivering well management and performance improvement solutions to the energy sector, has announced the launch of EXCEED Australia, as it eyes the country’s burgeoning decommissioning sector and a revitalised offshore market.
The company continues to implement an unwavering strategy of international expansion with its fifth overseas entity, which builds upon recent expansion into Mexico and Norway
Brad Girdwood has been nominated to steer the ship, after his appointment as Operations Manager, Australia. He brings 30+ years’ local and international experience to EXCEED Australia.
Girdwood commented, “In the pipeline for some years, the time is now right for EXCEED to make its mark upon the region. In particular, significant legislative developments surrounding the decommissioning of Australia’s offshore and onshore assets have accelerated the sector’s timeline. Honed in the North Sea, EXCEED’s spectrum of decommissioning capability provides this evolving US$40.5bn market with critical experience and expertise.”
In with ICON
EXCEED’s entry into the local decommissioning and well management market is bolstered by the advent of a collaborative relationship with Perth-based oil and gas services provider, ICON Engineering.
EXCEED Managing Director, Ian Mills said, “ICON’s impressive track record in delivering unrivalled innovative, practical turnkey solutions to the offshore field development industry in both facilities and in support of drilling operations is entirely congruent with our approach across all stages of the well lifecycle.
“Since 2010, EXCEED has built upon its well management service through the development and implementation of efficient intervention and abandonment programmes, expertly executed in full compliance with all North Sea regularity requirements. Initially, our joint objective with ICON is to provide the emerging Australian decommissioning sector with the end-to-end project service it requires, with full focus upon compliance, safety and efficiency.”
To hear more about the blossoming opportunities presented by the Australian offshore market, be sure to attend OWI AUS, in Perth 23-24 November. To find out more information follow this link: https://www.offsnet.com/owi-aus/conference-brochure
In the build-up to the Offshore Well Intervention West Africa conference, Offshore Network spoke to Silverwell Energy, a global provider of Digital Intelligent Artificial Lift (DIAL), as the company prepares to deploy its first systems to the region in 2022.
Explaining the inspiration behind the solution offered by the company, which will be making its way to West African waters soon, Abdel BenAmara, Vice President for Silverwell’s Middle East and Asia Pacific regions, stated “The majority of the world’s gas lifted wells are under-optimised. This incomplete production optimisation, coupled with excessive intervention costs and risks, presents an opportunity to re-imagine gas lift well design and operating principles. It has been estimated that addressing this opportunity delivers a production uplift approaching 20%. Optimising gas lift systems with existing technology is typically time consuming, costly and risky.”
BenAmara elaborated on the subject of well intervention and commented that frequent interventions are required with associated lost and/or deferred production. Traditionally it was not possible to make on-demand in-well adjustments to gas lift injection depth and rate to address these challenges. Further, it’s not easy to make data-driven decisions about these adjustments to assure continuously maximised and stable production.
Silverwell has therefore sought to overcome the production constraining limitations of existing gas lift technology with the development of their digital in-well integrated interventionless gas lift optimisation system called DIAL (Digital Intelligent Artificial Lift).
BenAmara continued, “The system consists of multiple DIAL units, tubing conveyed and installed along with the tubing string during a workover operation. Each DIAL unit can include up to 6 independent injection orifices, each individually controlled from the surface, with a large spectrum of gas injection rates. The operator can vary the gas injection rate by opening or closing valves, in any combination, which can each have a different port size, giving the operator a huge range of possible injection rates.”
“The system is controlled by a Surface Control System (SCS), connected to all DIAL units, in a multidrop configuration through a single downhole electrical control line (TEC) which is typically ¼” in diameter. DIAL units are spaced using maximum available surface gas injection pressure, without any pressure drop required between each station, since the opening of the valves are digitally controlled and not impacted by downhole pressures or temperature. The upper units in the completion are typically used for well unloading requirements and the lower units are the operating units - used to adjust gas injection depth and rate based on reservoir pressures and other well parameters. Each DIAL unit is also equipped with pressure and temperature sensors giving full visibility of the well’s downhole conditions.”
DIAL systems in operation
DIAL systems were successfully installed in America, Middle East and Asia Pacific regions, and these deployments resulted with average oil production gains of 10 - 20% for single string completions and 40%+ for dual string completions. Other benefits also included gas consumption reductions and significant OPEX savings by avoiding intervention costs typically required for gas lift operations.
Silverwell will be deploying its first systems offshore West Africa in 2022, with a Major IOC, marking the start of its operations in the region, with ambitious development plans beyond these initial deployments.
BenAmara added, “This disruptive technology has the potential to revolutionise gas lift operations in West Africa, which is one of the major artificial lift techniques used in the region. By digitising gas lift operations, and eliminating well intervention requirements, it will enable gas lifted wells to reach their full potential.”
To hear more about the offshore well intervention opportunities and challenges in West Africa, follow this link: https://offsnet.com/owi-wa
About Silverwell:
Silverwell is the global developer, manufacturer, and installer of digitally intelligent gas lift production optimisation systems for the oil & gas industry. They are a leader in automation of gas lifted production and apply patented technology so that more data for less uncertainty in production management decisions enables more production with less intervention.
Silverwell is certified to ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System and ISO 45001:2018 Occupational Health & Safety.
Ardyne, a plug, abandonment and casing recovery specialist has been awarded a four-year contract for the provision of fishing services for 86 wells as part of the well plug and abandonment (P&A) programme for two fields in the Northern North Sea.
The work has commenced and is expected to last up to four years across two assets. The job involves Ardyne’s leading TRIDENT and TITAN P&A technologies, with the company having invested approximately UK£2.6mn in brand new industry-first fully traceable (NS-1) fishing and milling tools.
The efficiencies generated by Ardyne’s industry-leading bottom hole assembly technologies could save more than 40 days of rig time across the two platforms, which equates to more than 300 extra downhole trips being avoided.
Alan Fairweather, CEO of Ardyne, commented, “This award is testament to the proven quality and time saving efficiencies of Ardyne's P&A technologies, plus the experienced team and engineering capabilities we have in Aberdeen.
“We are excited to be part of our client’s decommissioning team and look forward to delivering efficiencies during the P&A phase of these platforms. It’s encouraging to see North Sea decommissioning moving forward again, and our investment in a new training scheme will help prepare our workforce for playing a key role in that.”
With a vision to be the go-to well abandonment and decommissioning partner for their clients, Graeme Brand, Business Development Director, explained how JFO has continued to innovate, grow and enhance their business and team globally, despite the challenges posed by the pandemic.
In an article for Energy Voice, Brand explained how, in order to achieve their goal, the company has acquired subsea project and engineering consultancy Subsea Engenuity, identified for its drive to create better technologies and solutions for subsea well abandonment. This has allowed JFO to enhance their portfolio of solutions and embrace new experienced members into their team.
This acquisition has allowed the new members to release the SEABASS vessel based subsea abandonment tool. This is a single trip mechanically locking system for the abandonment of category 2 wells and is designed to deliver cost and time efficiencies compared to existing alternatives. The SEABASS tool is designed to remove containments and provide barriers to allow the well site to return to its original environment state.
Incorporating SEABASS into JFO’s full back deck capabilities, whether combining with our abrasive water jet cutting, or our internal cut and lift tool, for example, a single vessel and multi-skilled team delivers cost and time efficiencies, reduces deck and POB space, improves assurance and safety while significantly reducing a projects carbon footprint. This will allow JFO to deliver a single-source solution, reducing contractual complexity and enabling multi-well and multi-operator campaigns, encouraging collaboration along with more efficient and effective use of vessels.
Decommissioning potential
Brand also noted that, with the outcome of the forthcoming COP26 kept in mind, there will be many opportunities for decommissioning across the globe. A report by MarketsAndMarkets suggested that 7500 offshore platforms across 53 countries are ready to be eased into retirement and a separate study by Rystad predicted that the potential global value of US$42bn by 2024.
Moreover, as Brand continued, the North Sea is the most active basin for offshore decommissioning, setting the benchmark for best practice innovation. With the introduction of the new team members, the SEABASS tool and the existing capabilities of the company, JFO should be well positioned to take advantage of the forthcoming wave of decommissioning and hopes to continue to evolve in order to meet the demands and expectations of their clients and the offshore society.
At the OWI AUS Baker Hughes webinar, Michael Lewis, Service Business Development Leader at Baker Hughes, was joined by a panel of industry experts as they explored a number of challenges and opportunities being faced by the Australian offshore community.
Collaboration and local availability
Lewis opened the session by reflecting on light well intervention (LWI) which can bring tangible benefits to operators and suppliers in terms of reduced costs, faster operations and lower carbon footprint. The challenge, the host continued, is capturing these advantages and using global knowledge to do so. He asked how this can be achieved, and what is the importance of ensuring equipment is available locally for immediate deployment.
Mark de Castro, Business Development Manager at Sapura Energy Well Services,
was the first to respond, and explained that collaboration was a key part of this and suggested that information and lessons acquired from previous projects should be shared not just within organisations but with strategic partners, contractors, etc. The industry needs to share information from the start, rather than withholding or waiting to be asked.
The panellists echoed these sentiments with Grant Pierce, Subsea Completion & Well Intervention Consultant, Intervention Performance Ltd., adding that the withholding of information is not something companies actively pursue, rather it is just something traditionally inherent in the industry. Jay Southwell, APAC Subsea Services Leader, Baker Hughes suggested that altering this will require a change in mindset, something that needs to be challenged and which will ultimately help all players within the industry.
Turning to local availability de Castro said, “Local availability can be the difference between work going ahead or not. Preparation, shipping times etc are all major influences that can determine whether an operation goes ahead in light mode or rig mode which could add millions of dollars to cost. Having access to local engineering/facilities is a significant de-risker for these campaigns to take place both for the fast tracking it facilitates and how quickly unexpected events can be dealt with on a campaign.”
Fostering the next generation equipped with the latest technology
In the last 18 months, Lewis said, the industry has undergone a downsize with lots of experienced people retiring or leaving for other sectors. Attracting new talent has always been a challenge, but now more than ever it appears to be of paramount importance. Therefore, Lewis asked, could the industry ensure there is a competent new generation ready to enter the workforce and how can new technology support this?
Southwell pointed at the importance of working with universities, developing apprenticeship programmes and sponsoring graduate schemes as essential to foster the idea that it is an exciting time to join the industry. He also pointed at cross-training between product companies, something that Baker Hughes has been very successful in, which has helped ensure that a new, capable, workforce is ready to take the reigns in the future.
Francis Norman, General Manager Decommissioning and Strategy at National Energy Resources Australia (NERA), built on this by pointing at competency benchmarking as an area which can put people off companies. He said, “There is a tendency to think what we do is so different to what competitors do and so we end up building all these internal competency benchmarking and internal training which in fact mirrors what competitors do. This can be a significant cost to a lot of businesses.”
He advocated, instead, common competency frameworks which can make it much easier to identify where some shared skill gaps may be. He added, “If people move around you are not looking to completely rebuild them and make them forget everything they have learned before you hire them. When you look at the costs organisations expend on doing this it is astronomical.”
The panellists explored how the introduction of new technology, in the form of remote communication for example, can help to attract and train the next generation of engineers and commented on some advances which they will be working with, and which will surely help the industry.
De Castro commented that remote operations and remote control brings safety enhancements and cost enhancement and advances in the integration of machine learning, and machines becoming semi-autonomous will be a step forward. This will be bolstered by things such as low orbit satellite which will reduce latency and the cost of high bandwidth.
Returning to the conversation, Southwell also highlighted the importance of utilising the vast amount of data the industry holds and by introducing advanced software and AI this can really become a formidable weapon for operators to become more effective with diagnostics, monitoring wear and tear, and making decisions on interventions and performance etc.
Australian Decommissioning
Decommissioning has been a hot topic in Australia due the ongoing debate around the Northern Endeavour FPSO. With many more Australian assets coming to the end of their productive life, Lewis asked the panellists how the cost of decommissioning can be reduced and how can operators be encouraged to perform this work.
Norman took the chance to note that there was a staggering opportunity for decommissioning in Australia, highlighting that there was US$40bn+ worth of work that needs to be executed over he next 20-30 years. In order to being nibbling away at this, he suggested it was important to disseminate such information to ensure everyone understands the size of the challenge ahead. Once done, relatively simple ideas such as sharing equipment for campaigns can have an enormous cost reduction effect.
De Castro commented, “If we understand the scope of work and the timing of the scope it will help. In the past we have seen service providers make investment into the region on the expectation that work would follow and it didn’t. They therefore had to wear the costs on a gamble effectively. More clarity on timing and requirements of operators would be helpful.”
The panellists also noted the importance of learning lessons and best practices from around the world, especially from regions where decommissioning is more regularly carried out. Pierce added that an open mind about contracting models would be essential here. While it wouldn’t be advantageous to take a whole model from other regions and apply it in Australia, it would help to take pieces or ideas from contracts (such as West Africa’s contracting models regarding vessel shares) and change them to suit.
One of the biggest decommissioning challenges which is faced in Australian and global waters alike is the difficulties with entering older wells where, often, data and information is lacking. The panellists noted that in addition to this, the condition of equipment is continually degrading with every year that passes. Whilst this is enough to put operators off from conducting decommissioning work, in reality it should be an encouraging factor. As de Castro added, “Regulations are also becoming more onerous. The longer operators delay, the cost and risk are only going to go one way due to those three factors. It therefore presents a good case to move quicker.”
Despite this, Southwell commented, “I think the future of decommissioning in Australia is exciting and something that will be very prominent going forward. I would love to see it as an add on in the life of a field as well, as opposed to it being pushed after production ends. All operators know its coming; it was always on the cards and will always be there. If we can plan for it now, they can reap the rewards from a cost perspective. We are still fairly young compared to other regions, described as a teenager, we are still learning. We have a great opportunity to take lessons from other regions therefore.”
These topics, and more, will be discussed in further detail at OWI AUS, in Perth 23-24 November. To find out more information follow this link: https://www.offsnet.com/owi-aus/conference-brochure
During a challenging time for the industry, Wellvene, a design, engineering and manufacturing company, has continued to progress from strength to strength and has capped its impressive performance with the introduction of its latest well intervention solution: the WellHOP™ - Shallow Application Slickline Solution.
Writing in its latest update bulletin, Bronson Larkins, managing director of Wellvene, outlined how the company, which is entering its fifth year of operations, has continued in its evolution despite the industry downturn. When the pandemic hit, many companies including Wellvene were forced change their business plans and way of operations. Despite this, Wellvene has pushed on and successfully re-adapted its 2020/21 plan in order to protect its growth objectives and support the changing requirements of the well industry.
For instance, the company recognised that with the increasing pressure on operators and providers to deliver more climate friendly services and products, there has been a shift away from new well delivery to lower cost, lower rate adding well intervention opportunities while companies are also more intent on achieving their P&A obligations. By steering into this, and working to reduce its carbon footprint itself, Wellvene has expanded upon its working relationships with major operating and service companies in the UK, Norway, the Middle East and Australasia.
While signalling that further growth is still on the horizon, Bronson commented, “We’ll continue to re-invest in our business and our people, and reaffirm our commitment to industry improvement, whilst staying true to our core values of safety, integrity, trust, transparency and respect.”
The WellHOP™ solution
As if to demonstrate the strong position the company is currently holding, Wellvene has released the WellHOP™ Shallow Application Slickline Solution, designed as a more efficient solution to addressing shallow plug installations for xmas tree, well head repairs and DHSV remedial work. For their WellHop technology, Wellvene has been selected as a finalist in the Emerging Technology category for The Offshore Achievement Awards 2021.
Wellvene recognised that operating companies have a HSE obligation to carry out annual Wellhead maintenance on all xmas tree valves, wellhead valves and DHSV’s and, with a significant number of tests on any given platform, failure of numerous valves may occur. This can result in the requirement for wireline to be mobilised in order to plug the well for surface valve repairs or to complete remedial work on the DHSV. This can become a time consuming and costly problem for operating companies as securing space on any platform post maintenance campaign, is often tricky.
This is where the WellHOP™ comes in. With a wire drum c/w 3,000ft of 0.125” slickline, measuring head and toolstring winch installed directly onto a frame around the lubricator, it challenges traditional slickline rig ups and operating methods by eliminating the need for a mast and separate wireline winch whilst also simplifying the overall PCE rig up.
The WellHOP™ is specifically designed for DHSV remedial work and to set shallow plugs for xmas trees and wellhead repairs or emergent plugging operations. With the ability to be transported in only two baskets for reduced lifts and full PCE rigged up directly onto well with only two lifts, the system offers significant time saving during rig up and rig down. For multi well campaigns the system can also be lifted directly from one well to the next in a single lift and allows a customer to achieve more xmas tree and DHSV repairs within a single campaign compared with conventional slickline. The WellHOP™ ensures a reduction in operational risk, time, cost and POB whilst improving overall operational efficiency.
Due to its numerous benefits, the WellHOP™ solution has been submitted for the OWI Global Awards 2021. To find out more information on this event, follow this link: https://offsnet.com/owi-awards
Spirit Energy has announced that they have begun planning for the decommissioning of the Chestnut oilfield in the Central North Sea.
Thanks to continued investment from operator Spirit Energy and partner Dana Petroleum, additional wells and class leading production efficiency on the Hummingbird Spirit Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel which sits on Chestnut, the field has produced almost quadruple the initial reserve estimates and has survived for more than a decade after it was first expected to be shut in.
Chestnut – which first came on stream in 2008 with an expected two-year production life – is still producing oil via three wells, the last of which was drilled in 2020. The field, nearly 200 km east of Aberdeen, has now produced more than 27 million barrels of oil, having initially been expected to yield only around 7 million barrels.
All good things…
After an impressive and perhaps unexpected lifespan, Spirit Energy and the FPSO owner Teekay have now started the first stages of preparing to decommission the field.
Under the proposed decommissioning plans, the FPSO will be removed and Teekay will assess potential reuse options or ultimately recycle the vessel in an environmentally safe and responsible manner in accordance with applicable UK/EU regulations. The risers will also be flushed, cleaned and taken back to shore.
The start date for the offshore campaign is dependent on final cessation of production from the field.
Mark Fotheringham, Capital Projects Director at Spirit Energy, commented, “Chestnut has been a key field in Spirit Energy’s portfolio for many years and thanks to the excellent work of teams both on and offshore, it has continued to perform above expectation.
“While it continues to produce today, we need to look to our responsibilities in the future and have the right plans in place for when the time does come to start decommissioning the field. As its production life nears an end, we are now looking forward to a safe removal campaign.
“The collaborative spirit which characterised the production phase of Chestnut’s life will continue as we support Teekay in any repurposing opportunities for the vessel, as well as working with our supply chain on an efficient campaign to plug and abandon the wells.”
Expro, a leading international oilfield services company, has successfully completed an integrated plug and abandonment (P&A) contract valued at more than US$20mn for a subsidiary of PETRONAS, PC Mauritania 1 Pty Ltd (PCMPL), which manages offshore operations in Mauritania, West Africa.
The well intervention scope of the P&A project utilised Expro’s integrated Open Water Intervention Riser System (OWIRS) for successful intervention and barrier placement on 15 wells for PCMPL’s Chinguetti Field Phase II works. The system’s compact nature provided considerable time savings by retrieving the subsea trees without an additional run. This was further enhanced by the efficient parallel deployment of the OWIRS and rig blow out preventor from the auxiliary well and primary well centre through the rig’s dual derrick capabilities.
Expro’s onshore project management team, based in Kuala Lumpur and locally onshore in Mauritania, supported PCMPL throughout the project planning and execution phases. Expro provided a range of integrated services, including the subsea well access system, surface flowhead, umbilicals, topsides control equipment and installation and an intervention workover control system (IWOCS) package for controlling both the OWIRS and Xmas tree systems. Worldwide Oilfield Machine (WOM) worked closely with Expro as an alliance partner providing the subsea well access system and a technical support team.
Graham Cheyne, Expro’s Vice President of Well Access and Subsea, commented, “The OWIRS system is a highly reliable compact system with an extensive track record in riser to surface subsea well access operations. This system performed over 250 functions during the project with 100% operational uptime and no non-productive time (NPT) incurred. To further demonstrate its reliability post operation, a gas testing programme of work was successfully performed on completion of the 15 wells, prior to any post job maintenance being carried out and before readiness for the next project.
“This campaign was our first venture into the intervention riser system market. Despite the logistical and HSE challenges created by the global pandemic, we are proud to have demonstrated our technology’s success and integrated ability for these types of subsea P&A operations, supported by our team’s extraordinary performance, commitment, flexibility and dedication to PCMPL.
“The campaign’s success, combined with our continued expansion of our subsea well access offering, has helped us to secure several new contracts across Asia and Australia, enhancing Expro’s already strong presence in the subsea well access market.”
Sustained growth expected
Expro’s second quarter results show that the company delivered solid financial and operational performance, including 13% sequential revenue growth globally, and particularly strong growth in its Europe and sub-Saharan Africa (ESSA) and Asia regions, as demand increased for production optimisation services.
Mike Jardon, Expro’s CEO commented that the company is seeing “strong signals of a multi-year recovery” and is expecting sustained growth across all of its businesses and geo-markets.
“We currently expect at least modest revenue and margin momentum for Expro over the next couple of quarters, driven by an overall increase in international activity, and positive trends in well testing and production services and well intervention and integrity services, in particular,” he said.
“Beyond the next couple of quarters, an expected recovery in offshore development across geographies reinforces our confidence that Expro is well-positioned for sustained growth, which we believe will be driven by increasing demand for subsea well access services and more complex well construction services, respective strengths of Expro and Frank’s International with whom we announced a definitive merger agreement on March 11, 2021.”
Perth Basin oil producer Triangle Energy, on behalf of the Cliff Head Joint Venture, has announced that the CH-6 well at the Cliff Head Oil Field returned to production on 23 August, following the completion of the workover programme.
The workover included the installation of a new ESP in a more technically and cost effective configuration than previously adopted. All of the technical and well integrity expectations of the programme were met, and the well was handed over from well services to production on 22 August.
Performance testing and verification is currently underway, and the company expects that production associated with the CH-6 well is expected to stabilise at around 120 bopd, bringing the total field production to approximately 850 bopd.
The company’s Hydraulic Workover Unit provider, Clear Cut Interventions (CCI), with the assistance of R&D Solutions, successfully deployed the first Omega Gemini plug on Slickline using a time delay hydrostatic setting tool in an offshore environment in Asia Pacific. Omega provided virtual training to the CCI supervisor due to COVID travel restrictions preventing a specialist being deployed to Australia.
The joint CH-6 and CH-11WI workover campaign provided the company with the rare opportunity to evaluate the condition of the downhole completion and wellbore equipment with regards to long term well integrity and corrosion management.
Robert Towner, Managing Director, Triangle Energy said, “Well integrity management is a priority at Cliff Head, and the condition of the recovered equipment from both the CH-6 and CH-11WI wells showed no visible evidence of corrosion or physical degradation.
“This is an excellent outcome considering the years since this equipment was installed, and supports our plans to continue to extend the operating life of the facility. The company looks forward to future well activities and exploring asset life extension opportunities.”
Triangle Energy (Global) Ltd is an ASX-listed oil producer and explorer based in Perth, Western Australia. The company operates and has a 78.75% interest in the Cliff Head Oil Field,
encompassing the onshore Arrowsmith Stabilisation Plant and offshore Cliff Head Alpha Platform. Triangle also has a 50% share of the Mt Horner L7 production licence and a 45% share of the Xanadu-1 Joint Venture, both located in the Perth Basin. The company continues to assess acquisition prospects to expand its portfolio of assets.
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