West Africa

Energy services provider, Expro, has announced a five-year well intervention and integrity contract with TotalEnergies EP Uganda for the multi-well Tilenga project.

Expro’s ability to provide an innovative environmental solution was a key component for securing the contract worth more than US$30mn for slickline services. The solution supported the client’s carbon reduction objectives, as well as coincided with Expro’s commitment to national recruitment in line with a local development plan set up in collaboration with TotalEnergies and the Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU).

Work will begin in Q2 2023, with Expro initially supporting drilling activity followed by production optimisation, integrity and well workover support. The company has designed four well intervention units to deliver a single operational solution for slickline and braided line in a cased hole environment across the life of the well. The solution is designed to reduce equipment footprint and equivalent CO2 emissions, while delivering improved efficiency.

Iain Farley, Expro’s Regional Vice President for Europe and sub-Saharan Africa, said, “We are delighted to further develop our relationship with TotalEnergies through work on this key project, which reinforces Expro’s ability to partner in frontier field developments in support of energy security.

“Expro’s solution was designed and engineered with the specific needs of this project in mind, taking into account the environmental sensitivities of the location and the need to support the project’s overall environmental and social objectives. It builds on our current operations in East Africa and on many years of successful delivery on key projects in locations such as Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Mozambique and Egypt.”

BiSN, a global provider of Wel-lok sealing solutions, has achieved a remarkable milestone by reaching 400 commercial deployments of its Wel-lok technology, a patented technology enabling bismuth-based seals that are more reliable, durable, and cost-effective than traditional sealing methods.

It was only 13 months ago that BiSN reached 300 commercial deployments of Wel-lok technology. According to the company, the rise in deployment since then has been part of a wider, exponential demand growth over the past three years among operators for both plug and abandonment and well intervention. As a result, 2022 represented the busiest commercial year for BiSN and Q1 of 2023 has already been record setting.

BiSN has now deployed into major areas such as North America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. Within these regions, the company has run commercial deployments in 17 countries, most recently in Mozambique. Building on this success, BiSN now harbours plans to continue its global reach while continuing to foster productive and collaborative relations with global operators.

Currently, Wel-lok technology has been commercially applied to 11 different applications, including water shut off, cement repair, packer repair, and plug and abandonment. The company has stated that it will continue to refine and develop Wel-lok technology for a variety of well intervention, completion, and plug and abandonment applications.

Paul Carragher, CEO and Founder of BiSN, remarked, “We are thrilled to have achieved this important milestone of 400 commercial deployments. It is a testament to the value and effectiveness of Wel-lok technology and could not be achieved without the commitment of the full BiSN team. As demand continues to rise across all active regions, BiSN is expanding to meet that demand by opening facilities now in Australia and Brazil.”

The spread consisted of a Horizontal Lay System (HLS) with the TTS-4/140 Series Tensioner, and a Generation 3 Reel Drive System. The scope covered recovery and installation of umbilicals and flexibles as part of an FPSO replacement. The project was part of the field’s infrastructure upgrade, aiming to reduce operational costs while increasing storage capacity and extending the production life.

The flexible products were handled through the vessel’s moonpool, enabled by the MDL HLS. The highly compact system allowed for efficient mid-line connections, by allowing safe and convenient hang-off for the product’s end terminations.

The integration of reel cradles and lashing points within the RDS track system facilitated quick mobilisation and demobilisation of the reels, as it eliminated the requirement for welding down cradles and reduced the requirement for pad eyes on the vessel desk.

As part of the scope, MDL also delivered the full sea-fastening design for the client’s back deck and provided materials and fabrication support to complete the mobilisation.

Euan Crichton, Project Manager at MDL, said, “This was an exciting project for MDL, partly due to the new location which grows further our West Africa track record, but also because of the short timescales the client was working to. For the Skandi Contractor, our compact systems proved to be the optimal solution. The HLS, tensioner and Generation 3 RDS make up a highly capable spread, enabling multi-reel installation over the moonpool.

“We are continuing our support to DOF in various global locations, configuring bespoke equipment spreads suitable to their vessels. So far, the open communications between the two companies have helped us zero in on the most efficient approaches to lay and retrieval scopes, to deliver maximum value.”

Decom Engineering’s specialist cutting technology has been successfully deployed on a decommissioning project in West Africa.

The C1-24 chop saw was deployed in water depths of up to 1,050 m as part of an operation to recover a jumper connector on behalf of Total Energies in the Gulf of Guinea, offshore the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The work scope included the cutting of the insulated 6” Duplex flowline at each end of the jumper, with the chop saw deployed by ROV with hot stab capability, and using a Tungsten Carbon Tip blade.

The C-1 chop saw range is certified for use in water depths of up to 2,000 m, and has multiple buoyancy options, hot stab integration, blade reverse capability and bespoke customisation capabilities.

The Congo project follows other successful work scopes on behalf of major oil and gas operators and contractors covering the North Sea, Mauritania, Norway and the Gulf of Thailand.

Decom Engineering Managing Director, Sean Conway, said, “Our latest project in deep water offshore Democratic Republic of Congo is another tick in the box for the versatility, safety and efficiency of our cutting technologies, adding to an extensive trace record of completed work scopes in the major hydrocarbon producing regions.

“Decommissioning redundant piping infrastructure or repurposing asserts to be converted for low or zero carbon energy storage is a massive global market, and we are committed to investing in research and development to ensure our clients have the most sustainable means at their disposal to address their needs.”

Global technology company, SLB, has officially opened its new West Africa regional office in Lagos, Nigeria.

In October 2022, the company launched a new brand identity to reflect its revised focused on energy innovation and decarbonisation and to forge the road ahead for the global energy transition. The new Lagos office reflects this new identity and will optimise employee experience and create a sustainable business environment for all stakeholders.

The modern design embodies the company’s sustainable roadmap through daylight harvesting, interactive and collaborative hotspots for employees, disability access and other features which bring forward the company’s evolved identity and culture.

Sopiribo Ideriah, Managing Director for SLB, West Africa, said, “As a technology leader, our unmatched market breadth, differentiated performance, and unique portfolio of products and services, has always positioned us for growth and advancement in the energy industry.

“All of this is owed to our people, who are the backbone of our organisation. I would like the thank all SLB staff – past and present – for their commitment and passion in delivering high quality services to our customers.”

The opening ceremony coincided with the 70th Anniversary of SLB’s presence in Nigeria.

“For seven decades, SLB has worked in Nigeria as a local company,” Ideriah added. “In 1952, SLB logged Nigeria’s first commercial oil well in Oloibiri, Bayelsa State, and has since logged several other historic wells in the country.

“Investing in local socio-economic projects and developing local talent through our borderless career culture, we have significantly contributed to the capacity development of Nigeria and are confident that we will continue to do business in ways that benefit our people, our society and the country.”

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.

Tirex P&E, a drilling and well intervention services company, has completed the Ikike well drilling and intervention campaign for Total Energies offshore Nigeria.

According to media reports, Tirex P&E is pleased to have participated in such developmental strides that will be of great impact on the growth and capacity of Nigeria, particularly in the promotion of local content by the Federal Government of Nigeria. This milestone will help the West African energy giant revitalise its oil output following a decline in production in the past two years.

The project reportedly commenced in July 2021 on the Ikike Field which is located approximately 20 km off the coast of Nigeria. It was part of the oil mining lease with a total of five wells drilled and completed alongside a 120-day well intervention scope at the Amenam Platform.

Located 20 km off the coast, the Ikike Platform is tied back to the existing Amenam offshore facilities through a 14 km multiphase pipeline and will deliver peak production of more than 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Petrofac has exercised its contracted rig hire option on one further well as well management contractor for the Tullow P&A campaign on PSC-A Banda and PSC-B Tiof wells offshore Mauritania.

The optional well is the Banda-1 subsea exploration well and is estimated to take 20 days to complete Petrofac’s plug and abandonment operations. This means that the total work is now for five well re-entries.

Island Drilling has stated its pleasure in extending its relationship with Petrofac and continuing to add to its backlog for the Island Innovator, a fully equipped semi-submersible drilling unit with a 165 ton active heave compensated crane.

Once completed, the vessel will continue on to UK waters where it will carry out a work programme with Dana Petroleum.