Decom Engineering (Decom) has invested more than UK£1mn to develop its largest chopsaw to date.
The C1-46 Chopsaw has been delivered in response to client demand for larger sized subsea pipe-cutting capability. It is designed to cut tubulars and other materials up to 46” and is able to cut a wide range of materials, including inconel alloys, duplex and concrete.
With the ability to cut in any orientation, the C1-46 is capable of multiple cuts per blade (20-100), resulting in large cost savings and increased efficiency. Blade changes are efficient, safe and the chopsaw can be supplied set up in a number of configurations and settings to suit project requirements.
It can be operated in water depths of up to 2,000 m and is currently deployed on its first project on behalf of a global energy company on a UK North Sea workscope.
The solution is able to achieve a versatile angle of deployment and an array of cuts can be completed whilst subsea or held in wet storage, without returning to the surface. The Tungsten Carbide Tipped saw, which can be operated topside or by ROV (with hot stab capability), is highly adaptable to suit challenging surroundings and varied structures.
Decom Engineering Managing Director, Sean Conway, commented, “Our commitment to research and development is a differentiator and making this significant investment to bring the C1-46 Chopsaw to market was a result of clients indicating they would welcome larger sized cutting options, as this is an area existing technologies struggle with.
“Decom are focused on supporting clients in solving their problems by asking how we can do more. This flagship product is designed for large subsea cutting operations and can cut through tough exotic materials and thick coatings with ease, while maintaining clean cuts for easy access to flush pipelines or recycle pipes.
“The saw clamps are designed to penetrate into the sea bed/sediment and to minimise the need for trenching. We are excited to see the C1-46 perform successfully on this North Sea project and we will take the lessons learned to refine and improve the product and its operational capabilities.
“Given the strong track record of success with our other models of the C1 Chopsaw we are confident that this latest version will perform well and will meet client expectations but we are always looking for ways to improve our offering.”
THREE60 Energy, a leading independent energy service company offering complete asset life cycle expertise, has been awarded a multi-million dollar well decommissioning contract in Europe.
As announced on social media, the new contract will see THREE60 Energy plug and abandon 13 injection, production and observation wells in the UK and Europe.
The company will utilise its well decommissioning team to deliver the plug and abandonment designs, prepare operational planning and supervise the offshore execution, which includes the management of the jack-up rig and well abandonment subcontractors.
Nick Ford, Wells UK Managing Director at THREE60 Energy, commented, “With our strong track record of offshore delivery and well abandonment we bring almost 20 years of the technical skills, capabilities and experience needed to successfully deliver this significant well decommissioning project offshore Europe.
Walter Thain, CEO at THREE60 Energy, added, “This contract clearly demonstrates the opportunities available for supply chain companies globally, especially within decommissioning, and is a great example of transferring our competency and capability across multiple geographies.”
The Norwegian oil and gas operator, DNO ASA, has reported that the wellhead platform production facilities have been removed from the Schooner field offshore the UK, signifying the last major offshore operation under DNO’s multi-year North Sea decommissioning campaign.
DNO’s Chief Operating Officer, Chris Spencer, said, “We have conducted these operations in a safe, cost-efficient and environmentally responsible manner, coordinating five tier-one contractors and displaying our capabilities as a full life-cycle offshore operator.”
The heavy lift was conducted using the Heerema Marine Contractors’ Thialf semi-submersible crane vessel. The 1,200 tonne platform deck was lifted aboard the vessel on 17 May, while the jacket was removed on 23 May after the piles had been cut three metres below the seabed. The deck and jacket have been transported to the Hoondert Yard in the Netherlands for dismantlement and recycling.
Expro has secured a new contract with Harbour Energy for a well abandonment campaign as part of the decommissioning project for the Balmoral area, in the UK Continental Shelf.
The contract, valued at more than US$20mn, will utilise Expro’s Subsea Well Access technology with a combination of open-water and in-riser applications deployed from a semi-submersible rig.
Expro’s ability to supply a lightweight open-water system will help to mitigate loading issues during the subsea well access intervention part of the overall abandonment campaign. The company’s open-water and in-riser bore selector technology, which eliminates the use of a dual bore riser for the entire abandonment campaign, is designed to deliver significantly reduced system deployment and retrieval times with lower maintenance costs.
To overcome key technical requirements from the customer, Expro devised an innovative technological solution based on a new build lightweight intervention system, incorporating its unique subsea ball valve technologies. Expro’s existing API 17G standard high debris ball valve was recently qualified to provide a single ball cut and seal on coil tubing. This ball valve technology will be re-packaged into bespoke open water riser housings to provide the lightweight solution required.
The solution developed for this award expands Expro’s subsea well access portfolio and allows Expro to now supply the client with all the subsea well access tooling required for the abandonment campaign on the Balmoral area, for horizontal and vertical Xmas Trees.
Colin Mackenzie, Expro’s Vice President of Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa, commented, “We are proud to have secured this award by offering an innovative approach to meet the needs of this important customer. We believe that our leading-edge technology continues to deliver safe, reliable and environmentally secure subsea well access in support of major projects around the world. We are delighted to further extend the scope of our partnership on this campaign which reinforces our position as a key enabler within the plug and abandonment market.”
Elemental Energies has added to its extensive portfolio through the acquisition of Norwell Engineering (North Sea Well Engineering).
This is the second acquisition for Elemental Energies in just five months after it acquired Vysus Senergy Wells, a subsidiary of Vysus Group in December 2022. These are part of a series of strategic acquisitions to cement its position as the leading wells-focused energy consultancy.
The latest deal will increase the company’s total workforce from 75 to 105. Current clients will continue to be supported by the same long-term engineering specialists.
Elemental Energies’ Chairman, Martyn Fear, commented, “Norwell Engineering is a fantastic addition to our business. Their unrivalled experience in delivering major wells projects around the world further strengthens our capability and expands the opportunities to partner with operators, EPCs and other service companies. Their team has delivered more wells than any other independent consultancy, and decommissioned more wells than any of their peers. This impressive track record and reputation for excellence combined with our own extensive in-house capabilities now gives us a competitive edge on a global scale.”
Iain Adams, Managing Director of Norwell Engineering, added, "I’m extremely proud of our team at Norwell Engineering. Over the last three decades we have delivered many industry firsts and been behind multiple flagship projects from drilling wells in world record water depths to delivering more than 500 project managed wells globally since 1989. As we look to the future and how our world-leading expertise can support the transition of the energy sector through decommissioning and to low carbon, joining Elemental Energies is a natural fit and we look forward to integrating our teams to provide best-in-class, independent engineering and project management across oil & gas, decommissioning, CCUS and geothermal projects.”
Elemental Energies is currently working on a number of energy projects including a landmark carbon capture and storage project for the INEOS-led Greensand project, a number of major decommissioning campaigns in both the UK and Middle East, and multiple deepwater field development projects.
Established in 1989, Norwell Engineering has become the go-to wells specialist for large-scale and challenging projects. It has built a reputation supporting governments, regulators and the largest IOCs in delivering expert, independent advice. It has also built a leading reputation in decommissioning, completing its first dedicated well decommissioning project in 1996 and currently acting as project managers for both wells and facilities decommissioning on the UAQ field decommissioning campaign, offshore UAE.
Michael Dafforn, Director of Elemental Energies, remarked, “Elemental is committed to engineering the energy transition, and the expert team from Norwell Engineering will form an integral part of our ambition to build the leading independent consultancy for wells projects, across upstream, decommissioning and low carbon around the world.
“The Norwell team has earned an enviable reputation for successfully managing the largest and most challenging wells projects for clients around the world over the past 34 years, and we are delighted to welcome their wealth of expertise, team and clients to the company.”
Perenco and Petrodec, a decommissioning services specialist, has announced that the A2D platform topside – located in the Amethyst Field, UKCS – has been safely removed for final dismantling.
The operation was successfully conducted using Petrodec’s patented ‘skidding’ technique deployed by its dedicated jack-up the ‘ERDA’ in the southern North Sea. With a weight of 1,179 tons, this was the heaviest Amethyst topside to have been removed so far.
The news follows the Hydrocarbon Safe (HCS) Campaign on all platforms and brine flushing of intra-field and export pipelines, the plug and abandon of all platform wells, and the removal of C1D, B1D and A2D topsides with a combined total topsides weight of 2,900 tons. The final operations to remove the topsides and four steel jackets of platform A1D are scheduled from January 2024.
The Amethyst field was one of the later-life assets acquired by Perenco from BP in 2012 as part a package of SNS assets. Perenco subsequently consolidated its position to 100% on Amethyst by acquiring the participating interests of Centrica and Murphy Oil in licences P.005, P.030, P.050 and P.133. Amethyst consisted of four conventional fixed jacket wellhead structures with helipads and cranes installed.
The platforms A1D, A2D, B1D and C1D had six or nine slots, and six or seven producing wells. The field stopped producing in 2020, following which Perenco UK started the application for decommissioning operations in collaboration with Petrodec.
Rainier Verhulst, Petrodec’s General Manager, said, “The successful and safe skidding operation to remove the heaviest topside to date exemplifies Petrodec’s technical ingenuity as a decommissioning specialist, bringing together the technical expertise of a contractor and the reliability of a decommissioning operator.
“It also clearly highlights Perenco’s integrated approach to late-life assets, first extending the production lifespan of assets by operational efficiencies and investment, then developing innovative and fit-for-purpose solutions to safely decommission the facilities. I would like to thank all of those involved.”
Well-Safe Solutions, a contractor which offers the complete package for well decommissioning, has unveiled a D300 saturation diving system aboard the Well-Safe Guardian rig.
The addition, makes the semi-submersible the only one of its type in the North Sea with this capability.
The custom-built dive spread, with capacity for up to 15 persons, enables safe access to legacy subsea wellhead and christmas tree systems from the 1970s onwards which were originally designed for diver intervention.
“With 48% of overall decommissioning expenditure in 2022 focused on well abandonment alone, Well-Safe Solutions has identified a clear market in mature basins such as the UK Continental Shelf for this technology,” commented Phil Milton, Chief Executive Officer at Well-Safe Solutions.
“The dive spread system installed on the Well-Safe Guardian is a cost-effective, flexible alternative to the industry standard, which typically sees a light well intervention vessel (LWIV) used to plug and lubricate the well before completing decommissioning operations with a standard semi-submersible mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU).
“Our ‘single asset solution’ offers an alternative to the conventional approach and does not require multiple vessel mobilisations and demobilisations. This results in lower operating costs, minimises the risk of weather-related disruption and boosts overall project efficiency.”
Milton explained that comparative analysis studies have demonstrated the value this solution can bring to the wider decommissioning industry as it streamlines processes and costs alike.
“Our data shows that the use of the Well-Safe Guardian to plug and abandon (P&A) five wells over three fields in the North Sea generates a 15% total cost reduction and is 44 days quicker than using a LWIV and MODU pairing,” continued Milton. “We are delighted to be able to bring this solution to market as part of our vision to become the industry’s well decommissioning partner of choice.”
The manufacture, transport and fitment of the dive spread was carried out at Burntisland, Rosyth and Methil ports on the east coast of Scotland.
The system is designed to enable diving operations to be carried out in support of well decommissioning. Typical operations supported include cleaning, deconstruction, barrier testing, manual tree cap removal, reconfiguration of hydraulic controls and flowline removal.
Following further systems integration and testing, the Well-Safe Guardian will mobilise early summer 2023, returning to the Buchan field operated by Repsol Sinopec Resources UK to plug and abandon nine wells using the saturation dive system, the Trident well intervention system and the blow out preventer, realising the full potential of this single asset solution. UK-based RockSalt Subsea will support Well-Safe Solutions with diving services and personnel during all saturated diving operations from the Well-Safe Guardian.
David Whitehouse, Chief Executive Officer of Offshore Energies UK, added, “The UK offshore energy industry has a long history of developing world-class solutions to the challenges it has faced and continues to face.
“This latest development and adoption of technology on the Well-Safe Guardian from Well-Safe Solutions shows an absolute commitment to drive forward innovation to improve efficiency for the plug and abandonment of wells. These efficiency improvements will also have a positive impact on safety and environmental performance.
“After 50 years of operating in the North Sea, this level of dedication to UK innovation is important as we continue to meet the UK’s energy needs using home grown jobs, skills and technology.”
TotalEnergies EP Nederland has appointed ABL Group, an independent energy and marine consultancy, as marine warranty surveyor for the decommissioning operations of the L7 field in the Dutch sector of the North Sea.
The L7 Restitution Project includes the decommissioning of nine jackets and ten topside modules, including bridge structures from the L7 field. The total weight of the installations is approximately 17,500 tonnes.
ABL will provide marine warranty survey services for the preparations, lifted removals, transportation and relocation to the onshore dismantling yard located in Norway. ABL will also conduct suitability surveys of all the marine units that will be utilised for the project.
Ashley Perrett, ABL’s Country Manager in Scotland, commented, “ABL Group has a long history in the oil and gas sector and vast experience with the challenges and important considerations that can impact decommissioning work. We are delighted to be partnering with TotalEnergies EP Nederland on the L7 project as part of our growing portfolio of work in this area.”
Planning work has already commenced, and offshore operations will occur throughout 2023 and 2024. The installations will be removed using a floating sheerleg crane that will transfer cargo to a barge in sheltered waters near Den Helder, Holland, for onward transit to the dismantling yard located in Vats, Norway. AF Offshore Decom will manage the removal and recycling of the installations.
“Decommissioning of oil and gas fields is a complex task. As a non-productive cost, we fully appreciate the importance of identifying the correct solution to ensure cost-efficiency without compromising safety and quality,” commented Nicholas Kaczynski, ABL Group’s Project Manager for the L7 decommissioning project.
Saipem has been awarded three new offshore contracts along with two competitive FEED contracts totalling approximately US$650mn.
The first of the contracts was assigned by Azule Energy for the Agogo Full Field Development project – a deepwater greenfield development approximately 180 km offshore Angola. The contract encompasses the Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation (EPCI) of rigid Pipe-In-Pipe flow lines with associated subsea structures. Saipem will mobilise its state-of-the-art offshore installation vessel FDS2.
The second contract was awarded by EnQuest for the decommissioning of existing infrastructures in the Heather oil field located in the UK sector of the North Sea, around 460 km northeast of Aberdeen. Saipem will carry out the engineering, preparation, removal and disposal of the upper jacket of the Heather platform, utilising the semisubmersible crane vessel Saipem 7000.
The third contract was issued under the Aramco LTA programme in Saudi Arabia, where Saipem will execute the offshore EPCI of one platform topside and the associated subsea flexible, umbilical and cable system.
Additionally, Saipem has been awarded two Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) Competition contracts for gas developments projects. The first one, assigned by Shell Trinidad & Tobago Ltd., is related to the development of the Manatee natural gas fields. The other contract concerns the development of the upstream facilities to feed the natural gas PAPUA LNG project in Papua New Guinea.
All of the above further consolidates Saipem’s position both geographically and in key segments for the offshore business, in particular in decommissioning where the company boasts an impressive track record.
The team of AIS Survivex, an offshore training provider in the UK, has received an insight into life on board a decommissioning rig courtesy of Well-Safe Solutions.
Members of AIS Survivex were invited on board the Well-Safe Defender to let them experience life on a bespoke well plug and abandonment semi-submersible rig which accommodates 110 energy workers. It was described as an enlightening experience which allowed the team to understand more about the working conditions and challenges for the people they help train. AIS Survivex has been delivering and managing all training for Well-Safe since 2019 and is currently carrying out a range of training to prepare the Well-Safe Defender’s crew for its forthcoming campaigns.
The rig itself used to be used for drilling operations in the North Sea but, since being taken into Well-Safe’s ownership in 2022, has been converted to play a part in the energy transition as a bespoke well decommissioning asset. Currently, the rig is undergoing a host of efficiency enhancements ahead of its mobilisation this month for a well P&A campaign with Spirit Energy on the Trees and Chestnut fields.
laire Adams, Training and Competency Advisor at Well-Safe Solutions, commented, “With over 360 staff working for Well-Safe Solutions, we are focused on safe, smart and efficient delivery of well plug and abandonment – and all of this begins with effective training. AIS Survivex have supported Well-Safe Solutions on multiple occasions by providing multi-skilled trainers to provide rig-based training on all our assets as part of our rig readiness plans.
“Two AIS Survivex multi-skilled trainers were delivering a suite of courses to our crew onboard the rig to enhance personnel and team compliance against our matrix. The input of the AIS Survivex trainers is paramount in ensuring the relevant Well-Safe Solutions personnel held the correct training certification to ensure operational compliance prior to the rig mobilising for its upcoming P&A campaign with Spirit Energy. Collaborative working is key to our success and a safety-first mentality is critical for offshore workers.”
For the consideration of the secretary of state for energy security and net zero, Dana Petroleum (E&P) Limited has submitted a draft decommissioning programme for the Western Isles floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel and its associated mooring systems, risers and dynamic umbilicals.
The associated infrastructure of the FPSO are located within UK block 210/24a in the northern North Sea which lies approximately 90 km to the northeast of Shetland and 58 km from the UK/Norward median line.
The draft decommissioning programme covers one vessel and associated subsea infrastructure including 12 mooring lines (three groups of four lines), nine flexible risers and two dynamic umbilicals.
Well-Safe Solutions, an international well decommissioning specialist, is supporting the decommissioning of two suspended wells in bp’s Kate field in the North Sea, 220 km from Aberdeen.
The programme of work, expected to be executed from the Noble Innovator jack up vessel during Q2 2023, will see Well-Safe Solutions carry out well engineering support services using its bespoke well decommissioning delivery process (WDDP).
Ruth Thomas, Subsurface Team Lead at Well-Safe Solutions, commented “We are very much looking forward to supporting bp with this work scope, which involves detailed subsurface and well engineering basis of design studies ideally suited to our specialist capabilities.
“Well-Safe Solutions will be instrumental in establishing and evaluating key subsurface isolation criteria including identifying and quantifying zones of flow potential and risks associated with redevelopment. In addition, we will also examine existing barriers and optimise the barrier strategy, taking into account the attributes of the region to safely and efficiently deliver this project.”
James Richards, Well Abandonment Director at Well-Safe Solutions, added, “The well decommissioning delivery process guides operators through the well plug and abandonment process efficiently and effectively, without the extended commitments and high costs historically associated with engineering resources over long periods.”
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