The Australian offshore petroleum industry has been in operation since the early 1960s and at the time of writing has approximately 57 platforms, 11 floating facilities, 3500 km of pipelines, and 1,000 wells in operation. Many offshore facilities are now approaching the end of their operational lives. Modeling has estimated Australia’s combined offshore petroleum industry decommissioning liability (including wells, pipelines, subsea equipment, and facilities) to be $40.5 billion. The purpose of the complete paper is to highlight the importance and benefit of adopting best practices when planning for decommissioning throughout the life cycle of a petroleum project.
Introduction
Australia’s offshore petroleum decommissioning challenge is significant given its remote location, limited availability of specialist services, and the relative infancy of its offshore industry in undertaking large-scale decommissioning projects.
