plugging and abandonment

A new downhole-tool-based abandonment system was developed and deployed successfully on four wells for a major operator on a field in the North Sea.

The complete paper describes how various P&A designs can be compared by use of a risk methodology that takes account of degradation mechanisms, potential flow rates, and the effect on the environment.

Archer’s Stronghold Barricade well decommissioning system leaves the casing in place, while perforating, washing, and cementing the annulus to create a cement barrier in a single trip.

This paper presents full-scale tests that show it is possible to obtain good cement placement when the tubing is left in the hole.

As the boom of the 1970s and 1980s makes way for the first tranche of major decommissioning projects, the market for abandonment and decommissioning has grown over the past 5 years. To deliver these projects in a safe and economic way, decommissioning needs to be accepted as a serious challenge.

This paper describes how an exploration-and-production company successfully developed and applied a qualitative risk-based abandonment-prioritization strategy for an inventory of inactive subsea wells.

DNV GL is introducing a new, risk-based recommended practice for performing and qualifying well abandonments titled DNVGL-RP-E103, Risk-Based Abandonment of Offshore Wells.

Many of the platforms in the North Sea are late in life, operating long past their initial design expectations due to costly life-extension work. Decommissioning has moved slowly, but the low price environment is likely to accelerate the trend.

This paper presents current advances in the development of a plasma-based milling tool and its use in casing-section milling for P&A.

With a high demand for plug and abandonment (P&A) of subsea wells in the future on the Norwegian continental shelf, industry is challenged to find alternatives and rigless technologies that can make P&A operation more cost-effective and -efficient.