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5 key takeaways from the Decommissioning and Abandonment Summit 2020 - Decom World

HOW TO OVERCOME THE CHALLENGES OF PERMANENT PLATFORM DECOMMISSIONING

Drawing on his first-hand experience from high profile projects including Anadarko’s Red Hawk Spar decommissioning, InterMoor’s Regan Miller, talked about solutions for overcoming the challenges of platform decommissioning. Every campaign is unique and can present issues associated with timing, regulations and equipment but these can be overcome by creative techniques, use of the right vessels and considering relocation and tiebacks.

Viewers also gained insight into how new decommissioning strategies can be used to balance cost drivers. This includes using technologies such as plug and abandonment (P&A) and rigs-to-reefs, careful planning and financing from the initial design phase, repurposing and recycling old facilities and using experienced third parties.

THE GULF OF MEXICO (GOM) IS LIKELY TO CONTINUE TO BE A MAJOR SOURCE OF ENERGY PRODUCTION

The National Ocean Industries Council delivered a presentation exploring what the future of the oil and gas industry looks like within the GOM in order to evaluate the continued importance of the region as a major source of energy production.

Erik Militio, President, National Ocean Industries Council, explained how despite the Coronavirus pandemic, the GOM is likely to continue to be a major source of energy production, employment, gross domestic product and government revenues for the U.S. Before the unprecedented events of 2020, GOM was hitting record highs in production. To recover from the impacts of the pandemic and return to this high, substantial investment and long-term projects are required to provide sustainable energy production for the next 20-40 years. The GOM oil and gas industry currently supports 345,000 jobs and employment is expected to steadily rise through the end of the decade. Erik’s presentation looks at the forecast for the industry to 2040 including state government revenue, employment, land and water conservation fund for both a no leasing scenario and a no permitting scenario. This part of the discussion was based on the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) plans to offer around 78.8 million acres for a region-wide lease sale that would feature unleased areas available in federal waters of the GOM.

JOINED-UP APPROACHES CAN LEAD TO INNOVATION AND COST REDUCTION

With a focus on the Dutch sector, Jacqueline Vaessen, General Manager, NexStep, talked about how a joint approach of operators to overcome decommissioning challenges can lead to innovation and cost reduction. With the industry’s focus on safe, clean decommissioning with low and manageable costs for businesses and taxpayers and the estimated cost at five billion euros in the Netherlands, joined-up approaches to help drive the cost down are becoming more appealing. With a target to reduce this cost by 30%, NexStep actively encourages collaborations, with joint execution being the number one priority on their “road to 30% program”. Jacqueline explains how mudline suspension system (MLS) wells provide a good starting point for collaborative working, knowledge sharing, standardisation and use of new technology.

Multi-operator campaigns are something that Acteon has been promoting and delivering for many years. We are great believers in facilitating synergies to benefit our clients. Acteon’s technology opens the options of rig-based or rigless operations, with multi-operator campaign potential, which when combined with innovative tooling, can achieve a timely and cost-effective solution.

THE IMPORTANCE OF ASSET INTEGRITY FOR DECOMMISSIONING EFFICACY

The event concluded by focusing on the importance of asset integrity for decommissioning efficacy and how breaking silos between decommissioning and operations teams can ensure effective late-life management.

Presented by representatives of Shell, Noble Energy and NexStep, this part of the event covered how important integrity management is to avoid complications when decommissioning eventually happens. As part of the energy transition, decommissioned infrastructure can be reused, but if it deteriorates too far, this will not be possible. To prevent this irreversible damage, the panel identified some of their most important things for late-life management, such as safe access to facilities, sharing lessons learned, harnessing new technology and innovations, and something as simple as having the right mindset.

Late-life management is something that Acteon offers solutions for, providing independent, engineered-for-purpose and data-driven outcomes for critical supporting subsea infrastructure. We ensure that expertise from across our operating companies and our smart applications and tools are applied to achieve fast turnarounds and maximum value from data.

WATCH ON-DEMAND

The presentation recordings and associated resources are available for one month after the event. WATCH NOW ON-DEMAND: https://www.reutersevents.com/events/gom/