Four leading operators collaborate to accelerate well decommissioning technologies
Thursday 1 December 2022
The Net Zero Technology Centre (NZTC) has announced Harbour Energy, ConocoPhillips, Spirit Energy and Repsol Sinopec as members of its well decommissioning collaboration initiative.
Actively supported by the Technology Leadership Board (TLB), North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) and Offshore Energies UK (OEUK), the well decommissioning initiative will enable new technologies to be trialled and tested in multi-operator collaboration field trials – both offshore in the UK and onshore in some international locations – enabling faster, lower-cost trials and wider industry adoption in the UK and beyond.
The NSTA has identified that well decommissioning represents circa 46% of UKCS decommissioning costs, or an estimated £20bn spend over the life of the basin. Technology best practice and innovation has a key role in helping operators reduce the cost of well decommissioning and delivercarbon emission reducing well decommissioning techniques.
The multi-operator led initiative will aim to fund up to five technologies per year and support a minimum of three field trials for each technology. The goal is to have a minimum of six technologies successfully qualified and adopted by year four of the collaboration.
Technology ideas to support the validation and qualification of alternative well decommissioning materials, inspection and verification technologies, and other well decommissioning enabling technology streams will be considered. All with the aim to remove as much rig-based scope from well decommissioning as possible, so that well decommissioning becomes an intervention scope for the majority of wells.