ENGI NEERI NG, CONSTRUCTI ON, & I NSTALLATI ON

Heightened regulations create demand

for well abandonment services
I
ncreasingly stringent and expanding off-
shore regulations are pushing service com-
panies to develop innovative technologies
that deliver safe and environmentally sound
methods for well plug-and-abandonment
(P&A) operations and late-stage interventions.
Well abandonment is an inevitable stage in
the life of a well. As offshore oilfelds world-
wide continue to shift from asset to liability,
they must be dismantled carefully to minimize
environmental threats and adhere to regulato-
ry requirements. Globally, an estimated 20,000
idle wells have been identifed for abandon-
ment, with 60% located in the Gulf of Mexico
(GoM). Other major areas enforcing abandon-
ment include the North Sea, Asia-Pacifc, and
Sub-Saharan Africa regions.
International safety and environmental stan-
dards provide the basis for all abandonment
regulations. The 1958 Geneva Convention
rules and the 1982 Law of the Sea regulations
serve as the accepted framework for removal
and disposal of offshore structures. Others in-
clude the International Maritime Organization
standards; the 1992 Review of the Baltic Sea
Convention; the Barcelona Convention, 1991;
and the Kuwait Convention, 1989.
Individual governments often adopt inter-
national regulations, but adjust with modifca-
tions for geographic areas to abide by their
specifc needs and laws. Operating compa-
nies have their own initiatives based on inter-
national and location specifc regulations, as
they are ultimately responsible for ensuring
that all international and geographical regula-
tions are observed.
Backlog of idle wells
Two of the most highly-regulated areas for
well abandonment and intervention are the
GoM and the North Sea, encompassing the
UK continental shelf, Scandinavia and The
Netherlands. The more mature felds are the
UK region of the North Sea, governed by the
Petroleum Act of 1987 and administered by the
UK Department of Environment & Climate
Control, which has an estimated 2,000 wells
that need to be addressed. Other regions of the
North Sea are governed by the Norwegian Pe-
troleum Safety Authority and State Supervision
of Mines in the Netherlands, respectively.
The Gulf of Mexico has an estimated 9,000
wells that are idle, some of them for fve years
or longer. Demand for P&A services has in-
creased dramatically in the GoM due to ir-
reparable hurricane-damaged structures and
changes in regulations that were approved
last year.
The primary US regulation for well aban-
donment is NTL No. 2010-N05, governed by
the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management,
Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE). It
states that if a GoM well has not been pro-
ductive for three or more years, the operating
company must put forward a plan, including
a timeframe and methodology, to abandon it.
The ruling, the strictest adopted to date for
P&A operations, has generated the backlog
of thousands of idle wells that need to be de-
commissioned. Following last years Macondo
incident, changes relating to drilling, well and
feld development are also anticipated to impact
regulations governing existing mature felds,
specifcally well integrity issues, well abandon-
ment, and structural decommissioning.
The move is expected to have global implica-
tions, as individual governments are reviewing ex-
isting regulations and introducing new standards
to cover well abandonment procedures where in-
depth measures currently are not in place.
Safety, effciency
From a service company standpoint, the focus
for P&A operations is on the provision of opera-
tional excellence. Companies must be able to de-
liver products and services to clients that are not
only cost- and time-effcient, but also safe and envi-
ronmentally responsible as well. These products
and services must comply with the international
and ever-changing regional regulations.
The focus on safety has brought changes in
the companies procedures in selecting skilled
personnel, competency training, equipment
integrity, and ensuring that risks are identifed
and mitigated as effectively as possible.
Weatherford International Ltd. has a suite
of well abandonment products and services
that provide end-of-feld services, from initially
maximizing production from aging wells to en-
suring their safe and effcient abandonment.
The companys technologies are designed to
meet international and regional safety and en-
vironmental standards.
The array of technologies include new meth-
ods such as rigless hydraulic pulling and jack-
ing units, along with more conventional light-
duty work decks, cantilever systems, casing
jacks, wireline, coiled tubing, tanks, pumps, tu-
bular running services and cutting tools. Pipe-
line services include purging, capping, high
pressure water jets and topside cold-cutting.
Plugging options include cement plugs, infat-
able packers, and bridge plugs.
Ian Smith
Delaney Olstad
Richard Segura
Weatherford International Ltd.
(Left) Fixed platform abandonment through ex-
isting derrick. (Above) Subsea P&A, MOST tool.
Reprinted with revisions to format, from the October 2011 edition of OFFSHORE
Copyright 2011 by PennWell Corporation

ENGI NEERI NG, CONSTRUCTI ON, & I NSTALLATI ON
Fit-for-purpose
In one of the largest offshore abandon-
ment projects undertaken, the company pro-
vided intervention tools including coiled tub-
ing (CT), wireline, innovative cutting, pinning
and pulling systems in a two-stage program
to plug and isolate the reservoir and cut and
recover tubulars in the abandonment of 40
wells in the Northwest Hutton feld in the
North Sea. In the frst phase, CT and wireline
cementing were used to set cement plugs in
the wellbore through the existing completion
strings. The second phase involved recovery
of 36,450 ft (11,110 m) of tubing and 23,200
ft (7,071 m) of conductors along with casing,
using two existing platform drilling rigs.
The project was carried out in conformance
with UK regulations, operator policies, and in-
dustry standards. The regulations specify that
two barriers be placed between hydrocarbon
zones and the surface, and one barrier between
water zones and the surface. For this feld, en-
suring conformance required installation of a
permanent cement barrier immediately above
the reservoir. The operation, which included
more than one million man hours, was deemed
a success and was completed with no injuries or
environmental incidents.
In another operation, 15 multi-string wells
and two single-string disposal wells were aban-
doned on the Iwaki platform well in offshore
Japan using cutting and boring equipment.
After the conductor was cut, pulled to the sur-
face, cleaned and laid down in 12-meter (39 ft)
sections, the wells were cut at 653 ft (199 m)
below the seabed. A drilling rig and a dual-drill
boring machine were used to pull the conduc-
tors and tubulars out of the wells. Nearly 6 mi
of multi-string conductor weighing 2,100 tons
was recovered to the surface. The operation
required 245 dual bores and 245 saw cuts to
lay down the 241 sections.
Despite a poor cementing job on the inner
string and concerns that the aging platform
would not be able to handle the heavy load,
there were no accidents or environmental is-
sues during the 62-day operation.
The growing market for subsea well aban-
donment also is posing technical challenges
for the industry. For subsea well abandonment
and well suspension, the Mechanical Outside
Single Trip (MOST) tool system can cut and
retrieve multiple cemented strings in a single
trip, therefore minimizing rig time. The sys-
tem also can recycle the wellhead, which mini-
mizes damage to seal surfaces. It offers three
cutting options: tension with mud motor; com-
pression with mud motor; and compressing
with a marine swivel or top drive rotary. Since
it was introduced in 1991, the system has been
deployed in 1,500 wells globally, from either
semisubmersible rigs or monohull vessels.
Challenges in the GoM
Conformance to P&A regulations resulted
in a safe and incident-free plug and abandon-
ment operation for two wells on a hurricane-
damaged platform in the GoM. In this case, a
lift boat was equipped with a cantilever system
to support an adjustable, rather than welded,
angled work deck that extended off the side
of the lift boat and matched the 20 angle of
the wells. The cantilever system was designed
with two 50,000-lb single-line winches.
For the frst well, 10 -in. and 16-in. casing,
cemented into 30-in. conductor pipe, were me-
chanically cut and pulled using remotely-oper-
ated, self-clamping and self-aligning guillotine
saws that provide multi-string capabilities. The
hydraulic clamping feature reduced risk, while
a hydraulic stabilizer provides better cutting
effciency. A problem developed after the 10
-in. casing was cut, while the hydraulic cutter
was being run to its operational depth in the
16-in. casing. A camera run into the wellbore
confrmed that the 16-in. casing had separated
12 ft (3.65 m) above the mudline.
The guillotine saw was engaged 20 ft (6.1
m) above the water line to cut off the casings
and allow entry into the wellbore. The saw was
then deployed under water to cut the 30-in. and
16-in. casing 5 ft (1.5 m) above the mudline. Af-
ter those sections of casing were retrieved, the
loose piece of 16-in. casing was pulled out with
a spear run on 3 -in. drillpipe. The same size
drillpipe was used to deploy a mechanical cut-
ter to cut the 30-in. casing 15 ft (4.5 m) below
the mud line, allowing for clean removal of the
remaining casing and conductor.
The second wells operation involved re-
moving the crows nest and cutting and pull-
ing 9 5/8-in. casing cemented inside 30-in. con-
ductors. In accordance with GoM regulations,
two abandoned pipelines were frst removed
by divers. The guillotine saw was used to cut
off the casings below the crows nest and allow
wellbore entry. The hydraulic mechanical cut-
ter was deployed on 3 -in. drillpipe to cut the
casing and conductor 15 ft (4.5 m) below the
mudline. Both were easily retrieved.
A rigless solution
Among the newer advances in P&A and
intervention solutions are technologies such
as the diesel-powered hydraulic pulling and
jacking unit (HP&JU) that can be deployed
both for P&A operations and for interven-
tions to bring mature wells back online.
Since it was launched in 2006, the technol-
ogy and resources have been used success-
fully in several long duration multi well P&A
operations in the GoM. The use of these
units continues to increase in the GoM, and
expand globally, in both activity levels and
types of applications that can be carried out.
The development and deployment of the
HP&JU system is emerging as a game-chang-
er in the way that P&A and end-of-feld ser-
vices are being conducted. It is being used as
a safe, cost-effective alternative to deploying
expensive and unwieldy jack-up rigs, work-
overs, or snubbing units.
The HP&JU is designed in modules, and is
rigless, meaning it can be placed on offshore
platforms that dont have existing derrick sys-
tems, have downgraded their derrick system,
or have damaged derrick systems or plat-
forms. The modular hydraulically-powered
mast sits directly above the well. Once rigged
up, the unit is independent from the crane, and
can withstand winds up to 69 mph. It is mobile,
and can skid from well to well, leaving a small
footprint. The design also allows a blowout
preventer to be placed under the unit.
In one GoM operation, an HP&JU was
used to kill and plug 10 wells. The opera-
tions were scheduled to be conducted over
342 days, but because of the operational eff-
ciencies involved with the HP&JU and crew,
the job was completed 108 days ahead of
schedule. This reduced the total operating
costs of the client by 33%.
Rigless well and abandonment system.