Offshore staff
ABERDEEN, UK – Acteon’s Offshore Installation Services (OIS) has completed its 16th rigless suspended well abandonment campaign, involving multiple operators in the southern North Sea.
Nine mudline wells were abandoned, four for GDF SUEZ E&P UK and two for RWE Dea. OIS’ scope of work included the initial approval processes; devising the contracting strategy; developing detailed procedures; procurement; appointing specialist service providers; logistics; and recycling/disposing of the recovered wellheads.
The company performed the two-phase campaign from a chartered DP-2 anchor handling tug supply vessel. During the first phase, a twin low-pressure packer tool supplied by Acteon sister company Claxton Engineering Services was deployed through the vessel’s moonpool to set cement plugs across all the casing annuli. Phase 2 called for abrasive severance of the wells using Claxton’s SABRE cutting tool.
Max Proctor, GDF SUEZ E&P UK drilling manager, said: “We started this campaign immediately after the request came from DECC [Department of Energy and Climate Change] for operators to fully abandon suspended wells by reviewing the history of the wells and confirming the status of each with an independent well examiner.”
Tom Selwood, OIS vice president of commercial and business development, said: “Multi-operator campaigns such as this enable operators to share the associated costs which, when combined with the rigless nature of our offering, makes this the most cost-effective way to comply with UK oil and gas decommissioning legislation.”
4/16/2013
