Offshore staff
HØVIK, Norway– A new DNV GL guideline will introduce to P&A’ing a risk-based approach instead of the current prescriptive practice. The guidelines are under development and will be issued in the second half of 2015.
“With current practices, wells on the Norwegian continental shelf will require the deployment of 15 rigs full-time over the next 40 years. Based on the 2013 cost, this is equivalent to more than a tenth of the current value of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund (GPFG),” says Per Jahre-Nilsen, senior principal engineer in DNV GL – Oil & Gas. “We believe the time has come to tackle this issue head on by assisting regulators and the industry to establish a new methodology for dealing with the decommissioning of wells.”
There are currently around 2,350 wells that will require P&A on the NCS, and 3,000 more wells are planned to be drilled in the future. In the UK, close to 5,000 offshore wells will need P&A.
“Risk-based approaches are widely used in all other offshore disciplines, ensure appropriate long-term environmental protection and also represent the most rigorous method to enhance safety. It is time to apply these principles to P&A,” saysElisabeth Tørstad, CEO of DNV GL – Oil & Gas.
06/16/2015
