Offshore staff

ABERDEEN, UK – Six fledgling businesses have been formed in Scotland following the ‘Grey Matters’ program established by Elevator and Scottish Enterprise.

This was designed to support experienced oil and gas executives that have been made redundant to create new companies and develop innovative technologies.

Among those chosen are C-NumeriC, founded by Gbade Adetona, which is looking to change the long-established approach taken to section milling for P&A of subsea wells.

This is a labor-intensive procedure that, the company claims, fails four out of every seven operations, with around 75% of service quality issues caused by human error.

C-NumeriC is proposing a fully automated section milling system that could provide real-time information and save up to £500,000 ($664,000) on each P&A well.

Adetona said: “Our technology isn’t about reinventing the wheel. It’s about making it drive better. UK P&A operations cost savings are expected to be worth £950 million [$1.26 billion] over seven years by applying our solution. We’ll be aiming for a 100% success rate on all projects at the first attempt.”

Another company looking at P&A issues is Resolute. Research shows that cement is a major factor impacting integrity in 34% of UK and 18% of Norwegian wells.

By 2025, almost 2,500 wells are set to be decommissioned in the North Sea and according to Resolute, use of cement alone is not fit for purpose.

As an alternative, it is proposing applying a microscopic, granular material to allow cements and resins to perform better as barriers.

This, combined with other selected materials, is said to expand up to 400 times its original size and can also be injected into the reservoir, providing a deeper and more secure block.

Working with the OGIC and RGU in Scotland, Resolute has simulated, tested and proven its solution and is now progressing toward field trials. The company aims to develop the technique to reinstate the integrity and prolong the life of wells.

A third entrepreneur in the Grey Matters program is Sentinel Subsea, which is developing technology to reduce the cost of managing and monitoring of P&A of wells, while also demonstrating proactive environmental stewardship.

There is growing concern among regulators in Europe that abandoned wells could leak. Sentinel Subsea proposes injecting capped wells with a specialized substance and installing an anchored sensor, individually coded to each well, on the seafloor.

If the sensor detects a leak of the substance and associated hydrocarbons, it will eject from its anchor, rise to the surface and be detected.

According to the company’s founder Neil Gordon: “Within five minutes of a sensor breaching the surface, we will be able to inform operators of a leaking well.

“Currently, if a plugged and abandoned well is leaking, it can take days, weeks, or months for it to be reported. If the hydrocarbons never reach the surface to be seen, the chances are that the leak might never be identified.”

06/15/2018