Industry-wide learnings from the independent review of Australia’s most complex decommissioning program
Alasdair Gray A * and Chris Wilson BA Xodus, Perth, WA, Australia.
B Labrador, Perth, WA, Australia.
The APPEA Journal 62 S268-S273 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ21163
Accepted: 5 April 2022 Published: 13 May 2022
© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of APPEA.
Abstract
In 2019, the Minister for Resources and Northern Australia issued a Statement of Expectations to the National Offshore Petroleum and Safety Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) establishing heightened expectations for duty holder compliance with their decommissioning obligations. In response, NOPSEMA increased compliance monitoring and enforcement activities to assess adequacy of the level of decommissioning planning and implementation by duty holders. On 20 May 2021, NOPSEMA issued a general direction to Esso Australia relating to their Bass Strait decommissioning program, likely one of Australia’s most significant and complex decommissioning projects. The direction included a requirement to undertake an independent review of Esso’s engineering and project management approach and consider if there were opportunities for reducing the timeframe to commence and subsequently complete all necessary decommissioning activities. This review was subsequently awarded to Xodus, in partnership with Labrador and focussed on core disciplines such as project management, regulatory approvals, stakeholder engagement, well plugging and abandonment, contracting, topsides and subsea facilities and waste management. Australia is at a pivotal stage in the context of decommissioning oil and gas infrastructure. With heightened regulatory oversight alongside recent and continuing changes to legislation, ensuring supply chain is ready to deliver against this backdrop will be critical to the future success of regional decommissioning and ensure all parties bearing the cost of this work are satisfied. This paper will discuss the independent review process of Esso’s decommissioning program and outline key challenges and opportunities the industry faces in realising improved decommissioning efficiency in the region.
Keywords: ALARP, APAC, CA, CCUS, CEO, CoP, EOFL, EP, FID, MCDA, NOPSEMA, P&A, UKCS.
Alasdair Gray is the Late Life and Decommissioning Lead for APAC and is the focal point in the region for decommissioning at Xodus. Alasdair is a Chartered Engineer with the IMechE with over 15 years’ experience in the design engineering of subsea pipelines and associated systems, subsea construction, CCUS and field decommissioning. Alasdair has experience in assessing options and planning for large-scale decommissioning scopes and has significant experience in regulatory requirements both in UKCS and Australia. He has acted as lead engineer and project manager to multiple subsea, CCUS and decommissioning projects within Xodus and held a variety of secondment positions into operators over his career. Qualifications and Professional Memberships: MEng (Masters) in Mechanical Engineering (University of Edinburgh, UK), CEng Chartered Engineer with the IMechE (Institute for Mechanical Engineers). |
Chris Wilson is a Well Engineering Advisor with 30 years of oil and gas experience in drilling and plug & abandonment projects. Chris is the Managing Director and CEO for Labrador and still actively provides engineering advice and support to Labrador clients. Throughout the course of his career, Chris has worked for a variety of operators (Santos, Apache, Woodside, OMV and Neptune Energy) and has acquired a wealth of experience with complex wells, field development, barrier placement and verification, and well decommissioning. Chris was responsible for contracting the first Semi-submersible Heavy Well Intervention Unit into Australia and led a team tasked with decommissioning complex subsea wells – largely with new technology. On top of this Chris challenged the team to reduce the amount of wellbore waste returned to shore. Qualifications and Professional Memberships: Master’s Engineering Science in Petroleum Engineering, University of New South Wales, Bachelor of Science – major Geology, Curtin University – Western Australia, IMO-3. |
References
Australian Federal Government (2020) Recycling and Waste Reduction (Export – Waste Plastic) Rules 2021. https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/F2021L00625Esso Australia (2021) ‘Operations Impacts and Risks Bass Strait Environment Plan, Vol. 2.’ AUGO-EV-EMM-002. https://info.nopsema.gov.au/activities/30/show_public
NOPSEMA (2020a) Decommissioning Compliance Plan. https://www.nopsema.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2021-05/A776446%20-%20Decomissioning%20Compliance%20Plan.pdf
NOPSEMA (2020b) Section 572 Maintenance and removal of property, N-00500-PL1903A720369. https://www.nopsema.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2021-07/A720369.pdf
NOPSEMA (2021) Planning for Proactive Decommissioning, N-00500-IP2002 A816565. https://www.nopsema.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2021-12/A816565.pdf
