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Australian Energy Producers Journal Australian Energy Producers Journal Society
Journal of Australian Energy Producers
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Non peer reviewed)

Cradle to grave: planning for all well decommissioning

Pauline Goh A * , Mark Bourne A and Derrick O’Keeffe A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA), Perth, WA, Australia.

* Correspondence to: pauline.goh@nopsema.gov.au

The APPEA Journal 62 S264-S267 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ21210
Accepted: 15 March 2022   Published: 13 May 2022

© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of APPEA.

Abstract

As the Australian offshore oil and gas sector continues to mature, there is an increasing level of activity in the final phase of the well lifecycle: well decommissioning (well abandonment). Several decommissioning projects are either already in progress or being planned in Australian waters. Since the 1960s, the eventual decommissioning of wells has been an expectation within the law. Whilst this fundamental obligation has not changed, the expectations for the management of offshore wells and equipment have changed for both the industry and regulators. In the meantime, the number of unused wells grew. In 2021, the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) published a Decommissioning Compliance Strategy and Decommissioning Compliance Plan. From this, all wells will have been risk assessed and have accepted abandonment plans in place by the end of 2023, and all wells will be permanently abandoned within 3 years of cessation of well operation by the end of 2025. The industry has an immediate challenge catching up on the backlog of abandoning wells, some of which have been in an unused state for decades. Going forward, well abandonment should be actively considered throughout the well lifecycle, including design, construction and operation phases. This will enable decommissioning objectives to be achieved in a safe, timely and efficient manner. This paper will provide an overview of recent domestic and international developments related to well decommissioning, from a regulatory perspective, and the importance of proactive well decommissioning planning and collaboration.

Keywords: decommissioning, P&A, plug and abandon, plug and abandonment, proactive decommissioning, project lifecycle, well abandonment, well decommissioning, well lifecycle, well lifecycle planning.

Pauline Goh is a Well Integrity Engineer at NOPSEMA (National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority). Her qualifications include a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering, Hons) from Curtin University. Pauline has worked in Australia and internationally as an operations engineer in drilling and well abandonment with service providers before joining NOPSEMA.

Mark Bourne was appointed as NOPSEMA’s Well Integrity Manager in August 2018, following 4 years as a NOPSEMA Well Integrity Specialist. Prior to joining NOPSEMA, Mark had 26 years of upstream oil and gas industry experience, working on- and offshore in Australia, Holland, Germany, Libya and Qatar, starting as a mud logger and working up through various drilling operations and engineering roles to Senior Drilling Operations Engineer with a major operating company. Mark holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons) from the University of Wolverhampton in Applied Sciences.

Derrick O’Keeffe is the Head of Safety and Integrity for NOPSEMA, Australia’s independent offshore regulator. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Chemical Engineering and an MBA. He has 37 years of engineering, commercial, management and Director experience in oil and gas in Australia, Iran, UAE, Bangladesh, Africa, the USA and the UK. Derrick is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, life member and past President of the Petroleum Club of Western Australia, where he contributes to short courses on petroleum. He is a regular witness at Australian government parliamentary senate hearings and inquiries.


References

Australian Government (2006) Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006. Available at https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2020C00990

BP, ConocoPhillips, Spirit Energy, Oil and Gas Authority (2018) Collaborative Well P&A Success Story. Available at https://www.nstauthority.co.uk/media/4913/well-pplusa-collaboration-success-story.pdf

BSEE (2018) NTL No. 2018-G03 Idle iron decommissioning guidance for wells and platforms. Available at https://www.bsee.gov/sites/bsee.gov/files/notices-to-lessees-ntl/ntl-2018-g03.pdf

Clyne I, Jackson N (2014) ‘Abandonment of 19 subsea wells in the Jabiru/Challis Fields.’ Paper presented at the IADC/SPE Asia Pacific Drilling Technology Conference, Bangkok, Thailand, August 2014.
| Crossref |

ISO (2017) Petroleum and natural gas industries — Well integrity — Part 1: Life cycle governance. ISO 16530-1:2017 (International Organization for Standardization). Available at https://www.iso.org/standard/63192.html

Lim TK, Tellier E, Campbell M (2020) ‘Enabling subsea well P&A with modern vessels.’ Paper presented at the SPE Asia Pacific Oil & Gas Conference and Exhibition, Virtual, November 2020.
| Crossref |

NOPSEMA (2021) Decommissioning compliance plan 2021–2025. Available at https://www.nopsema.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2021-12/A776446%20-%20Decommissioning%20Compliance%20Plan.pdf

Oil and Gas UK (2019) Well Life Cycle Integrity Guidelines. Issue 4. (OGUK).

Standards Norway (2021) NORSOK Standard D-010:2021. Well integrity in drilling and well operations. Revision 5. (Standards Norway).