Cost-Effective Technologies for Onshore Well Abandonment and Verification

Industry stakeholders, including operators and regulators, are seeking pragmatic approaches to more efficiently and cost effectively implement decommissioning and verification programs. Proven and new technologies are capable of ensuring effective permanent sealing. However, some of the emerging technologies may only be cost effective in offshore and Arctic situations, where there is easy access to multiple, closely spaced wellheads with a service spread that includes support services and crew accommodation at minimal incremental costs. For onshore operations, these new technologies need to be cost-effective when deployed at scale. Unrealistic expectations run the risk of not only unnecessarily driving-up P&A costs, but also the magnitude of the orphaned well inventory.

In this webinar, we will briefly review the containment challenges and issues in terms of how many cows worth of methane a small seepage might represent. The primary focus of the webinar will be the available and emerging technologies currently being applied or tested in the field. We will touch on the challenges that may be posed in terms of cost and/or potential limitations with respect to external leakage paths. We will briefly review the lab and field-testing procedures for assessing promising breakthrough technologies and how results might be better shared with the various stakeholders in other regions.

The event format will spur interaction and exchange: Jonathan and Matteo will present some opening remarks, before being challenged by an expert panel of abandonment practitioners. The entire team will then attempt to address questions from the audience during the final 30 minutes.

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