UK’s Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) has begun a search for operators to voluntarily participate in a multi-operator, well plug and abandonment (P&A) optimization program.
OGA said on Thursday that the objective of the pilot program was to demonstrate the cost savings which can be achieved through collaborative working, stimulate work-sharing campaigns and adopt improved execution and contracting models.
Those selected will work alongside the OGA and the project manager for the selection phase, Lloyd’s Register (LR), to examine the opportunity for a collaborative well P&A program to be executed in 2018/19.
OGA added that the outcome of the select phase would be to develop the appropriate scope, timing, and objectives for the pilot by the end of the second quarter of 2017.
The later stages of the project will be managed by industry rather than the OGA. The industry will also be the contracting parties for rigs, vessels and other services.
Jim Christie , OGA Head of Decommissioning, said: “Targeted cost efficiency programs, extensive knowledge sharing, and best practice adoption is a priority of our decommissioning strategy.
“We expect that this program will encourage further collaborative working practices across well P&A scope and into other areas of decommissioning.
“While estimates of cost, scale, and scope vary, there is no doubt that the decommissioning effort facing our basin is significant. We must act now to capitalize on the opportunity it presents for innovation, cost reduction, and further development of our skilled supply chain.”
Participants in the program should identify wells which fall within the execution window and work collaboratively with the OGA and operators to minimize costs.
Also, participants should engage in multi-operator collaboration to test other factors which may reduce costs further than is possible through economies of scale and repeatability alone and be transparent in data sharing and lessons learned from the project, OGA said.