Page 8: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Sep/Oct 2019)

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LEADING OFF P&A

A NEW SLANT ON

DECOMMISSIONING

Shallow gas reservoirs drilled into at a 60-degree angle from the surface in the 1980s have posed a unique decommissioning challenge – resulting in a new design modular plug and abandonment (P&A) unit.

BY ELAINE MASLIN hen it comes to decom- in the East Irish Sea, offshore west Eng- These slant wells were drilled in the missioning, many opera- land, none of these options were avail- 1980s by previous owner British Gas tors face the challenge of able; there was no rig either onboard or when directional drilling technology

W how to decommission available from elsewhere that could ac- wasn’t as advanced as it is today. Drill- their wells. Many platforms either never cess the platforms wells – because they ing at this 60-degree angle from the had a derrick or it’s not been maintained, are slant wells, drilled at a 60-degree platform meant a signi? cantly greater so expensive rig reinstatement programs angle from the platform. They had been outreach was possible compared with are needed, a jack-up rig brought in or a drilled from two rigs designed and built conventional drilling at the time. “By modular package installed on the facility. just for this ? eld – the Morecambe Bay opting for slant drilling, the Stage I de-

For the DP3 and DP4 facilities in Spir- Driller and Flame – whose unique drill- velopment required only three drilling it Energy’s Morecambe Bay complex, ing packages no longer exist. platforms as opposed to the seven re-

Source: MW Visuals Ltd.

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