Australia offshore well inventory characterisation and decommissioning cost saving opportunities through cap rock restoration and rigless/riserless techniques

2021 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 445
Author(s):  
Christopher Murphy ◽  
Stuart A. Higgins

This research utilises the Geoscience Australia and NOPIMS public database to characterise the national inventory of active offshore oil and gas (O&G) wells and, through representative examples of dry and wet completions, establish the current well decommissioning cost opportunities associated with using riserless and rigless techniques to restore cap rock. These techniques have been successfully applied in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) and this study explores the potential savings and barriers to adoption in the Australian offshore operating and regulatory context. Third party studies (Bills 2018; Wood Mackenzie 2020) have reported Australian O&G decommissioning cost estimates in the range of USD 33–49 billion over the next 30–40 years. The well decommissioning contribution to the total project cost has been estimated at 49% (OGUK 2020). This cost is materially significant to the economic life of the asset, the operator’s financial liability and a significant cost burden to the Federal Government through Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) offsets. In this context there is a paucity of detail and transparency for well decommissioning cost estimates, to establish whether there are cost saving opportunities whilst still maintaining an acceptable level of risk both during plug and abandonment (P&A) operations and in the longer term when relinquished back to the Federal Government. This study illustrates how and to what extent the Australian offshore Federal well inventory could be decommissioned using cap rock restoration and rigless/riserless techniques and proposes a staged strategy to realise a progressive cost reduction of 21–41% over the base estimate of circa USD 4.08 billion benchmarked with OGUK (2019). This significant cost reduction aligns with the OGTC (2019) technology roadmap target of 35% supported in part by the pursuit of a rigless and riserless well decommissioning philosophy.

2005 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 397-400
Author(s):  
Antonio Uneddu ◽  
Tito Antonio Paolini

The aim of the present work is to report preliminary results about the administration of an insulin analogue, LisPro, to treat diabetic chetoacidosis. This new procedure, in respect to insulin continuous infusion, allow significant cost reduction in terms of medical and nurses time dedicated to the patient and hospitalization length. In our experience, LisPro treatment compared to the standard of care, has allowed hospital time reduction of 2,1 days per patient. This can be translated in cost saving of about 700,00 euro per case. These preliminary data, replicating the results coming from published international experiences, have to be confirmed in our country through the implementation of more representative studies


2004 ◽  
pp. 51-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Sharipova ◽  
I. Tcherkashin

Federal tax revenues from the main sectors of the Russian economy after the 1998 crisis are examined in the article. Authors present the structure of revenues from these sectors by main taxes for 1999-2003 and prospects for 2004. Emphasis is given to an increasing dependence of budget on revenues from oil and gas industries. The share of proceeds from these sectors has reached 1/3 of total federal revenues. To explain this fact world oil prices dynamics and changes in tax legislation in Russia are considered. Empirical results show strong dependence of budget revenues on oil prices. The analysis of changes in tax legislation in oil and gas industry shows that the government has managed to redistribute resource rent in favor of the state.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rune Vikane ◽  
Jon Tømmerås Selvik ◽  
Eirik Bjorheim Abrahamsen

Abstract The 2014 Wood Review is a report reviewing UK offshore oil and gas recovery and its regulation, led by Sir Ian Wood. The report identifies and addresses key challenges in the UK petroleum industry, among them the lack of a strong regulatory body and a decommissioning strategy. The UK petroleum industry is mature, and Norway may benefit from UK's experiences in decommissioning. The article investigates the applicability of the Wood Review recommendations for decommissioning in Norway. The analysis of the recommendations in the Wood Review is carried out by a SWOT-analysis of the general recommendations with a high potential impact on decommissioning as well as the five recommendations specific to decommissioning. The recommendations in the Wood Review were broadly accepted by UK authorities and formed the basis for numerous initiatives aimed at improving policies and practices in UK decommissioning. The key initiatives are presented to illustrate how the Wood Review recommendations has been interpreted. A summary of the key differences between the petroleum industries and the regulatory authorities in Norway and the UK is provided for background. Decommissioning in Norway face similar challenges to those identified in the Wood Review. The analysis indicates that several of the UK initiatives following the recommendations in the Wood Review has the potential of improving decommissioning in Norway. Differences in regulatory regimes between the regions may complicate the implementation of some of the initiatives following the Wood Review in Norway. In most cases only minor changes to regulations and/or practices are required. Recent UK initiatives with a high impact on decommissioning include increased focus on sharing of information and lessons learned, increased collaboration, the development of a decommissioning strategy, benchmarking of decommissioning cost estimates for all projects and the development and publishing of annual UK decommissioning cost estimates. There are indications that the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) and the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (MPE) are falling behind their UK counterparts in key areas. Norway has limited experience with decommissioning, and scrupulous analysis of lessons learned in other regions is essential. Decommissioning of Norwegian offshore infrastructure is a major undertaking and even minor improvements may have a substantial impact on personnel risk, risk to the environment or the total decommissioning expenditure. The Norwegian regulatory regime has been an integral part of the Norwegian petroleum industry's success in previous decades, and changes to the regime require careful deliberation. The recent implementation of initiatives aimed at improving decommissioning regulations and practices in the UK represents a unique learning opportunity for Norwegian authorities. The analysis suggest that Norway may benefit from adopting some of the UK initiatives following the Wood Review recommendations.


2015 ◽  
Vol 737 ◽  
pp. 859-862
Author(s):  
Hui Zhi Hao ◽  
Li Juan Tan

The hydrocarbon reservoirs which have been found in SZ36-1 region are located in Liaoxi low uplift and dominated by structural traps. The principle source rock is the first and the third member of the Neogen Shahejie Formation and the main reservoir type is delta sand body which mainly located in the second member of Shahejie Formation. Oil reservoirs are mostly in normal pressure and are possess characteristic of late hydrocarbon accumulation. Hydrocarbon accumulation is mainly controlled by fault,reservoir-cap rock combination, and petroleum migration pathways. Lateral distribution of hydrocarbon reservoirs is mostly controlled by reservoir rocks, while the vertical distribution is controlled by fault.


1979 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-26
Author(s):  
Emery N. Castle

On April 5 of this year President Jimmy Carter addressed the Nation on energy. After a brief introduction the President said:“Federal government price controls now hold down our own production and encourage waste and increase dependence on foreign oil.”The President then went on to say:“–I have decided that phased decontrol of oil prices will begin on June 1 and continue at a fairly uniform rate over the next 18 months. The immediate effect of this action will be to increase the production of oil and gas in our own country.”


2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-162
Author(s):  
Layth Kraidi ◽  
Raj Shah ◽  
Wilfred Matipa ◽  
Fiona Borthwick

Currently, there are enormous Risk Factors (RFs) threating the safety of Oil and Gas Pipelines (OGPs) at all stages of projects. However, there is a lack of information about the root causes of pipeline failures and an absence of trusted data about the "probability and severity" levels of the RFs; this hinders the risk management in such projects. To improve the safety level of OGPs, this paper aims to explore stakeholders' perceptions about pipeline failures issues to analyze the RFs and recommend effective Risk Mitigation Methods (RMMs). Due to the lack of trusted data about the RFs and RMMs, this paper started with extensive investigations to identify the critical RFs and the applied RMMs in OGP projects in different circumstances. The findings of these investigations were used to design a questionnaire survey, which was distributed to analyze the "probability and severity" levels of the RFs and evaluate the "usability and effectiveness" degrees of the suggested RMMs. The survey results revealed that RFs related to Third-Party Disruption (TPD) including sabotage and terrorism, corruption and insecure areas are the most severe RFs. Additionally, based on the survey some RMMs such as anti-corrosion efforts, laying the pipelines underground and using technologically advanced risk-monitoring systems were found to be effective RMMs. These results were found to be varied based on the stakeholders' occupation in the projects; for example, the overall survey results indicated that terrorism and sabotage is the most critical RF, while the planners and the researchers identified corruption as the most critical one. It was also observed that using anti-corrosion measures such as isolation and cathodic protection would be the most effective RMM, while the other stakeholders have different perceptions like moving the pipelines underground an advanced risk-monitoring system are the most effective RMMs as indicated by the consultant, planner or designer and researches respectively.


Author(s):  
Charles W. Patrick ◽  
William F. Newell

Welding is often listed as a production operation that companies would like to reduce overall cost and improve productivity; however, most companies merely implement cost reduction programs focused on lowering welding consumable costs. Though significant and important, these associated material costs typically represent only a small percentage to the total cost, i.e., 10 to 20% (welding consumables 8 to 15% and power and equipment 2 to 5%) of the overall welding cost in a typical U.S. welding operation. To further reduce welding costs, companies need to look further. Since labor and overhead, which relates directly to productivity, represents approximately 80 to 85% of the overall cost of any given welding operation they also offer the greatest opportunities for significant cost reduction. Simply changing from Shielded Metal-Arc Welding (SMAW) to Flux-Cored Arc Welding (FCAW) can reduce labor cost and increase productivity. Due to the increased deposition efficiency and operating factor of FCAW the weld deposition rate increases thus translating into increased productivity. The increase in productivity, in turn, reduces labor cost by reducing the man-hours required for the completion of any given weld. An added benefit gained by using FCAW is that it also significantly reduces the skill level required by the welder to produce welds of equal quality. When all of these benefits are combined FCAW yields significant cost savings opportunities by reducing labor and simultaneously improving productivity.


Author(s):  
Eduardo Lopes de Paula ◽  
Markus Moratti ◽  
Eduardo Henrique da Silva Rodrigues ◽  
Elivelton Pinheiro Scherrer

The transportation system for hydrocarbons consists of an important and complex network of pipelines used by oil and gas logistics companies, designed to quickly and efficiently transport oil and gas from its origin, to areas of some demand along territory where operates. Currently Brazil has 15,000 km of transportation pipelines within about 7,500 km of right-of-way pipelines. Along its territorial extension it faces several influences along its route, being the main ones influenced by the external hazards from nature and by third party actions. TRANSPETRO has about 450 water crossings in cataloged water bodies currently. These crossings are currently characterized only according to their geometric characteristics, not considering several aspects inherent to them. The inspections at these crossings are laborious and have a high cost due to necessity of divers and bathymetry in some cases. To monitor the condition of all pipeline water crossings it is important to ensure the pipeline integrity. Depending on hydraulic phenomena, it is possible result in an exposure of the pipelines, free spans, changes in the original pipeline or excessive vibration. These changes can generate high mechanical stresses with both static and dynamic loads. The present study was characterized by the development of a methodology for assessing the susceptibility to the exposure of pipelines as a result of the hydrological hazards present at the crossings in which they are found. Moreover, this evaluation methodology offers a tool to define inspection extent and frequency, as well as the corresponding risk control actions. For this purpose, a pipeline management program has been set up, which consists in the definition of water crossings that constitute a potential hydrological hazard and where they can interact with the pipeline considering the probability of a specific hydrotechnical hazard leading the pipeline the exposure. As a result of this research it was defined a methodology to characterize pipeline crossing areas as well as field survey, evaluation of the susceptibility of pipeline exposure at crossings and the programming of control actions were defined according to the susceptibility found. Finally, the study has also presented a cost analysis of crossings inspections comparing the traditional method to the new premises adopted in this project.


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