Great recovery

NCA

Per Lund of Norse Cutting & Abandonment (NCA) offers his thoughts on solutions to tackle the problem of declining production.

O&G. NCA provides Conductor Slot Recovery services. Can you describe the concept in more detail?
Per Lund. Conductor Slot Recovery is a cost efficient and simple way of enhancing production from existing infrastructure where you permanently plug and abandon (P&A) old non-producing wells and reuse the well slot for drilling a new one. In this way you can increase the lifetime of wellhead platforms and avoid having to take the cost and lead-time to fabricate and install a new one. Equally important is that you can do the whole P&A and conductor installation operation very cost efficiently from a lift boat with a lower day rate and then bring in the more expensive jackup drilling rig to drill the new well.

O&G. Why do you think Conductor Slot Recovery is an applicable method for the Middle East market?
PL. The Middle East is a mature oil and gas region with many fields developed in the 1970s and 1980s. Most of these are now facing a decline in production. The offshore production in the region is characterised by wellhead platforms at moderate water depths which make them ideal for Conductor Slot Recoveries. All the well slots are typically occupied and normal well servicing is not enough to keep up the production. The reservoirs are however not yet fully depleted and Conductor Slot Recoveries allows in-field drilling without adding costly infrastructure.

O&G. What makes NCA’s Conductor Slot Recovery services unique to the industry?
PL. NCA is known to be a world-leader for rigless plug and abandonment and decommissioning services. Our services are founded on unique and proprietary equipment that allows the operation to be conducted safer and more cost efficiently, in a reliable manner and without surprises. Together with our extensive track record and P&A expertise we can offer a package to our clients that allow them to focus on their main task; drilling the new productive well.

O&G. Many operators do their slot recoveries using downhole sidetracks. Why is Conductor Slot Recovery a better way of sidetracking a well?
PL. A sidetrack at the seabed is less vulnerable to surprises than doing a sidetrack further downhole. Our experience is that downhole sidetracks very often result in time consuming complications in order to locate the whipstock where you really want it. Conductor Slot Recovery also gives you a full casing program from the surface which will make it possible to reach targets that cannot otherwise be reached from the platform. Furthermore, it is possible to perform the Conductor Slot Recovery operation rigless, which means that you can reduce the rig work scope down to only the drilling of the new well. This gives you a new well to the target at a lower cost and with fewer operational complications.

O&G. NCA has so far been known to the industry to offer services for well abandonment and decommissioning. Why now the focus on enhanced production?
PL. Through its plug and abandonment (P&A) and decommissioning activities, NCA has developed a range of innovative and very cost efficient solutions for plugging and abandoning wells. Traditionally these services have been utilised in the decommissioning phase and not considered an investment as such. However, with the increasing focus on field rejuvenation we realized that cost efficient plugging and removal of wells can actually add a lot of value to our clients in terms of saved cost and new opportunities.

O&G. How do you think that the Middle East market for Conductor Slot Recovery will develop?
PL. We believe that this market will see a significant growth in the coming years. We have already secured the first contracts with some of the leading operators in the region, and see that others are monitoring our achievements. With the fluctuating oil prices we strongly believe that the Conductor Slot Recovery solution will offer a professional, low cost, simple solution for enhancing production.

Per Lund, VP of Business Development and Sales at Norse Cutting & Abandonment (NCA) holds a msc of naval architecture from university of trondheim. He joined NCA in 1999 and has since had a number of key positions in the company. he has also played a key role in numerous subsea cutting, abandonment and decommissioning projects in the North Sea, Africa and Gulf of Mexico.