THE LEGACY OF

SUSPENDED WELLS

Derek Saward

Head, Environmental Management Team

DECC OGED, 02 October 2013

In 2012, DECC Licensing Exploration and Development (LED) initiated a review to update the inventory of open-

water suspended wells on the UKCS

O&GUK convened a industry workshop in June 2012 to discuss the inventory and how to prioritise the

abandonment of suspended wells

DECC took an action from the workshop to review the available information and write to industry to encourage

the development abandonment programmes

In view of the environmental issues relating to suspended wells, it was decided that DECC Offshore Oil

and Gas Environment and Decommissioning (OGED)

should take this work forward

BACKGROUND

To encourage industry to develop a risk-based programme / campaign to

abandon legacy open-water

suspended wells

AIM

DECC OGED reviewed the existing information provided by DECC LED

Following its review, OGED wrote to operators early in 2013 to seek additional information, to facilitate a risk

assessment broadly based on the output of the

industry workshop

There were challenges reconciling LED legacy data against current well ownership, indicating that suspended wells receive little attention during asset

transfer processes

There was a very good response rate, with the qualification that some of the responses did not

provide complete information

DATA COLLECTION

RISK ASSESSMENT

Criteria Risk Factor

Potential for re-use / abandonment plans No clear plans for reuse (appraisal or development)

or abandonment of the wells

Well suspension category Category type 3 & 4 (using O&G UK well

suspension and abandonment guidelines)

Hydrocarbons Hydrocarbon type (Oil>Condensate>Gas)

Natural flow to surface

High pressure and/or high temperature

Well status Leaking or damaged

Confirmed degradation of barriers

Outwith design life (>25 years)

No recent inspection / survey (>5 years)

Environmental factors Water depth (>300 m or >1,000 m)

Environmental sensitivity

Fishing activity

Safety zone or proximity of infrastructure

Information quality Complete and relevant information not provided

RESULTS - E&A WELLS

100

13

42 19

55

7

52

2 1

Need more info./action required

Already abandoned

Abandonment planned 2013 - 2015

Category 1

Planned re-use

Producer

Well in safety zone

Close to other infrastructure

Serving another purpose

Total 291 wells

SUSPENDED E & A WELLS

SHUT-IN PRODUCTION WELLS

RESULTS - SHUT-IN WELLS

Total 349 wells

49

10

39

2 9

240

Need more info./action required

Category 1

Planned re-use

Abandonment planned 2013 - 2015

Abandoned / Producing

Well in safety zone

Suspended

Open-water E&A

Wells and Shut-in

Production Wells

on the UKCS

100 E&A wells and 49 shut-in production wells

requiring further action

These wells fell into three categories:

Lack of information

Operator didnt provide any firm plans for re-use or abandonment

Risk factor, e.g. hydrocarbon / reservoir type, well status (leakage, degradation of barriers, outwith

design life, etc.) and environmental factors

RESULTS - FURTHER ACTION

27 E & A wells and 2 production wells where industry needs to provide additional information,

or they will be placed in highest risk category

31 E & A wells and 14 production wells with no planned re-use where industry needs to provide

Plugging and Abandonment (P&A) proposals, or

they will be placed in highest risk category

42 E & A wells and 33 production wells considered to be at risk, and industry needs to undertake P&A operations in the short term.

SUMMARY

Suspended E&A

Wells and Shut-

in Production

Wells on the

UKCS

If P&A is required in the short term, operators are required to develop abandonment

programmes, initially targeting the at risk wells

Industry should:

Explore opportunities for joint abandonment programmes for wells in same area

Maximise vessel / rig availability

Mitigate costs

DESIRED OUTCOME

If there are no obvious concerns, new applications for suspension will receive approval for a maximum of 5 years

After 5 years, extension applications must be supported by acceptable inspection / survey information or proposals

After 5 years, extension applications will trigger request for risk assessment information (i.e. the information recently

collected for the legacy wells)

DECC OGED will undertake a risk assessment and, if the outcome is satisfactory, recommend that continuation of the

suspension should be approved

If the risk assessment highlights potential issues, operators will be required to submit firm proposals to P&A the well

before the continuation of the suspension is approved

DECC OGED will contact operators annually to update the inventory of suspended wells and review the risk assessment

FUTURE POLICY

QUESTIONS?