Operators are often faced with the decision of extending or ending offshore production asset life
As a result, pre-decommissioning planning has emerged as a major challengefor in the industry. Mitigating uncertainty, enabling decision making and justification as to whether to end or extend asset life, as well as detailed knowledge of asset conditions, is crucial.
A range of diagnostics services can be used to provide this detailed knowledge throughout late life operations. If you’re looking to extend asset life, each item must be properly evaluated to see if they are in the right condition to safely extend.
In cases of initial assessment, technologies that can confirm structural integrity with regard to pipeline corrosion and erosion, flexible riser liner and carcass inspection, midwater arch/buoyancy tank inspection, platform member inspection and grout monitoring is essential. These technologies, all of which are provided by Tracerco, are vital during extended life campaigns, as regular inspection is required to confirm the viability of the asset. Through collecting the right type of data through diagnostics and measurement technology, businesses can ensure cost-effective methods.
Reservoir recovery is circa 30 per cent to 40 per cent, and with IOR/EOR technologies, as an industry, we have experienced a significant impact, where these percentages have been significantly increased.
In IOR/EOR applications, chemical tracer technology can be used to manage fluid movement and maximise hydrocarbon output by establishing water entry points, providing a water cut profile along the wellbore and confirming the water source from the formation or injection water movement when combined with waterflood tracing.
When it comes to field development planning, operators can detect high flow permeable channel blocking and determine how impactful the chemical treatments can be. In addition, operators can measure waterflood effectiveness, residual oil saturation, water and oil inflow can often be used as an alternative to PLTs where they are deemed too risky, costly, or well design does not permit, as well as effective water injection and mud invasion. Tracerco also offers added safety measures during logging while drilling (LWD) using a specially designed monitor for source detection.
If you have carried out thorough asset assessments and find that they are no longer good to use, you must begin the process to get rid of them.
Do ensure that the route taken mitigates risk and is carried out safely, considering the best interests of the environment and complies with local regulations.
