The oil and gas industry may be one step closer to transforming well plug and abandonment (P&A) as more than 45 potential solutions were submitted for the Oil & Gas Technology Centre’s first ‘Call for Ideas’.
We received ideas and concepts that could have a material impact on this transformation, against three specific themes: modelling the probability of hydrocarbon flow to the surface; verification of permanent barriers; and new barriers - placement and materials.
Applicants now have three stages to navigate if they’re to grab a slice of the c.£1 million fund:
- Discover: Ideas are assessed independently by a review panel.
- Develop: Applicants successful at the discover stage are invited to work with the Oil & Gas Technology Centre team to further develop their idea.
- Deliver: Ideas that are fully developed and viewed as suitable for deployment are reviewed with industry partners to enable final investment decisions and project sanction.
Malcolm Banks, well construction solution centre manager for the Oil & Gas Technology Centre, said:
“We’re delighted with the response to our first Call for Ideas. There is an urgency from industry to find more cost-effective and efficient methods of P&A and we hope the ideas submitted are the next step in delivering this.
“We received a wide range of ideas across the three themes and we look forward to working with our expert panel to review these in the coming weeks.”
We have two further Calls for Ideas ongoing, focused on using robotics to enhance pressure vessel and tank integrity, and solutions which could help unlock the 225 marginal discoveries in small pools across the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS). More information can be found on our website.