Deepwater Well Decommissioning Challenge to be Tackled

The deepwater decommissioning challenge in the Gulf of Mexico is approaching fast, prompting concerns that the industry may be unprepared. DecomWorld’s 6th Annual Decommissioning & Abandonment Summit, 10-12 March, 2014 in Houston, intends to tackle the issue head on.

Several very large jackets greater than 10,000 tons and in water depths of around 1,000 ft or more in the Gulf are in Pre-FEED Status for decommissioning, inform the conference organizers.

To date, only seven structures have been removed from water deeper than 500 ft in the Gulf of Mexico, but in those depths the same number of structures now stand on expired and terminated leases and will require decommissioning in 2013-2014.

“Removal activity in the deepwater GOM is in its infancy,” writes Prof. Mark Kaiser in this year’s Gulf of Mexico Offshore Decommissioning Report, 2013-14. There are fears that necessary lifts could exceed the capacity of existing vessels, while reverting to piecemeal removal will be costly, risky and time-consuming.

Deepwater and floating facility abandonment will be addressed in the pre-conference workshops and exhibition, and will be a prominent theme during the two-day conference, with speakers drawn from regulators and operators including Shell, Chevron and BP.

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