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Decommissioning of subsea equipment is becoming a major issue
HOUSTON – Increasing pressure to properly decommission subsea production systems when offshore oil and gas fields are plugged and abandoned is becoming a major issue as low oil prices increasingly force producers to shut-in unprofitable wells, Bruce Crager, Executive Vice-President of Endeavor Management, said today at the monthly roundtable luncheon hosted by the Rice Global Engineering & Construction Forum (RGF).
“The subsea decommissioning market is becoming a focus worldwide due to lower oil prices and more regulatory pressure to P&A non-producing wells,” Crager said in a presentation, Status of Subsea Decommissioning. “There appears to be real consideration of the benefits of leaving subsea systems in place versus recovering them.”
Crager said most countries with offshore oil and gas production require subsea wells be P&Aed as offshore fields reach the end of their productive lives; most regulatory regimes mandate that subsea flowlines, umbilicals, manifolds, and other subsea hardware be properly decommissioned as part of the P&A process. As many as thousands of offshore wells are and will be affected, he said.
“Decommissioning of subsea production systems and components is becoming increasingly important to offshore oil and gas operators. This means energy engineering and construction (E&C) companies need to solve significant technical, logistical, and management issues whenever subsea equipment is decommissioned,” Crager said. “Offshore production companies frequently reply upon energy E&C companies for the people, skill sets, and know-how needed to properly decommission subsea equipment.”
About Bruce Crager: Bruce Crager is Executive Vice-President of Endeavor Management and leads the firm’s group of Expert Advisors. He has over 43 years experience in offshore drilling and production, primarily in management positions which have included President and CEO of INTEC Engineering, Senior Vice President of Oceaneering and President of ABB Offshore Systems Inc. Bruce holds a BS degree in Ocean Engineering from Texas A&M University and was selected as a Distinguished Graduate of TAMU’s Zachary Department of Civil Engineering in 2008. He also holds a MBA from the University of Houston, has co-authored 4 patents, and has written numerous technical and management articles.
For more information about subsea decommissioning, please contact: Bruce Crager at bcrager@endeavormgmt.com or by phone at 713-459-1215 (cell).
About the Rice Global Engineering & Construction Forum: The Rice Global E&C Forum is a voluntary academic-industry organization dedicated to stimulating original thinking, discussion, and resolution of the major economic, political, strategic and technological challenges and opportunities faced by global engineering and construction companies. The RGF hosts monthly roundtable luncheons and a fall conference each year on the campus of Rice University.
For more information about the RGF, please contact: Martin Van Sickels, RGF executive director, at 281-370-0374 or martinvs@sbcglobal.net; Marty Schweers, RGF Board of Directors chair, at 713-753-2221 or marty.schweers@kbr.com; or A. D. Koen, RGF media advisor, at 713-812-1623 or adkoen@comcast.net.
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