Platform Decommissioning

In 2005, SolstenXP P&A’d 21 wells and decommissioned three platforms in the Gulf of Mexico for Palm Energy Partners.  The project was conducted on a lump sum turnkey basis and was completed successfully to meet MMS requirements without incident.  That same year, SolstenXP also completed the decommissioning of three wells and a platform for Hunt Oil in the Gulf of Mexico.

Well Plug and Abandonment

SolstenXP has been contracted to abandon more than 100 wells since 1993, many in remote or offshore locations.  A sample of these clients and projects follow:

Subsea Well Abandonment Rig Sharing (SWARS) Program

SolstenXP was the management contractor for the SWARS Program, which successfully plugged and abandoned 23 subsea wells in state waters off the coast of Santa Barbara County. This work was performed for a consortium of six oil companies who coordinated their individual P&A projects through a multi-operator agreement for the purpose of sharing a jackup rig and support equipment, minimizing environmental impacts, and controlling costs.

As the management contractor, SolstenXP was tasked with facilitating this coordination, final permitting, rig selection and mobilization, contracting for services, program scheduling, field supervision, public interface, regulatory compliance, reporting and interaction with SWARS Management Committee.

Program execution work included preliminary site surveys and wellhead inspection, removal of pipeline segments, preparation of wellheads for re-entry, well P&A work, recovery of seafloor debris, and salvage and/or disposal of recovered wellhead and pipeline components.

The fieldwork utilized an Adriatic Class jackup rig (mobilized from West Africa), and required the extensive use of divers, remotely operated vehicles, precision navigation equipment, and various marine services.  The SWARS Program field work was completed one month ahead of schedule, and the entire program cost was approximately $5MM below budget.

Emergency Well Abandonment and Island Decommissioning

This project consisted of the emergency abandonment of two wells situated on a man made gravel island in the Beaufort Sea.  The island was severely damaged by late fall storms resulting in severe erosion of the island gravel.  The work included construction of an ice road to access the island after freeze up, mobilization of equipment, and the physical abandonment of the wells under Arctic winter conditions.  After top plugs were set, all casing strings were explosively severed below the island base and recovered using a vibratory hammer.  SolstenXP engineered the job, obtained all permits and was responsible for all field operations.  During the following open water season, SolstenXP teamed with a heavy civil contractor to decommission the island.  This work included the removal of seawater intake and discharge lines and the removal of linked concrete mat slope protection.

Multiple Well Abandonments Followed by Island Decommissioning

Subsequent to the emergency winter well abandonment above, four wells located on a separate man made offshore island in the Beaufort Sea were abandoned the following summer.  The work required a marine (barge) mobilization and demobilization of equipment.  The down hole procedures were much the same as in the Emergency Well Abandonment above, using explosives and vibratory hammer for final removal of severed casing strings.  SolstenXP performed the work on a turnkey basis and was responsible for all regulatory matters, engineering and project execution.  Once the wells were abandoned, SolstenXP participated in the island decommissioning as discussed above.