Tech 101

Permanent Well Abandonment

Kenny Campbell and Rod Smith, Schlumberger

Introduction
Well abandonment is nothing new to the
oil and gas industryit is an activity
that has been associated with well
construction since the very beginning
of the search for hydrocarbons. One
thing that is changing, though, is the
sheer volume of wells and fields that
are currently shut-in, suspended, or
reaching the end of their economic
life. Worldwide, governments and
legislative authorities are encouraging
the oil and gas industry to seal and
permanently take offline unproductive
wells to prevent them from impacting
the environment.
In certain mature basins
the decommissioning of aging
infrastructure is creating such a
significant volume of wells to be
abandoned that these are now being
treated as standalone projects rather
than the responsibility of existing asset
teams and contract models. For the
service companies this large potential
business opens up the possibility of
the development of tools that can be
used to limit the economic impact to
operators and also enable fulfillment of
the abandonmentobligation.

Managing the Cost of

Abandonment
The decision to plug and abandon
(P&A) a well or field is invariably
based on economics. Once production

delivers less than the operating

expenses, it is time to consider
abandonment. In fact, in some cases the
decision is made with the knowledge
that considerable reserves remain, but
the cost to extract these resources is
more than the projected income.
The cost to P&A a well can vary by
many millions of dollars depending
on location, and whether the well
is offshore or onshore. In the UK,
abandonment from a fixed platform
will be around USD 2 million, whereas
abandonment from a semisubmersible
or dynamic positioning drilling unit can
be USD 10 million.
In an effort to reduce the cost of
abandonment operations, operators
and regulators strive to improve how
P&As are performed and the service
companies are continually developing
tools and techniques to increase
efficiency without compromising safety.
Minimizing costs, without
sacrificing well integrity, is critical
to operators, who make a significant
investment with no financial return in
the case of P&A operations.

Legislation and Design

With regard to global offshore markets,
two areas that today have an established
and growing portfolio of continuous well
abandonment activities are the Gulf
of Mexico (GOM) and the North Sea.
Both are long-established producing

Kenny Campbell has over 30 years of experience in the field of well

abandonment and workover. Currently he is the well abandonment &
decommissioning technology manager for the Schlumberger Integrated
Project Management Segment. Before this Campbell served in several
technical and managerial roles in the industry including region product
line manager with Weatherford, Middle East manager with Norse Cutting
and Abandonment, and owner of Deepwater Abandonment Services.

areas that contain mature fields and

aging infrastructure. As a result, both
the North Sea (regulated in the UK by
the governments Health and Safety
Executive and in Norway by NORSOK
standards implemented by independent
organization, Standards Norway, which
is a member of CEN and ISO) and the
GOM (regulated in the US by the federal
governments Bureau of Safety and
Environmental Enforcement [BSEE])
have well-defined legislation and
practices regarding how abandonment
operations should be conducted.
For example, the BSEE introduced
Idle Iron regulations and guidelines
for nonproducing wells in the GOM
in a Notice to Lessees (known as an
NTL), effective October 2010, which
aims to provide oil and gas companies
with some clarity about the required
standards and outcomes expected as
part of an abandonment philosophy.
The UK offshore oil and gas
advocacy organization, Oil & Gas UK,
offers (for a price) Guidelines for the
Suspension and Abandonment of Wells, in
which it states the following: All Distinct
Permeable Zones penetrated by the
well should be isolated, both from each
other and from the surface or seabed by
a minimum of one Permanent Barrier.
Two Permanent Barriers from surface
or seabed are required if a Permeable
Zone is hydrocarbon bearing or
overpressured and water bearing.
In addition, the same guidelines
state the following for subsea wells:
 Redundant subsea equipment
must not present a hazard to other
users of the sea.
It is seen as good practice to
retrieve all casing strings to
minimum of 10 ft below seabed.
All subsea equipment and
debris should be retrieved
where practical.

Vol. 9 // No. 3 // 2013

25

Tech 101
TVD
(ft)

INC
(Deg)

ID
(in)

CURRENT WELL STATUS

D C B A

Sea
6.184

600

600

FINAL WELL STATUS

COMMENTS

A B C D

D C B

B C D

10.0 ppg WBM

9.0 ppg WBM

MD
(ft)

11.0 ppg OBM

10.0 ppg WBM
9.0 ppg WBM

Formation

7", 29#, L80, NVAM Tubing

20" csg TOC at 600ft

800

800

30" Shoe

1,250
1,500

1,248
1,480

5
8

13-3/8" csg TOC at 1250ft

1,700

1,680

15

5.750

7" SCSSSV

1,800

1,770

17

4.650

7" x 5-1/2" x/o

2,000
2,500

1,980
2,450

18
20

2,700

2,650

20

2,850

2,800

20

13-3/8" Bridge plug

2,900

2,830

20

9-5/8" casing cut @2900ft

3,000

2,900

25

9-5/8" TOC @ 3000ft

4,400
4,500
4,600

4,200
4,300
4,400

30
30
32

13-3/8" Shoe - LOT @ 14ppg EMW

5,500

5,300

45

20" Shoe - LOT @ 13ppg EMW

Top of cement abandonment plug #3| P/T and W/T

Plug #3

Shale

Shale

Section mill from 2700ft to 2800ft

Top of cement abandonment plug #2| P/T and W/T

Plug #2

9-5/8" Bridge plug

4.670

5-1/2", 23#, NVAM Tubing

6,350

6,250

53

4.000

x-nipple

6,390

6,290

55

6.000

9-5/8" PBR shared with 130klbs O/P

6,400

6,300

55

4.750

9-5/8" Permanent packer

ELTSR

6,500

6,400

55

Top of liner

6,550
6,600
6,900
7,000

6,430
6,450
6,480
6,500

58
60
60
60

8,200

7,900

75

8,950
9,000

8,380
8,400

85
88

9,100

8,500

90

Top of perforation

9,700

8,500

90

Gun Top of sh at 9700ft

9,900
10,000

8,500
8,500

90
90

Bottom of perforation

4.000

x-nipple

4.500

5-1/2" Mule shoe

9-5/8" Shoe - LOT @ 15ppg EMW

Shale

Reservoir

Top of cement abandonment plug #1| P/T and W/T

7" liner shoe (CBL ran)

Fig. 1An example of a well before and after the abandonment process has been completed.

26

Plug #1

The basics of a permanent well

abandonment (PWA) operation will
vary little whether the well is on land
or offshore. You begin by removing the
completion or production string, then
set the necessary plugs and cement
barriers at specified depths across the
producing and water-bearing zones to
act as permanent barriers. It sounds
so simple, but it is crucial to remember
that the key to a successful operation
will be a solid plan. Unfortunately, many
times this is hampered by lack of data
and/or outdated files. The wellhead and
subsea hardware (if applicable) are
removed last.
When operators abandon a
well they are obligated to leave it
in a condition that protects both the
downhole and surface environment
inperpetuity.
In all parts of the world,
regulatory bodies have, to varying
degrees, defined procedures and
responsibilities for a PWA.
Despite disparities around the
world, the intent of all abandonment
operations is to achieve the following:
I solate and protect all
freshwaterzones.
I solate all potential future
commercial zones.
P revent in perpetuity leaks from
or into the well.
C ut pipe to an agreed level
below seabed and remove all
surfaceequipment.
Fig. 1 illustrates an example of a
well before and after the abandonment
process has been completed. In this
case, the well abandonment procedure
could be considered quite complex
due to the need to remove tubing and

95/8 -in. casing, and section-milling

133/8 in. casing in order to isolate all
the required intervals. Not all wells will
require this level of deconstruction, but
the principal objectives will be similar.
In general, a large number of well
abandonment operations could be
carried out in a rigless manner. This
will invariably save cost overall but can
increase the operational time required.
Rigless abandonments include the use
of highly mobile equipment spreads,
such as pumping skids and jacking
units. However, the complexity of
the initial well design, coupled with
possible well issues such as multiple
annular pressure issues and lack of
wellbore access, may dictate that a rigbased approach is required.

Technology Opportunities
Within the scope of well abandonment,
many techniques used today can
be considered evolutions of those
employed for many years. Cement is
still used as the primary barrier. Logs
generated by cement-bond logging
tools are still used to evaluate cement
quality. Milling and fishing tools remain
similar in nature.
With the continued increase in
the volume of wells to be abandoned,
it is reasonable to suggest that the
pace of technology development and
deployment around abandonment
operations should and indeed must
accelerate in order to increase
the efficiency and effectiveness of
abandoning wells. Opportunities exist
for the development of alternatives
to milling, for more advanced
measurements to see through multiple
annuli before the removal of tubing
and casing, and for alternative isolation

Rod Smith is currently manager of the Schlumberger Well

Abandonment Business Unit in the North Sea, part of the
companys Integrated Project Management Segment. He has
been with Schlumberger for the past 15 years and has
served in several field, sales, personnel, and managerial
roles. Smith took on his current role in March 2012, before
which he was a group account manager for several North
Sea-based customers.

materials and long-term monitoring

solutions to provide verified evidence
of lasting isolation.

Summary
The industry globally is facing its
busiest period ever in relation to
abandonment work. With drilling
activity adding thousands of wells per
year, the volume of this type of work
will only continue to grow. The industry
needs to address PWA requirements
by assigning appropriate resources in
both operators and service companies
to ensure that a skilled and competent
workforce along with fit-for-purpose
technology solutions are in place to
meet the challenge. The perception
that well abandonments involve just a
simple reverse-engineering workflow
and require only the most basic of tools
is far from reality. Well abandonment
represents a true challenge that will be
here for decades. TWA

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