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    1. Drilling & Completion

    OGA calls for greater take-up of new technologies across the UK shelf

    May 3, 2019
    The Oil and Gas Authority has identified more than 30 technologies which it claims are critical for the future of the UK continental shelf.

    Offshore staff

    ABERDEEN, UK – The Oil and Gas Authority has identified more than 30 technologies which it claims are critical for the future of the UK continental shelf (UKCS).

    Its new ‘UKCS Technology Insights 2018’ report highlights various existing, emerging and ‘further-required’ technologies to enable MER UK, the initiative to maximize the UK’s remaining offshore oil and gas resources.

    The OGA expects operators to deploy key existing technologies, and to share lessons learned with others, also maintaining dialogue with the supply chain on the latest innovations.

    Seventy-four operators submitted technology plans for their UKCS assets for the OGA’s annual stewardship survey.

    Other findings include:

    • UK oil and gas operators spent more than £240 million ($312 million) in 2018 on developing and deploying technologies
    • Their plans span the full asset lifecycle, with a growing emphasis on asset management and greater interest in decommissioning
    • 57% of technologies in operators’ plans harness existing solutions, while 26% remain under development with a further 17% of opportunities at concept stage
    • Closer engagement needed with the supply chain on technology solutions.

    Emerging technologies highlighted in the report include:

    Seismic and exploration • Low-cost ocean bottom nodes (OBN), permanent and sea-bottom sources • Artificial intelligence (AI) for (real-time) processing • Advanced interpretation integrating rock-physics and multiple surveys

    Reservoir and well management • Permanent wireless sensors • Sand controls (e.g. ceramic) • Flow assurance solutions (e.g. localized heat) • Alternative enhanced oil recovery (microbial, foam)

    Drilling and completions • Drilling automation • Multilateral well design • Smart completions • Alternative reservoir stimulation technologies

    Subsea systems • All-electric subsea controls • Local chemical injection • Local power generation/storage • Umbilical-less systems • Subsea processing and storage • Un-manned loading buoys • Reusable, standardized, tieback bundle

    Well plugging and abandonment • Bond-logging through multiple casing strings • Alternative casing removal techniques (laser, plasma) • Alternative barriers (thermite, bismuth, and natural barriers)

    Installations and topsides • Versatile floating units • Unmanned loading buoys • Advanced (self-calibrating, nonintrusive) multiphase meters • Heavy oil equipment • Nano filtration, membrane technologies

    Facilities decommissioning • Alternative cutting technologies (e.g. laser, corrosive fluids) • Subsea removals • Efficient site monitoring (autonomous underwater vehicles, passive sensors).

    05/03/2019