Month: May 2016

SPE Aberdeen Conference Giving Oil Production a Lift

News release – May, 2016

Artificial lift is widely recognised as a valuable tool for extending the life of mature reservoirs making it essential to maximising returns from the North Sea.

The biennial European Artificial Lift Euroforum (EuALF), organised by SPE Aberdeen, takes place on 8-9 June 2016 at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre, and will highlight the latest technical advances in this key area. The event will feature over 20 presentations dealing with current trends and technologies with contributions from major oil and gas operator and service companies including Chevron, Gazprom, Saudi Aramco, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes and TAQA.

The programme covers an extensive range of topics including the role of artificial lift in overcoming the challenges of heavy oil production. In addition the reliability and performance of electrical submersible pump systems (ESP) and gas lift valves (GLV) will be dealt with extensively including ESP design (Saudi Aramco) and cost saving on large scale developments (Gazprom).

New for this year is a panel session during which state of artificial lift technology within the oil and gas sector will be discussed by representatives from an operator, service company and government regulator.

The keynote speaker is Shauna Noonan, Chief of Production Engineering and Operations, Oxy Oil and Gas Corporation. Ms Noonan has worked on artificial lift projects and technology development worldwide for 22 years. She has chaired many industry artificial lift forums and authored / co-authored over 20 papers on the subject of artificial lift.

Craig Durham, Chair EuALF 2016 is looking forward to welcoming delegates to the two-day event: “I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that artificial lift is a primary enabling technology, which continues to deliver value in a mature basin like the North Sea, and in a low oil price environment.

“Sharing knowledge, skills and experience is at the heart of SPE Aberdeen and EuALF continues to provide a high-quality learning opportunity, bringing together experts in the field with those starting their careers in this fascinating subject. This year we are delighted to include a panel session during which delegates will have the opportunity to put their specific industry-related queries to the panel.”

In addition, a pre-conference training workshop is being held on 7 June and will appeal to those new to the discipline of artificial lift, as well as those requiring a refresher or an overview. It is a practical workshop and the trainers (Alastair Baillie, Engineering Insights and Cameron Laing, Laing Engineering) will use real field examples with commercial software. There will also be the opportunity to analyse participants’ data if they are willing to share it.

For more information, please visit www.spe-uk.org/aberdeen/events

WELL ABANDONMENT TO TAKE CENTRE STAGE AT INDUSTRY EVENT

NEWS RELEASE – MAY 2016

A growing number of UKCS assets have already reached, or are approaching, the end of their economic lives. This has resulted in rapid growth of decommissioning activity in the North Sea, estimated to cost £16.9 billion from 2015 – 2024. Plug and abandonment represents 46% of decommissioning expenditure, with over 1200 wells forecast to be plugged and abandoned over this time period¹.

This topic will take centre stage at next month’s SPE Aberdeen 6^th European Well Abandonment Seminar which is being held on Wednesday 15 June at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (AECC). Successful well abandonment should be compliant, cost-effective and safe; achieving this is the theme throughout this year’s seminar programme.

Decommissioning is one of the Oil and Gas Authority’s (OGA) priorities and this one day event starts with an introduction to the OGA’s role in well abandonment, including the impact of the Maximising Economic Recovery (MER) strategy on cost effective well abandonment.

In addition there will be an update on the Oil and Gas UK Well Abandonment Guidelines with guideline changes highlighted and reviewed, followed by an interactive question and answer session. Other seminar highlights include presentations and case studies on the leading edge technologies from major operators including BP, Chevron, Talisman Sinopec, Statoil and CNR International. The seminar is completed with a pop-up exhibition of commercial abandonment innovations.

Commenting ahead of the seminar, conference co-chair Kelly Richardson of BP, said: “Well abandonment is an increasingly important aspect of the oil and gas industry and its growth is set to continue rapidly over the next decade, including the demand for expertise in the area both domestically and globally.

“This event provides an excellent forum to share experience and knowledge in this fast growing area. We have specifically included a number of question and answer sessions in the programme to stimulate knowledge sharing and collaboration. Leading operator and service companies active in this discipline along with OGA and Oil and Gas UK are all participating at this event which will be of benefit to anyone involved or likely to be involved in decommissioning.”

Plug and abandonment will also feature at the SPE Aberdeen 6^th Late Well-Life Integrity Workshop which takes place the preceding day, 14 June at the AECC.

For full programmes and booking details regarding both of these events please visit: www.spe-uk.org/aberdeen/events

¹Oil and Gas UK Decommissioning Insights 2015