Well integrity sits at the core of drilling, production, decommissioning and energy transition processes, combining technical, operational and organizational solutions to maximize containment throughout the entire life cycle of a well. In other words, well integrity is what you do when nobody's looking, and takes place in every phase of the well’s life, from design right through to decommissioning and conversion many years later.
All involved parties have a shared responsibility in maintaining well integrity, from the design engineers and service providers delivering the equipment, to well construction personnel and those operating it on site.
Failing to implement a robust well integrity management system, and employing skilled people who can operate the well safely to prevent accidental releases, can have catastrophic consequences. If the well’s integrity is compromised, this can potentially lead to a blowout which in turn can result in the loss of lives, heavily pollute the environment, and affect a company financially - all three of which were seen in the blowout from the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico.
In order to optimize well integrity management, it’s important to fully understand what it is and how it is implemented at every phase of a well’s lifecycle. To help you go about optimizing an existing well, or set up a robust integrity management system for the lifecycle of a new well, Terje Løkke-Sørensen, Add Energy’s Chief Technical Officer and co-author of the world-class NORSOK Well Integrity Standard, has shared insights into how you can effectively manage well integrity throughout its entire lifecycle...
As a leading international drilling and well engineering service and consultancy provider, Add Energy employs a team of highly skilled experts who deliver platform drilling and completion solutions globally, from our base in Perth, Australia.
We sat down with 3 of our specialists to explore more about their role and why they do what they do:
Free well control response webinar:
Using visual simulators as a training tool to assure preparedness for well control incidents is a proven method for minimizing response time and improving the effectiveness of your source control operations.
Add Energy, in collaboration with Occidental Petroleum and Trendsetter Engineering have been invited to present a case study on improving source control exercises by using dynamic multiphase modelling and an advanced visual simulator at the International Oil Spill Conference on May 11th, 2021.
Well control and emergency response experts Ray Tommy Oskarsen, who is the Senior Vice President at Add Energy, Mike Drieu, GOM Emergency Response Management Manager at Oxy Petroleum and Brett Morry, Global Technical Director at Trendsetter Engineering will be co-presenting this virtual case study.
The importance of effectively and safely managing subsea operations is central to the foundations of Add Energy.
Formed in the wake of a blowout on the Norwegian continental shelf more than 30 years ago, Add Energy’s well control company was set up, originally as Well Flow Dynamics, by three of the key players involved in the incident, to design and develop unique solutions to mitigate the impact of future oil spills.
Australia’s leading Well Intervention workshop OWI AUS is going virtual this year to ensure the well intervention community remains up to date, engaged and connected, and will be hosted by the Offshore Network.
This year, Add Energy’s EVP of Drilling and Well Engineering, Eduardo Robaina has been selected to moderate a virtual workshop and webinar at the event on “Integrity Excellence”, with NOPSEMA’s Well Integrity Manager, Mark Bourne and Sarah Robertson, a Well Engineering Supervisor form ExxonMobil.
On the evening of April 20th, 2010, a well integrity failure allowed hydrocarbons to escape from the Macondo well into Transocean’s Deepwater Horizon rig, resulting in explosions and fire in which 11 people lost their lives and 17 were injured. This incident caused a spill of national significance as hydrocarbons continued to flow from the reservoir for 87 days, resulting in the most expensive oil spill in history.
Add Energy were called in to be part of the core investigation team, to independently investigate the events that led up to the incident. Our Head of Well Control, Morten H. Emilsen was brought into this tightknit team of experts to analyse and examine all possible causes and to provide expert recommendations to enable prevention of similar events in the future.
We interviewed Morten to understand the part that Add Energy played in this crucial investigation and what he learned from working on one of the biggest hydrocarbon disasters to date.
How did Add Energy come to be involved in the investigation?
The impact of COVID-19 has resulted in many operators delaying investment into new projects and looking for opportunities to improve operating efficiencies and lowering costs for projects that are already in play.
Production optimization is a key component to survival and assuring production remains economically viable and safe.
The energy industry is ever-evolving. As technologies advance and new generations enter the workforce, it is important that we adapt and learn from the past in order to thrive within such a fast-paced and challenging environment.
Add Energy’s guest blogger, Geir Karlsen gives an insight into important lessons learned throughout a 35-year career in the oil and gas sector.