With demand for energy increasing, the oil and gas industry is pushing into more remote, deeper, and more challenging environments, which makes one wonder what will happen to mature provinces like the North Sea. Much of the region’s more easily accessible oil has been exploited, and when companies review the costs of exploration and production around the world, the North Sea might well appear to be less favorable. But the North Sea still holds a considerable volume of reserves.

Technology paves the way

The future for the region depends on intervention and finding new and innovative ways to extract known reserves that have been difficult or uneconomic to access. There is still much to be positive about.

Competing with lower cost areas and increased legislation , both in compliance and regulation, will remain a challenge. However, the skills and expertise developed in the North Sea are recognized worldwide – Aberdeen is now considered the international center for subsea excellence, for example – and will stand the region in good stead in the years to come.

That experience also will continue to benefit the global oil and gas industry as companies looking to exploit frontier plays will require continual innovation in well and subsea intervention technology to maximize returns.

Costs will continue to play a major part in well and subsea intervention, and complex and lengthy operations can carry with them significant risks. Market forces will dictate the cost and availability of subsea vessels which, if not used in the North Sea, are likely to migrate to West Africa or the Gulf of Mexico.

In the post-Macondo environment, safety and competence programs, underpinned by legislation, will be paramount on a global level to ensure operations are carried out effectively while minimizing risk.

The intervention industry has always been about maximizing recovery, and future emphasis will continue to be on “doing more with less.” An example is minimizing in-hole well time by deploying multipurpose toolstrings to create significant cost benefits. Similarly, the use of multi-data collection instruments and systems would have advantages. Meanwhile, attention still will need to be paid to the important aspects of equipment integrity and functionality to assure operators of their obligations within the industry.

An interesting development in recent years has been the introduction of riserless light well intervention, and there are technologies available that are expected to change the game in terms of subsea wells. However, there are fewer than 10 riserless well intervention vessels in operation, and the question that might be asked is whether or not this number can satisfy global demand.

Another consideration is the fact that there is not yet a vessel capable of routinely deploying coiled tubing for subsea intervention. And while the idea of the availability of coiled tubing as a solution is positive, the industry must examine whether there are enough wells that would benefit from its deployment.

There are many issues affecting the European oil and gas industry and particularly the intervention and coiled tubing sector, and it is the aim of organizations like ICoTA to help tackle them.

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