Companies can't simply walk away from old oil and gas wells. They have to be capped in a way that protects the environment and prevents leaks. A new approach to today's solution could be better for the environment and cheaper, too.
Companies can't simply walk away from old oil and gas wells. They have to be capped in a way that protects the environment and prevents leaks. A new approach to today's solution could be better for the environment and cheaper, too.
The Norwegian Continental Shelf, as an example, is punctured by more than 2000 wells. Harald Linga, centre director for SWIPA , a Centre for Research Based Innovation based at SINTEF, Scandinavia's largest independent research institute, estimates that plugging them using today's technology will cost upwards of NOK 800 billion -- that's USD 73 billion.
"Every year, the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association sets a roadmap for new plugging and abandonment technologies needed to solve problems faced by the industry, and ever since 2015, finding an alternative to cement has always been there," Hmadeh said.Hmadeh's PhD research involves studying the use of bismuth as a substitute and/or additive for plugging wells. He's one of many scientists across the globe trying to find a better solution for this challenge.
"Reduced installation time reduces the rig time, which in turn reduces costs," Hmadeh said."One other aspect of bismuth alloy plugs is that they have the potential to be deployed riglessly, meaning that without the neccessity of having a rig in place. This will in turn cut on costs drastically, as most of the costs offshore come from the 'rig-rental' costs."Hmadeh's laboratory experiments have compared the performance of bismuth alloys to cement plugs.
"Our team at NTNU is doing a great job making extensive knowledge about this new technology public and accessible for everyone," he said."It's too early to draw conclusions. But this plug has great potential. We have to upscale it to see how it will behave at different lengths," which will take some years.Since 2015, researchers have been tracking emissions from oil and gas wells and report that, over that time, emissions from the region have fallen by half.
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