You must log in to edit PetroWiki. Help with editing

Content of PetroWiki is intended for personal use only and to supplement, not replace, engineering judgment. SPE disclaims any and all liability for your use of such content. More information


Design for decommissioning

PetroWiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Draft Index for review by the Joint Industry project.  The final page will be completed soon with many additions

1 Statement of objectives

The D4D Database provides feedback from late life and abandonment operations.  It provides practical guidance to engineers when designing new facilities or modifying existing facilities

The challenges and issues encountered at the end of a facility's life may not be foreseen or correctly considered during the design phase. This lack of attention can make the eventual decommissioning work more technically challenging and costly.  The purpose of the database is to identify decommissioning issues based on real industry lessons learnt and translate these into potential solutions which could be implemented in future designs

2 History of JIP

Work group: formed in Aug 2016 with thirteen organisations

Initial project scope: boundaries identified – i.e. subsea only

Demonstrated economic value: examined the influence of decommissioning costs in the whole asset lifecycle

Structure for database: defined for use by Lead Design Engineers

Database populated: input from decommissioning community

Industry guidelines: started preparation to integrate findings and recommendations into the conceptual and FEED phases of the lifecycle

3 Decommissioning cost matrix



4 When to incorporate decommissioning in design

Decommissioning shuold be incorporated in the design during the Define or FEED stage of the project.  This is the stage of a project where the major design criteria are written in to the Basis of design and design specifications.  After this stage the project  team has moved to the Execute stage  and Change control is rigoursly enforced.  Modifications to the design to assist or ease decommissioning will not meet the criteria for the change control committee. 

Before the Define or FEED stage the project team will be studying several options to select the best solution to develop the field.  There is not enough definition of the options to consider design for the final decommissioning.  The decommissioning specialist should provide an estimated cost of decommissioning and remvoing each option for the project cost estimates and list the removal options and any issues for the regulators and other stakeholders.

5 Database of lessons learnt and design guidance

Engineer Down Unmitigated cost Issue Mitigation
Example High Difficulty with flushing Identify Disposal route for fluids
Example High Gas freeing of pipeline for decommissioning Write procedure during design
Example High Flushing one leg of a pipeline network Ensure design has capability to flush one leg whilst remaining stay in operation

6 Economic Benefits

7 Contacts  Stuart.Martin@ardent.com, Caroline.Laurenson@xodus.com, Alan.Stokes@advisian.com