Motivation
The motivation is to support the industry in obtaining quantum leaps with regards to operational efficiency and costs for permanent well plugging and abondonment. We will allocate infrastructure for development and qualification of new innovative materials, conditions monitoring and well operations. To lower P&A costs and improve safety, there is a need to identify and understand fundamentalprinciples related to barriers and P&A operations.
Establishing lab infrastructure for accelerating P&A technology
Controlled experiments at multitude of scales and process conditions are important to gain confidence to field implementation of new and cost-efficient P&A technology. Combining a range of lab scales lower costs and reduces time to field implementation. Well controlled parameters at realistic process conditions and use of state-of-art instrumentation elevate the benefit of the experiments. Variation of a multitude of parameters enables processes to be studied in a systematic way.
Norwegian P&A Laboratories infrastructure
Plug integrity set-up lab
Permanent well plugs performance will be addressed w.r.t. sealing ability at different differential pressures and temperatures, including diameter impact and shrinkage. The goal is to optimize barrier length and quality.
Contact: Nils Opedal, +47 98 286 641
Logging&verification lab
The medium scaled logging lab will allow both traditional and experimental ultrasonic logging on short casing sections. The extended ultrasonic characterization targets reducedcost and risk of leakage through the barrier.
Contact: Tonni Franke Johansen, +47 40 472 793
Annular flow and pipe pull lab
The equipment will enable studies of tubular loosening by mechanical and chemical methods, targeting efficient operations for cutting and pulling of tubulars. Characterisation for weight material settling in mud will be included.
Contact: Jan David Ytrehus, +47 40 472 793
Pressure and leakage testing
The facility will be used to verify and test that the sealant once in place provides a competent barrier that is robust under the actual well conditions for the time period required and the lifecycle loading exposure.
Contact:
Dave Gardner, , +47 404 60 090
P&A research well
A large-diameter well will be drilled and constructed at Ullrigg that will enable unprecedented testing and qualification of new P&A materials and technologies. The P&A research well will provide a full-scale, realistic well environment.
Contact: Jostein Sørbø,, +47 91 316 567
Funding
In 2019 The Research Council of Norway decided to support enhanced R&D infrastructure on plugging &abandonment of wells with a grant of 77 million NOK.
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