Well Intervention Opportunities Abound in UKCS: Report

There is a “huge opportunity to access resources in a more timely, clean, and cost-effective way” in the United Kingdom (UK).

That’s according to the 2024 Wells Insight Report, a recent report from the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA).

The report highlights well activity trends in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS), based on an analysis of data from the 2023 UK Stewardship Survey (UKSS), supplemented by data from the Well Operations Notification System.

The report reveals that well intervention is currently able to provide hydrocarbon production at a cost of less than $15.30 (GBP 12) per barrel of oil equivalent (boe), “a very attractive option at today’s oil and gas prices”. In addition, well intervention requires fewer operational days, less construction material, minimal waste disposal, and lower fuel burn than drilling a new well, and therefore produces lower emissions.

Operators should strive to increase their well intervention activity to extend the production lifespan of their wells and to provide a stable flow of work for the UK’s world-class supply chain, the report urges, as suppliers, including rig owners, are increasingly seeking opportunities overseas due to a lack of contracting opportunities in the UKCS.

“It is vital that this capability is kept in the UK to deliver the floating wind, carbon storage and hydrogen projects which will accelerate the energy transition,” the report remarks.

Interventions increased in the Northern North Sea (NNS) to 102 wells in 2023 from 82 in 2022. There was also an increase in the West of Shetland (WoS), where nine wells benefited from intervention work in 2023, up from two in 2022. However, the Central North Sea (CNS), Southern North Sea (SNS) and the East Irish Sea (EIS) experienced a decrease in activity.

To encourage more interventions, the NSTA said it has already held one-to-one sessions with leading North Sea operators and completed a detailed study of the 795 shut-in wells to understand what percentage could be brought back into production. Data from the study and feedback from well operators is being analyzed and will lead to a supply chain and operator workshop at the end of the year which will identify cost-effective solutions to bring wells back into production.

Carlo Procaccini, NSTA Chief Technical Officer, said, “Well intervention work can and does produce impressive results, boosting efficiency and providing cleaner and cost-effective production. We expect that bringing together operators with the supply chain will highlight significant opportunities for everyone”.

Separately, the report reveals that the total active well stock on the UKCS is now 2,546, down from 2,560 in 2022. The past year has also seen an increase in the number of shut-in wells to an all-time high of 31 percent of the active well stock, or 795 up from 742 in 2022.

A proportion of the shut-in well stock can be brought back online. However, without investment in infrastructure or downhole interventions, it is likely that many of these wells will be permanently decommissioned, the report notes.

Where reactivation is not feasible, wells should be decommissioned in a timely and cost-effective manner, the report recommends. The industry only achieved 70 percent of planned well decommissioning activities last year as operators continued to defer work.

The report also shows that operators drilled eleven exploration wells, two of which were repurposed as producers, and five appraisal wells in 2023. Total exploration and appraisal well spend was $728.25 million (GBP 571 million), compared to $350.73 million (GBP 275 million) in 2022.

Industry spent $1.81 billion (GBP 1.42 billion) on completing 41 new development wells in 2023, slightly more than in 2022 and in 2021, according to the report.

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