Infographic: How much does it cost to abandon North Sea well?

Claxton, an Acteon company, has released an infographic guide to well abandonment costs in the North Sea.

Released on the eve of the Oil and Gas UK Offshore Decommissioning Conference, held annually in St Andrews, Scotland, to discuss decommissioning in the region, the infographic highlights the costs operators are facing as they plan future campaigns. Abandonment cost reduction is an area where Claxton helps operators in the North Sea and beyond, via a proven suite of rigless technology.

Claxton has significant experience in platform well abandonment and conductor recovery, having completed the world’s first rigless platform well abandonment in 2003, Claxton said in the release. More recently, Claxton carried out the first rigless recovery of a stuck BHA for Maersk on the Tyra East field. More than 280 conductor cutting and recovery projects have been carried out using Claxton’s equipment and offshore crews, and the company has worked with Acteon sister company, OIS, to deliver pioneering multi-operator campaigns with the SWAT™ suspended well abandonment tool.

Jamie Hall, marketing communications manager, Claxton, said, “Our infographic, created from Oil and Gas UK’s recent review of the North Sea market, highlights the scale of the challenge facing operators. Claxton has a long standing track record of reducing costs associated with platform well abandonment, which Oil and Gas UK estimates at around £4.8 million per well.

“We are also delighted to be sponsoring the annual Offshore Decommissioning conference dinner at the Fairmount Hotel in St Andrews. It is rewarding to be involved in such a significant event for the decommissioning industry, and our commercial team will be on hand during the event to talk to operators about how we can help to reduce their abandonment costs.”