WIRELINE Issue 36 - Summer 2016

FACILITATORS

TECHNOLOGY

Ian Phillips, chief executive of the Oil & Gas Innovation Centre

together to identify and address immediate challenges. Our priority areas are directly aligned with the TLB’s themes so that industry can make progress faster, focusing on, amongst others, asset integrity and life extension, well construction, decommissioning, enhanced recovery, improved exploration, and production optimisation.” The OGIC team prioritises projects that have a prospective positive impact on efficiency and cost reduction. And all funding is subject to peer review by expert industry panels. To date, the centre has funded 16 projects, six of which are completed, and there are a further 55 at various stages in the pipeline for approval. Well ahead The first completed venture linked up specialist supply chain company Hydrasun with the University of Strathclyde to test the company’s new well intervention hose. The aim is to reduce the cost of conventional light well intervention to keep subsea wells clean and free from restrictions or blockages and maximise production rates. Experts at Strathclyde carried out an extensive qualification programme of the fluid transfer technology, including destructive and fatigue testing across a range of simulated operational

conditions. This data on performance capabilities allowed Hydrasun to start early engagement with prospective customers. Uplifting More recently, Xodus has teamed up with researchers at the University of Dundee to explore better ways of decommissioning subsea structures with a view to creating analysis methods and design guidance for this fledgling area of activity. The University’s School of Science and Engineering will carry out a series of small-scale model tests of uplift operations to investigate a range of variables. “OGIC has been helpful in developing and launching this project,” says Andy Small, principal geotechnical engineer at Xodus. “Its system for accessing a large network of institutions helped in finding an academic partner to undertake the work. Also its matched funding helped us develop a broader and more robust research proposal at a time when R&D budgets are under significant pressure.” Andy believes that understanding the geotechnical aspects of decommissioning and how to manage the risks will likely yield significant cost savings and operational efficiencies during project execution. He says: “The potential for cost increases due to unknowns is high, especially with

” OGIC’s objectives chime with those of the MER UK Technology Leadership Board (TLB), underlining the commitment to joined-up thinking – and working – in the technology development arena (see p28 for more on the TLB). Ian explains: “The TLB has brought operators and service companies “ Our role is to accelerate the development and deployment of technology that will improve outcomes on the UK Continental Shelf.

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