»
»
»
Oil & Gas
Decommissioning
Shell decommissioning project : Delta topside on the barge turning into the river mouth of Hartlepool , North East of England . Photo : Shell .
A big headache lies ahead for the oil & gas industry : decomissioning . Already , some US states are battling the US federal government , which has required offshore companies to provide USD 7 million in financial assurances to meet decommissioning costs . Many platforms the world over are nearing the end of their life , with many between 25 and 30 years old ; some have exceeded their design life . Old infrastructure can either be removed completely at enormous cost and effort or – perhaps more realistically – converted into artificial reefs for recreational use . This issue looks likely to generate much discussion and legislation in the years ahead .
In North America , Shell made the Final Investment Decision to develop the Sparta deepwater gas field in the Gulf of Mexico . The semi-submersible FPU will be built by Seatrium . Another region that is evolving rapidly is Africa . In Equatorial Guinea , a number of projects are under way , and Guinea Chevron signed a productionsharing deal with GEPetrol for two offshore blocks . TotalEnergies has green-lighted the Ubeta gas field onshore Nigeria , with start-up envisaged for 2027 . Angola is attracting investment with a series of licensing rounds , the most recent of which offered 55 blocks for exploration and development . Among the investors are Chevron , TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil , as well as a local producer , Sonangol . In Senegal , Woodside has achieved first oil from its Sangomar field . Two relative newcomers are Morocco , which will see the development of the Loukos gas field , operated by Chariot , and Namibia , which is believed to possess abundant hydrocarbon resources yet to be explored . In 2022 TotalEnergies discovered the Venus-1 oilfield , the largest ever Sub-Saharan oil find . Shell has also discovered oil in the Orange basin , as has the Portuguese company Galp , while BP is among those exploring . But these recent discoveries are part of the above-mentioned dilemma : exploiting these undeveloped resources risks breaching climate accords 3 , but denying relatively poor countries these economic opportunities seems unfair . In Europe , the big news is that Norway ’ s Equinor has approved 19 new oil and gas developments totalling a value of USD18.5 billion . These include Aker BP ASA ’ s Yggdrasil and Valhall PWP og Fenris in the North Sea and Equinor ASA ’ s Irpa in the Norwegian Sea .
The FPSO Maria Quitéria will be deployed offshore Brazil , in the Jubarte field in the Campos basin .
In Asia , the news is led by Petronas ’ s numerous discoveries off the coast of Malaysia . As a result , the company has signed agreements to exploit two blocks off the coast of Sarawak . Further south , New Zealand has announced it will lift its ban on offshore exploration , citing the need to develop its economy by boosting gas production .
Sustainability Fossil fuel companies are actively pursuing ways of decarbonising their activities and eliminating waste . These include investing in carbon capture and storage ( CCS ), green energy ( including the powering of fossil fuel extraction ), 3D printing , methane leak detection , and the use of hydrogen in refining . Here , we examine the first three . CCS - still a young industry , already plays an important role in current projects . CO2 is already reinjected into existing wells to boost their productivity . Apart from separation of CO2 from fossil fuels , other technologies exist : carbon mineralisation , whereby the substance is stored in carbonite minerals , possibly to be recycled ; and Direct Air Capture ( DAC ), which uses heated limestone to capture the carbon and bury it . Heirloom began operating North America ’ s first commercial DAC facility in Tracy , California and is building more facilities in Louisiana .
VKG Energia shale oil site in Estonia . www . heat-exchanger-world . com Heat Exchanger World September 2024
33