P&A and Repurposing

Plug & Abandonment and Repurposing

“Stop methane leakage before it starts!”

Approximately 25% of all wellbores exhibit sustained casing pressure, which often indicates the potential for methane leakage.

Methane is more than 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere. When plugging a well, cement is pumped into the well to isolate leaks.

To minimize risk in the decommissioning of oil & gas assets and the abandonment of end of life wells, Parker Wellbore brings field experience in global well intervention in the project management of end-of-life wells.

The potential for idle and mature oil & gas wells to be repurposed for geothermal power and heat applications.

  • Repurposing
  • Re-modification
  • Retrofitting
  • Re-use
  • Re-entry

The Repurposing of Oil and Gas Wells to Geothermal Wells

Parker Wellbore is the repurposing execution partner-of-choice in deploying technology to create a renewable source of energy from old hydrocarbon wells. We have teams available to execute on projects designed for the conversion of oil and gas wells to geothermal as a source for direct use.

Well Assessment and Selection

When identifying candidate wells there are issues to consider.

  • In open-loop systems- Brine formation pressure, temperature, flow rate, well depth, geothermal gradient, porosity, and permeability and well design.
  • In a closed-loop system- Geothermal gradient, and well design with the fact that annulus needs to be completely cemented will determine if the well is a candidate.
  • In abandoned oil and gas wells- Well information pre-available in industry databases can give an idea of the potential success of projects. The well design and integrity must be verified.

Other considerations

  • Proximity of end users
  • Heating and energy demands
  • Distances for power transfer increases the operational cost, resulting in a less cost-effective utilization.

Data Availability

Data availability is pivotal for the success in the exploration and development of geothermal projects but may not be available for older wells.

Benefits from prior investments

Reservoir characterization, geo-mechanical modeling, productivity analysis developed to maximize oil and gas extraction, extensive lab testing, data acquisition, such as seismic data, are highly capital intensive but are available at no/low cost to future repurposing designs.

Gaps and unknown well conditions

Gaps can lead to increased uncertainty, it is worth considering to gathering data, such as well logs, from the well to confirm current well conditions. When well files are not available you should do diagnostic work before the start of repurposing a well.

Inactive wells

Doing diagnostic work to verify data is recommended.

  • Reservoir characterization, geo-mechanical modeling, productivity analysis developed to maximize oil and gas extraction, extensive lab testing, data acquisition, such as seismic data, are highly capital intensive but are available at no/low cost to future repurposing designs.

Data quality

Older wells that were drilled and completed used handwritten documents that are scanned into files. Some information is unreadable due to fading, grammar, or handwriting.

Well Integrity

Well integrity is a safety concern that prevents fluid migration through the casing or cement to different formations, including the anulus to the surface. Well integrity can jeopardize the repurposing project or require extensive work before the project even starts. Overall, failure in well integrity is a very common issue, with around 25-35% of the wells worldwide exhibiting some sign of leakage.

Mature oil and gas wells

Typically produced hydrocarbons for extended periods and may present well integrity issues due to deterioration of casing or cement.

Fishing and Section Milling

Fishing is a component of P&A. We not only offer superior fishing services, but also section milling capabilities.

P&A Service Lines Powered by Parker

Parker Wellbore’s Energy Transition business has developed strategic P&A relationships to expand offerings in key areas such as snubbing, hydraulic workover (HWO) services, logging and electric wireline; offshore and onshore.

Please contact us to learn more: EnergyTransition@ParkerWellbore.com