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By Manish Srivastava | WITS Education & Training Chair | Specialist, Well Integrity, ADNOC Offshore Well integrity is all about ensuring containment and prevention of the escape of fluids to subterranean formations or surface and to ensure the structural integrity of the well . ISO 16530-1:2017 defines Well Integrity Management Systems (WIMS) as the application of technical, operational and organizational methods to prevent the uncontrolled flow of fluids at the surface or across subsurface formations throughout the life cycle of the well. Technical Solutions: Involves identifying hazards, designing ...

By Michael Edwards Our well integrity enthusiasts showed up in a big way; from the service sector, to operators to academic institutions and many others participated in a dinner networking event, keynote and lively discussion highlighting the latest on well integrity practices, regulatory policies, technologies and services. We highlighted a panel discussion to discuss how we are empowering the workforce of the future. Excellent participation by our audience. The Well integrity discipline, expertise, life-cycle processes and risk verification methodology are becoming more sought after than ever before with the energy transition. From new wells, P&A, ...

By Manish Srivastava The future is very promising for Well Integrity Engineers. With the scope of projects increasing as we continue to progress as ‘bridging’ agents into ‘new energy’ integrity world in the energy transition. Oil and gas will continue to remain pertinent and the skills gained will transfer to key and growing industries, such as CCUS, geothermal, H2 storage, and so on for well integrity. During the transition, skill repurposing will be required to fulfil the growing energy industry demands. Engineers will be armed with massive amounts of data that must be structured and analyzed to make useful assessments. Digitization combined ...

By Ainur Kaken Over the last few years, the well integrity discipline experience has seen a massive decline, with experts retiring and leaving the industry. At the same time, digitalization and artificial intelligence (AI) have rapidly evolved to become a strategic opportunity for our discipline, allowing Well integrity experience to be gained across various disciplines between completions, reservoir engineering, with exposure in drilling, production and flow assurance. Digital tools today are a major opportunity for our well integrity discipline and are increasing the pace of learning and exposure to well integrity issues that would otherwise not be ...

By Valerie Wilson With the growing focus on carbon management and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), companies are evaluating mature oil fields, around the world, for their potential for CCS projects. During these evaluations it will be important to keep in mind that mature oil and gas fields may have wells that have compromised well integrity concerns due to application/age of wells and operating history, etc. In addition, these mature fields may have legacy wells that may have been improperly plugged and abandoned providing a potential conduit for escape of reservoir fluids to groundwater aquifers or to the surface. Even if a well has the needed integrity, ...

By Scott Myers Like oil and gas wells, geothermal wells are designed around the life of the well with the goals of containment of well pressure, and prevention of uncontrolled flow of reservoir fluids to the environment or groundwater. Monitoring, inspection and maintenance programs are put in place to accomplish this for both producing and injection wells. Beyond these high-level objectives, however, some key differences between oil and gas and geothermal wells merit deeper consideration of certain factors: Temperatures; are, in most cases, more extreme than in a ‘typical’ oil & gas well, or in most district heating applications. Hence ...

By Matteo Loizzo Plug and Abandonment is the last step in a well’s life cycle. When the structure is decommissioned, incremented tubulars are recovered, and steel is cut below the ground (or seabed) level. Then the site is restored. Initially, the goal of P&A was to prevent draining or flooding the neighbor’s reservoir, but soon resource protection - drinking water sources, but also future use for CO2 geological storage (CCUS) or geothermal power - became the driving force. Nowadays, methane emissions are a major concern. Whereas, on average, wells may emit a few tons per year of methane (less than 50 cows’ worth), they do so unevenly: 2% of wells are ...

By Dan Dall'Acqua Casing deformations in multistage hydraulically fractured horizontal oil and gas wells have been the subject of considerable work in recent years. Such deformations generally manifest as downhole wellbore access issues that can lead to lost efficiencies during well construction, well completion, and subsequent re-entries, and in some cases, reduced total recovery. They can present a challenge for drilling and completions teams, and are a great example of the importance of cross-disciplinary collaboration. The SPE Well Integrity Technical Section is home to the SPE WITS Casing Deformation Work Group , which is a volunteer group ...

By Valerie Wilson L 𝗈𝗍 s 𝗈𝖿 𝖾𝗑𝖼𝗂𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 news 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝖢𝗅𝖺𝗌𝗌 𝖵𝖨 𝗐𝖾𝗅𝗅𝗌 𝗂𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖴 . 𝖲 .! 𝖠 𝖢𝗅𝖺𝗌𝗌 𝖵𝖨 𝗐𝖾𝗅𝗅 𝗂𝗌 𝖺 𝗍𝗒𝗉𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝗂𝗇𝗃𝖾𝖼𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇 𝗐𝖾𝗅𝗅 𝗎𝗌𝖾𝖽 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗀𝖾𝗈𝗅𝗈𝗀𝗂𝖼 𝗌𝖾𝗊𝗎𝖾𝗌𝗍𝗋𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇 𝗈𝖿 𝖼𝖺𝗋𝖻𝗈𝗇 𝖽𝗂𝗈𝗑𝗂𝖽𝖾 ( 𝖢𝖮𝟤 ). 𝖳𝗁𝖾𝗌𝖾 𝗐𝖾𝗅𝗅𝗌 𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗉𝗋𝗂𝗆𝖺𝗋𝗂𝗅𝗒 𝗉𝖾𝗋𝗆𝗂𝗍𝗍𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝗋𝗈𝗎𝗀𝗁 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖴𝖲 𝖤𝗇𝗏𝗂𝗋𝗈𝗇𝗆𝖾𝗇𝗍𝖺𝗅 𝖯𝗋𝗈𝗍𝖾𝖼𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇 𝖠𝗀𝖾𝗇𝖼𝗒 ( 𝖤𝖯𝖠 ), 𝖾𝗑𝖼𝖾𝗉𝗍 𝗂𝗇 𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗍𝖾𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝖻𝖾𝖾𝗇 𝗀𝗋𝖺𝗇𝗍𝖾𝖽 𝗉𝗋𝗂𝗆𝖺𝖼𝗒 ( 𝗂 . 𝖾 . 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖺𝖻𝗂𝗅𝗂𝗍𝗒 𝗍𝗈 𝗆𝖺𝗇𝖺𝗀𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗉𝖾𝗋𝗆𝗂𝗍𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗉𝗋𝗈𝖼𝖾𝗌𝗌 𝖺𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗍𝖾 𝗅𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗅 ). 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 ...

By Mayra Aquino, Principal Well Risk Engineer at GMVi, WITS Liaison South & Central America . The experience in the Netherlands provided an invaluable opportunity to discuss and understand the challenges and solutions in well integrity management. The discussions and presentations underscored the need for a joint and collaborative approach to address emerging challenges in the industry. I had the honour of participating as the South America Liaison on the panel dedicated to the WITS Board. I am immensely grateful to my colleagues Kenny McAllister, Ainur Kaken, and Scott Myers for their valuable contributions. It was rewarding to share the WITS ...

By Andrey Yugay, Well Integrity Specialist, ADNOC Onshore, WITS Middle East Liaison . . The Middle East Asset Integrity Management Conference and Showcase (AIMCS) 2024 event was organized in Abu Dhabi, UAE in May 2024 bringing together the brightest minds and the latest technologies in the industry. It was an immersive environment where learning and collaboration were at the forefront. Attendees had the unique opportunity to absorb knowledge from keynote sessions led by renowned thought leaders and engaged in interactive workshops that dived deep into industry-specific challenges. The conference was designed not just to educate but also to inspire ...