Centrica hires HydraWell for P&A job in North Sea

Centrica North Sea has awarded HydraWell a three-year frame contract to provide plug & abandonment (P&A) technology and services for the operator’s “A Fields” in the southern part of the North Sea.

Centrica has recently submitted a proposal to British authorities for the decommissioning of the “A Fields” development, including the Centrica-operated Ann, Audrey, Alison and Annabel fields. Audrey acts as the main gas processing and export hub for the Centrica-operated A fields, with gas exported via the LOGGS pipeline.

In total, 23 wells will be plugged and abandoned. The fields are located approximately 100 kilometers northeast of the Norfolk coast.

Under the contract, HydraWell said it will provide annulus integrity testing and perforation, washing and cement of annulus and inner bore through using the company’s HydraHemera high pressure perf, wash & cement, PWC jetting system for plugging and abandonment of wells.

The agreement is valid for three years, with two additional one-year options. Centrica also has the option to expand the contract to future support of its other assets on the UK continental shelf, Hydrawell added.

“It is in the interest of the operator, license partners and British tax payer that we bring down the cost of plugging and abandonment campaigns, and doing so safely. HydraWell’s technology enables plugging of each well in 2-3 days instead of 10-14 days with conventional section milling methods. This means that the operator could save up to 200 rig days on a 20-well field,” says Mark Sørheim, CEO of HydraWell.

Centrica has earlier utilized HydraWell’s PWC technology on other fields offshore UK as well as in the Netherlands.

HydraWell UK Ltd will manage the contract out of its office and workshop in Dyce, Aberdeen, UK. HydraWell’s headquarters are based in Stavanger, Norway.