Transforming Australia's approach to decommissioning research

2021 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 498
Author(s):  
Andrew Taylor ◽  
Peter I. Macreadie
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Initial Period ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Energy Resources ◽  
Research Centre ◽  
Collaborative Approach ◽  
Cooperative Research ◽  
Research Initiative ◽  
The Impact

In 2018, Australian oil and gas (O&G) operators committed funds to a collaborative approach to research to improve the evidence base for O&G decommissioning decisions. This followed an unsuccessful bid to establish a cooperative research centre for decommissioning. Modelled on the INSITE North Sea program, the National Decommissioning Research Initiative (NDRI) was established for an initial period of 3 years, until July 2022, with funding of $3.4 million. Research is focused on understanding the impact that full removal or in situ decommissioning may have on the marine environment. The program is supported by Woodside Energy, Santos Limited, BHP, Chevron Australia, ExxonMobil, Shell Australia and Vermilion Oil and Gas Australia and managed by National Energy Resources Australia. This study describes the establishment of the NDRI and expected future developments.

Out of sight out of mind – subsea pipeline decommissioning

2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Jas ◽  
Allison Selman ◽  
Valerie Linton
Keyword(s):  
Best Practice ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Research Centre ◽  
Maturity Stage ◽  
Cooperative Research ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Offshore Pipelines ◽  
Offshore Oil And Gas ◽  
Offshore Oil

Existing legislation, regulation and documentation dealing with decommissioning of offshore oil and gas infrastructure has traditionally been derived from experience gained in the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. The Australian operating environments are very different and, consequently, there is no Australian industry-wide engineering standard dedicated to the decommissioning of offshore pipelines. Decommissioning of Australian offshore pipelines is currently handled on a case-by-case basis. The efficiency and effectiveness of any given decommissioning project is variable, and highly dependent upon the experience of the pipeline operator. Given the maturity stage of the Australian offshore oil and gas industry, it is foreseen that in the coming years many operators will approach the task of decommissioning offshore pipelines for the first time. In 2014 the Energy Pipelines Cooperative Research Centre (EPCRC) formed an offshore users group, comprising pipeline experts from several offshore oil and gas operators and engineering consultancies that are members of the Australian Pipelines and Gas Association’s Research and Standards Committee (APGA RSC). This group is developing an engineering guideline for the decommissioning of offshore pipelines. It is being developed in close communication with the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA), which has formed a decommissioning committee in relation to offshore facilities. This ensures the guideline is being developed by and with input from a broad spectrum of the Australian offshore oil and gas industry, with the aim of capturing best practice in the Australian context.

WELL-BORE INSTABILITY IN THE NORTH WEST SHELF OF AUSTRALIA

1994 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
C.P. Tan ◽  
D.R. Willoughby ◽  
R.R. Hillis ◽  
S. Zhou ◽  
H-B Mühlhaus ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Research Centre ◽  
Well Bore ◽  
Cooperative Research ◽  
Stress Regime ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
In Situ Stresses ◽  
Stress Changes ◽  
Contour Plots

Well-bore instability, experienced mainly in shales, has resulted in significant drilling delays and abandonment of wells in the North West Shelf of Australia. Although these problems may be induced by physico-chemical interactions, there is an increasing awareness that instability in this region is principally associated with in situ stresses that are high relative to the strength of the materials.This paper describes the research undertaken by the Australian Petroleum Cooperative Research Centre to assist industry in understanding and managing stress-induced well-bore instability in this region. To conduct such stability analyses the basic information required includes knowledge of the orientation and magnitude of the principal in situ stresses and the strength and deformation response of the materials to stress changes imposed by drilling. The required data can be determined using welllogging, analytical and laboratory techniques.Analytical methods can be used to examine the relationship between well-bore stability and changes introduced through drilling. Spreadsheets based on the analytical methods have been produced and applied to the assessment of drilling alternatives and/or design of some well-bores in the North West Shelf.The application of the critical mud weight contour plots and mud weight stability profiles produced by the spreadsheets in assessing drilling alternatives, selection of optimum well-bore alignment and mud weight design are demonstrated through examples. The analyses showed that counter to intuitive expectations, an inclined well may be more stable than a vertical well depending on the well-bore direction, deviation angle and stress regime.

Omics-based approaches and their use in the assessment of microbial-influenced corrosion of metals

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Beale ◽  
Avinash V. Karpe ◽  
Snehal Jadhav ◽  
Tim H. Muster ◽  
Enzo A. Palombo
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Secondary Effects ◽  
Complex Processes ◽  
Piped Water ◽  
Offshore Oil And Gas ◽  
Offshore Oil ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Insight Into

AbstractMicrobial-influenced corrosion (MIC) has been known to have economic, environmental, and social implications to offshore oil and gas pipelines, concrete structures, and piped water assets. While corrosion itself is a relatively simple process, the localised manner of corrosion makes in situ assessments difficult. Furthermore, corrosion assessments tend to be measured as part of a forensic investigation. Compounding the issue further is the impact of microbiological/biofilm processes, where corrosion is influenced by the complex processes of different microorganisms performing different electrochemical reactions and secreting proteins and metabolites that can have secondary effects. While traditional microbiological culture-dependent techniques and electrochemical/physical assessments provide some insight into corrosion activity, the identity and role of microbial communities that are related to corrosion and corrosion inhibition in different materials and in different environments are scarce. One avenue to explore MIC and MIC inhibition is through the application of omics-based techniques, where insight into the bacterial population in terms of diversification and their metabolism can be further understood. As such, this paper discusses the recent progresses made in a number of fields that have used omics-based applications to improve the fundamental understanding of biofilms and MIC processes.

scholarly journals Probabilistic Impact Fractures of Railway Prestressed Concrete Sleepers

2008 ◽  
Vol 41-42 ◽  
pp. 259-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sakdirat Kaewunruen ◽  
Alex M. Remennikov
Keyword(s):  
Prestressed Concrete ◽  
Impact Loading ◽  
Research Centre ◽  
Cooperative Research ◽  
Railway Network ◽  
Interfacial Cracks ◽  
Impact Forces ◽  
Heavy Haul ◽  
Wheel Flat ◽  
The Impact

Cracks in railway prestressed concrete sleepers are often caused by the infrequent but high magnitude impact forces. These impact forces are attributed to the wheel or rail abnormalities, e.g. wheel flat, corrugation, dipped joint, etc. The emphasis of this paper is placed on the corresponding fractures of railway prestressed concrete sleepers in track systems under the probabilistic impact loadings. The statistical data of impact loadings in Central Queensland have been obtained through the collaborative project under the research framework of the Australian Cooperative Research Centre for Railway Engineering and Technologies. It is found that for the heavy haul railway network, the track structures, especially the concrete sleepers, may experience the impact loading from 400kN up to 800kN. The corresponding probabilities of such load occurrences are ranging from one in twenty years to one in thousands of years. It is very important for the design and maintenance perspectives to investigate the impact behaviour of concrete sleepers under the impact loadings. This paper presents the impact fractures of railway prestressed concrete sleepers under the single impact loading associated with the probability of occurrence in the soft track environment. Visual interfacial cracks have been evaluated for the crack length and width along the sleepers in relation to the probability of load occurrence.

Managing the Impact of in Situ Fines Migration in Production Optimization – A Case History from a Niger Delta Field

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamunomiete Oruambo ◽  
Elias Arochukwu ◽  
Felix Okoro ◽  
Linda Dennar ◽  
Olalekan Otubu
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Production Optimization ◽  
Volume Estimation ◽  
Fines Migration ◽  
Matrix Acidizing ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Additional Stimulation ◽  
Gas Lift

Abstract In the oil and gas business, a key strategy of well management is the deployment of the right tools and knowledge to enable continuous and optimized production. One of such tools is Matrix acidizing - A stimulation activity designed to remove wellbore damage and improve well inflow. The ability to sustain optimal production from most wells after acidization is often hampered with further fines migration problems and this requires specialized treatment to mitigate. WELL-001 quit production and was re-entered for a workover in 2018, to recomplete shallower on the same reservoir sand and restore production, however, post workover and subsequent clean up, the well failed to sustain flow. Two additional stimulation operations were also unsuccessful despite gas lift assistance. An Integrated review was held which identified key damage mechanisms impeding flow; deep fines migration which are not well handled by conventional stimulation recipes, emulsion and impairment from Loss Circulation Material (CaCO3 + XCD Polymer). A Novel solution was identified which included an Ultra-Thin Tackifying Agent (UTTA) as part of the stimulation cocktail with the primary purpose of stabilizing the fines at source and preventing further migration with the flowing fluids. The treatment was deployed successfully and the well lifted immediately, achieving a rate of 800 bopd vs a planned potential of 650 bopd. The impact of this success is not only evident in production but also in resource volume estimation and booking.

scholarly journals Repurposing Oil and Gas Reservoirs for Blue Hydrogen Production

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Princewill Ikpeka
Keyword(s):  
Hydrogen Production ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Gas Reservoirs ◽  
Reverse Engineer ◽  
Hydrocarbon Sources ◽  
Target Set ◽  
Increasing Demand ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

Hydrogen is critical to achieving the NetZero Target set by the UK government in 2050. There have been concerted efforts to produce more hydrogen from renewable sources (green hydrogen) to reduce the impact on the environment. The arguments have been that hydrogen produced from hydrocarbon sources contribute largely to CO 2 emission in the atmosphere causing global warming. While this is true, the reality however is that the increasing demand projections for hydrogen have not been met by green hydrogen. At present, nearly all industrial hydrogen are produced from hydrocarbon sources (Muradov 2017). CO 2emission is a major by-product of blue hydrogen production. However, there is a need to reverse engineer the hydrogen process from hydrocarbons, explore hydrogen production directly from the reservoir and retain the accompanying CO 2from being released into the surface. Using a depleted reservoir as feedstock, one method of doing this is by in-situ hydrogen production through thermal combustion of the hydrocarbon reservoirs.

scholarly journals Reflections on the Australian Research Council–Special Research Initiative Science of Learning Research Centre: The promise of a new narrative and evidence base for education

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-40
Author(s):  
Annemaree Carroll ◽  
Annita Nugent ◽  
Stephanie MacMahon ◽  
John Hattie
Keyword(s):  
Government Policy ◽  
Research Council ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Research Centre ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Education Practice ◽  
The Core ◽  
Research Initiative ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Learning Research

The Science of Learning (SoL) is fundamental to the renaissance of learning, reinstating learning, and how to promote it as the core business of education. Emerging as a new endeavour of study at the beginning of the 21st century, SoL adopts a multi-disciplinary approach to increase our understanding of learning through the convergence of neuroscience, psychology, and education. While many question the potential for SoL to impact education, arguing the gap between neuroscience and the classroom is ‘a bridge too far’, we suggest a bridge already exists, taking on slightly different forms globally. Here in Australia, the bridge has strong foundations in both research and practice, the product of a collaborative undertaking between academics and educators, and supported by government policy. The triad of academia, education practice, and government policy has worked together to close the divide between research findings and implementation.

scholarly journals The value of research: using the Impact Tool to evaluate realised and anticipated benefits of the Cooperative Research Centre for Beef Genetic Technologies

2015 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 133 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. R. Griffith ◽  
H. M. Burrow
Keyword(s):  
Net Present Value ◽  
Project Planning ◽  
Research Centre ◽  
Cost Ratio ◽  
Cooperative Research ◽  
Benefit Cost Ratio ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Genetic Technologies ◽  
Discounted Costs ◽  
The Impact

The Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Beef Genetic Technologies operated for its third successive 7-year term from July 2005 to June 2012. It developed new genetic and genomic technologies and non-genetic ‘products’ (practices, processes, tools and technologies) to improve profitability, productivity, animal welfare and responsible resource use of Australian beef businesses. In this paper we assess how well the third-term Beef CRC met its objectives, at the end of its funding period, using the Impact Tool software package developed by the CRC Program of the Commonwealth Government. The Impact Tool generates two commonly used measures of return on investment: the net present value (NPV) and the benefit : cost ratio (BCR). The NPV, the sum of discounted benefits minus the sum of discounted costs, was $233.2 m, when evaluated over the period 2005/06–2020/21. The BCR, the sum of discounted benefits divided by the sum of discounted costs, was 2.94, over the same period. Thus on both measures, investing in the Beef CRC is expected to have been profitable. We conclude by noting that the value of the Impact Tool is not only for ex-ante and ex-post evaluation of the impacts of particular technologies, but it also provides a very effective tool for RD&E project planning.

Global Economic Crisis of 2008-2009: Sources and Roots

2009 ◽  
pp. 18-31
Author(s):  
G. Rapoport ◽  
A. Guerts
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Trade Deficit ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
The Other ◽  
Energy Resources ◽  
Market Mechanisms ◽  
Production Output ◽  
The One ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Partial Destruction

In the article the global crisis of 2008-2009 is considered as superposition of a few regional crises that occurred simultaneously but for different reasons. However, they have something in common: developed countries tend to maintain a strong level of social security without increasing the real production output. On the one hand, this policy has resulted in trade deficit and partial destruction of market mechanisms. On the other hand, it has clashed with the desire of several oil and gas exporting countries to receive an exclusive price for their energy resources.

Consideration of Geopolitical Challenges within the Analysis of Geoenvironmental Risks for Oil and Gas Development of the Russian Arctic

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 50-59
Author(s):  
O. P. Trubitsina ◽  
V. N. Bashkin
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Optimal Operation ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Stage Model ◽  
Oil And Gas Development ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Further Development ◽  
Geopolitical Risks

The article is devoted to the consideration of geopolitical challenges for the analysis of geoenvironmental risks (GERs) in the hydrocarbon development of the Arctic territory. Geopolitical risks (GPRs), like GERs, can be transformed into opposite external environment factors of oil and gas industry facilities in the form of additional opportunities or threats, which the authors identify in detail for each type of risk. This is necessary for further development of methodological base of expert methods for GER management in the context of the implementational proposed two-stage model of the GER analysis taking to account GPR for the improvement of effectiveness making decisions to ensure optimal operation of the facility oil and gas industry and minimize the impact on the environment in the geopolitical conditions of the Arctic.The authors declare no conflict of interest

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