Wednesday 1 March 2017

New project to deliver £406m savings a year for oil, gas operators

A new initiative is estimated to help deliver benefits worth $500 million (£406m) a year for oil and gas operators in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS).

The Non-Intrusive Inspection project, launched jointly by the Oil and Gas Technology Centre (OGTC) and ABB, will focus on achieving increased production efficiency.

The organisations will also aim to decrease operating expenditure through reduced direct maintenance costs, shutdown periods and production losses from asset integrity.

The initiative’s purpose is to support UKCS operators transition to non-intrusive methods for identifying the condition of their pressure systems.

According to the organisations, common existing practice leads to costly interventions and production losses.

They will also seek to involve companies from other process industries as well as geographies to ensure the “very best practices” are incorporated into the project.

Rebecca Allison, OGTC Asset Integrity Solution Centre Manager said: “Process Vessel Inspection is a significant contributor to production downtime and operating costs and involves entering confined spaces and therefore raises risks to personnel.

“The initiative will allow us to identify current practices surrounding Non-Intrusive Inspection (NII) and provide an opportunity for operators and service companies to utilise existing inspection technologies, identify technology gaps and importantly, increase UKCS adoption of NII.”