Equinor industrialising plugging operations on the Norwegian continental shelf
Island Drilling Company AS has been awarded a three-year contract for well plugging on Equinor-operated fields on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) using the Island Innovator semi-submersible rig. In addition, the oil service companies Archer Oiltools and Baker Hughes Norge have won framework agreements for plugging services.
Island Innovator is a mobile rig specially designed for well plugging. The Norwegian rig company will now be on assignment for Equinor for several years, start-up scheduled for early 2026.
The contract, worth an estimated near USD 330 million, also carries five one-year options. The scope of work under the contract includes mobilisation, planned upgrading and certain integrated drilling services.
“We will drill 600 improved oil recovery wells and about 250 exploration wells to maintain our production on the NCS towards 2035. At the same time, many wells will be permanently securely plugged. This rig provides us with a tool specially designed for plugging operations. The initial plan is a three-year work programme, but we do not rule out utilising the rig for operations also in the longer term,” says Erik G. Kirkemo, Equinor’s senior vice president for drilling & well.
According to the plan Island Innovator will permanently plug 15 to 20 wells annually for a total of nine licences. These wells will no longer be used for oil or gas production. The rig will plug subsea wells at Heidrun, Snorre and Norne, among others.
In addition to the Island Innovator contract Equinor has awarded framework agreements to the oil service companies Archer Oiltools and Baker Hughes Norge for full-range delivery of plugging services with a duration of three years, with two two-year options.
Total work related to integrated plugging services over the next seven years is estimated at a combined value of about NOK 3.5 billion. Archer Oiltools has also been assigned responsibility for planning plugging operations for 26 wells to be plugged from Island Innovator, in addition to options to perform the work.
“Through these contracts the suppliers are involved at an early stage and get a greater responsibility for planning the plugging operations, closely monitored by Equinor, who has the overall responsibility. We facilitate the industrialisation of safe and efficient plugging operations, ensuring continuous improvements together. This is about ensuring quality and reducing costs for work that will gradually increase on the NCS in the future,” says Mette H. Ottøy, Equinor’s chief procurement officer.
Facts about well plugging
Equinor is currently the operator of more than 1400 production and injection wells on the NCS. Equinor and the partners aim to ensure optimal resource exploitation and productive life from each individual well. Continuous efforts are underway to extend the productive life of the fields on stream.
As far as possible, old wells are reused. This means that part of the well is plugged before drilling to new targets from the existing wellhead, a process known as slot recovery. This saves drilling costs and increases production.
All wells will be permanently plugged before the fields are decommissioned. Up to 2030, the plan is to permanently plug about 80 subsea wells using mobile rigs, and 90 platform wells. In addition, an average of around 45 wells are plugged annually for reuse. From 2035 to 2045, a larger wave of permanent plugging is expected.
