Expro completes first subsea abandonment intervention riser project with drilling contractor for Petronas operations in Mauritania

International oilfield services company Expro has successfully completed an integrated Plug and Abandonment (P&A) contract worth more than $20 million for PC Mauritania 1 Pty Ltd (PCMPL), a subsidiary of PETRONAS.

The well intervention scope of the P&A project in Mauritania, West Africa, utilised Expro’s integrated Open Water Intervention Riser System (OWIRS), which was deployed from the drillship Pacific Santa Ana, led to the successful intervention and barrier placement on 15 wells for PCMPL’s Chinguetti Field Phase II works.

The scope involved supplying a range of integrated services, including the subsea well access system, surface flowhead, umbilicals, topsides control equipment and installation and intervention workover control system (IWOCS) package for controlling both the OWIRS and Xmas tree systems. Based in Kuala Lumpur and locally onshore in Mauritania, Expro’s onshore project management team supported PCMPL throughout the project planning and execution phases. Worldwide Oilfield Machine (WOM) worked closely with Expro as an alliance partner by providing the subsea well access system and technical support team. 

The system’s compact nature provided considerable time savings by retrieving the subsea Xmas trees without an additional run. This was further enhanced by the efficient parallel deployment of the OWIRS and rig blow out preventer (BOP) from the auxiliary well and primary well centre through the rig’s dual derrick capabilities.

Graham Cheyne, Expro’s Vice President of Well Access and Subsea, commented:

“The OWIRS system is a highly reliable compact system with an extensive track record in riser to surface subsea well access operations. This system performed over 250 functions during the project with 100% operational uptime and no non-productive time (NPT) incurred. To further demonstrate its reliability post operation, a gas testing program of work was successfully performed on completion of the 15 wells, prior to any post job maintenance being carried out and before readiness for the next project.

“This campaign was our first venture into the intervention riser system market. Despite the logistical and HSE challenges created by the global pandemic, we are proud to have demonstrated our technology’s success and integrated ability for these types of subsea P&A operations, supported by our team’s extraordinary performance, commitment, flexibility and dedication to PCMPL.

“The campaign’s success combined with the expansion in our subsea well access offering has led to securing new and exciting contracts across Asia and Australia, enhancing our presence in the subsea well access market.”