Efficient Well Barrier Management a Key Contributor to HSE and Sustainability- An Offshore Experience

Abstract Well barriers are challenging and most of the barriers are below surface. With its efficient management system ADNOC Offshore has minimized the impact by efficient monitoring and mitigation strategies in place. ADNOC offshore has established a Well Integrity management system which takes care of barrier management for the well life cycle. The company has a philosophy of always maintaining two barriers for oil and gas wells. Right from well design the effective and efficient barriers are designed based on the perceived hazards. During well construction the barriers are verified based on the expected performance standard. During production / injection operations the barriers are monitored, tested, and repaired in case of barrier failure. At the end of well life, it is plugged by proper barrier design to ensure no failures in future. After the implementation of the management, gradual reduction in well risk has been demonstrated. All the well risks are mapped in a risk register with short-term and long-term actions to have a focused emphasis in monitoring and mitigating risks. Efficient tools have been developed to notify the engineers to take prompt actions. The focus has been on remote monitoring systems with an aim for autonomous operations as our dream. Due to efficient testing of barriers, there has been no uncontrolled external leak of hydrocarbon to the environment thereby reducing the methane emission which is one of the contributing factors for global warming. Efficient systems have let us optimize the monitoring program by reducing human exposure at site. In addition to achieving high HSE performance and improved KPI’s the company has been able to demonstrate the positive impact on the environment. This could be achieved by adoption of proactive measures which enhance integrity and result in a lower carbon footprint during our operations.