GA Drilling was invited by the Society of Petroleum Engineers International to present PLASMABIT technology at the SPE Forum in Hague. Topic of the event was “Shaping the Next Wave in Well Plugging and Abandonment.”

Our Operation Manager Irving Marzano participated on the discussion panel with a “Using PLASMABIT to Gain Well Access” presentation. P&A experts from leading operators and service providers around the world have learned about our technology advances and proposed applications to tackle difficult challenges in Access in Well Abandonment.

In all countries, authorities have very diverse interests and are concerned about leaks and emissions of wells. Operators’ concerns are primarily around reputation and long-term integrity, liabilities, budget, regulatory clarity. “Most common questions they were interested on PLASMABIT milling were if there was a risk of explosion, what is maximum depth of operation, topics of hole cleaning and logistics requirements,” described Irving Marzano.

Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) continues to serve the oil & gas industry with many successful permanent abandonments to date, however, there are many projects ongoing for optimum well isolation by resins, geopolymers, silicates, thermite or bismuth. In the community there are generally still concerns on how long an abandonment plug is effective for and that it is necessary to ensure continuous monitoring of wells.

The primary goal is to construct the well for abandonment, with focus on the annulus and eliminating or reducing potential flow paths, look to restore formation to original condition – natural barriers. Participants identified the major challenges to move towards an international standard for qualification testing of P&A plugging material: “This would include hydraulic sealing for different materials and longevity assessment,” it was said.

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