The Role and Benefits of Intervention-Based Production in the Energy Transition and the Drive to Net Zero

Abstract

This work is an effort to quantify the CO2 production reduction with intervention-associated production. A brief summary of possible savings has been presented (Billingham et al. 2023). There is a global drive to reduce CO2 production to meet net zero ambitions and limit global warming. Fossil fuels, including oil and gas, have been shown to be a major contributor to CO2 emissions leading to an ongoing drive for energy transition to "greener" energy sources. Within this scenario, however, world energy demand continues to increase with a significant percentage of the world's population in a state of energy poverty. The growth of green-based new energy is significant but alone will not be able to meet the world's near-term energy requirements. As such, oil and gas will remain an important energy source in the near to mid-term future. To maintain and increase production there are two avenues, these being the drilling of new wells or the reduction in the decline of production in existing fields, which ideally will include increases in recovery factors. The industry states that the latter approach delivers the cheapest production with the lowest carbon footprint. It makes sense that the improved utilization of existing infrastructure can deliver this, and the associated cost of production has been quantified before (Billingham et al. 2023). This work assesses intervention-associated production techniques to quantify the CO2 production reduction associated with this production. Beginning with a high-level perspective evaluating rig-based new well production increases compared to agile interventions, the work then assessed specific technologies and methods that can deliver the desired outcomes. For example, it has been estimated that using a lightweight intervention vessel (LWIV) could reduce the associated CO2 production by 80% when compared to performing the same activity from a modular drilling unit (MODU). Opportunity for further improvements were also investigated. Operators have the challenge of meeting global energy demand and their net-zero ambitions. Intervention-based production should be an enabler in achieving this balance. This work will serve as an industry reference as to the benefits of intervention-based production during the ongoing energy transition and why it should be a key focus.