Case study – Leading a complex well workover for Serica Energy and Exceed Energy

Following years of difficulties with the Rhum R3 subsea well, a workover was required to try and bring the well back to production. This proved to be a complex engineering operation requiring novel solutions.

Our scope was to lead all the technical safety activities including:

• HAZID/ENVID
• HAZOP for the well test
• SIMOPS workshop
• Safety Case impact assessment

The Challenge

The project had to contend with two intertwined challenges: operating under COVID restrictions and adjusting to working during the peak lockdown period in Q2 2020. All design reviews and risk assessments had to be carried out remotely, which proved to be quite challenging, as previously all facilitation was face-to-face with visual confirmation gained from attendees in the room.

Furthermore, the scale of the project necessitated the involvement of multiple disciplines involved across several different companies.

The Solution

Around a dozen remote sessions were carried out across all deliverables. Crucially we limited these to a time-frame of three hours with a view to encouraging attendee engagement, and so reducing the number of overall meetings. In turn, this helped me to build a strong rapport with the team.

The Result

The package of deliverables required to support the COMPOS and Well Notification were all delivered on time, and to a very high standard, ensuring they sailed through the Regulator’s assessments. The operation was also completed safely onshore.

Dave Spooner, Project Manager of Exceed Energy, said:

“Well thought out workscope and methodology ensured productive and effective HAZID, ENVID, COMPOS etc. working sessions. Excellent facilitation of the sessions, followed by timely and accurate documentation.”