An analysis to the main economic drivers for offshore wells abandonment and facilities decommissioning

Decommissioning and abandonment is a relevant issue in the petroleum industrybecause of the complex operations involved and the results after the decision has beenmade. Several factors could lead to abandoning wells and decommissioning platforms,among others hurricanes, production decline, economic limit, etc. Decommissioning andabandonment operations have a great impact in the revenue stream which is either lost ortemporarily deferred depending on the situation. Every year between 100-150 platformsare decommissioned and approximately 620 wells are abandoned in the Gulf of Mexico.A case-by-case scenario should be revised on an annual basis and all the possible optionsto be considered and submitted to the Government. This thesis presents an overview ofthe topic and an analysis on when decommissioning and abandoning alternatives arerecommended for the optimization of the economical resources.