Building Well Integrity Awareness for Aging North Sea Fields
A major hydrocarbon exploration company operating the Forties and Beryl Fields in the UK Sector of the North Sea—assets that are over 40 years old, with most wells exceeding 25 years of production—identified the need to strengthen operational understanding of well integrity among offshore personnel.
Following a series of Safety Improvement Notices issued by the company’s Health, Safety & Environment (HS&E) department, there was an urgent requirement to ensure all staff involved in well design, construction, operation, and maintenance had a clear grasp of well integrity principles and risks.
EnergyEdge’s Role
EnergyEdge was engaged to develop a bespoke training course tailored for the company’s offshore-based production operations personnel. The program was designed to strengthen internal knowledge of well integrity and its relevance to aging assets in the North Sea.
Key course objectives included:
- Understanding the fundamentals of well integrity
- Applying well integrity principles to the company’s existing well stock
- Clarifying the operational role of production teams in monitoring and maintaining well integrity
Course Content and Delivery
The training course was customised around the client’s specific well types and production environment. Key modules included:
- Well Integrity Overview
- Well Construction
- Completion Types & Components (integrity-focused, company-specific)
- Wellheads & Xmas Trees (integrity-focused, company-specific)
- Handover from Drilling to Production
- Well Monitoring by Production Operations
- Integrity Testing & Verification
- Threats to Well Integrity
- Well Integrity Management Systems
- Course Summary and Key Takeaways
The course was delivered through a combination of classroom instruction, interactive group exercises, and case study reviews based on integrity issues that had occurred on the company’s own assets—ensuring relevance and practical application.
Outcomes
- Improved awareness and capability among production operations personnel
- Enhanced understanding of how to identify and respond to potential integrity threats
- Stronger alignment between daily operations and the company’s integrity standards
- Better preparedness to support asset longevity and HS&E compliance
Conclusion
This training initiative enabled the operator to build internal technical competency and reinforce the importance of well integrity practices—particularly for mature, high-risk assets operating in the North Sea.
Build internal understanding of well integrity standards and best practices through our specialised training courses. Contact us to view upcoming sessions.
