We are delighted to announce we have successfully supported a major decommissioning project in Australia thanks to a new contract win.

The contract, worth more than $800,000 AUS, involved the permanent abandonment of a number of wells located offshore Western Australia and sits in line with our plans to expand in the Asia Pacific region.

As part of the campaign, our Perforate, Wash & Cement (PWC®) system, designed for specialist wellbore applications, was carried as a contingency and was utilised whenever insufficient existing cement was found in the well. The PWC® system provides a revolutionary solution to replace traditional Plug & Abandonment (P&A) and downhole tooling techniques saving significant time and overall cost.

The contract is the first time our client in Australia used the technology anywhere in the world.

This was also the first contract of its kind in Australasia for HydraWell and represents a key step forward in our growth plans.

Tom Leeson, HydraWell Chief Commercial Officer, said: “We are always looking at ways to tap into new markets and for opportunities to work with new customers across our global operations. We are delighted that our client in Australia selected us as their partner of choice for this project that will allow us to support its significant P&A requirements.”

This latest agreement is indicative of the current environment in Australia which is experiencing a renewed focus on the safe and timely shut down of suspended assets.

A team from our Norwegian headquarters worked alongside the Operations team in Australia to complete the scope of work.

HydraWell’s PWC® technology has the potential to slash the operational sequence by up to six days when compared to the conventional section milling alternative. In this case, PWC® will save the client up to 20 days of rig time equating to savings of around $10m AUS.

Mark Sørheim, HydraWell Chief Executive Officer, commented: “This new agreement symbolised a huge leap forward in our growth strategy as we aim to cement our position in the Asia Pacific region over the next few years.

“Our experience in Norway, along with our strong track record in P&A operations underpinned by a well sustainability strategy and a deeper sense of responsibility, will ensure our client has a safe and dependable partner throughout this key environmental undertaking.”

The increased efficiency benefits of PWC® technology help to reduce environmental impact as well as the potential to reduce operating costs by up to millions of pounds. Based on reduced operating times of diesel-powered semi-submersible drilling units, that’s 720MT CO2 emissions – or the equivalent of 6km of car travel for every well HydraWell’s technology helps to abandons.

PWC® can also report six-and-a-half years LTI free and it produces zero swarf handling issues and zero metal shavings sparking huge and positive environmental benefits due to the elimination of transportation needs, pollution risk and landfill capacity.