Abandonment Done Right, First Time

P&A is not a simple end-of-life task. It is technically demanding, regulatorily unforgiving, and increasingly expensive when not planned properly. An abandonment programme that requires rework, redesign or supplementary operations can cost multiples of the original budget. The time to invest in engineering rigour is before the rig is mobilised — not after the first plug is set and the regulator asks for justification.

Superior Performance Design provides independent well abandonment engineering from initial feasibility through to regulatory close-out. We have designed P&A programmes for heterogeneous onshore well stocks, complex offshore platform campaigns, deep subsea wells and geothermal fields. Our engineers have supervised abandonment operations in the field — not just designed them at a desk.

Our Abandonment Services

• Technical screening and feasibility assessment of abandonment candidates
• Well-specific P&A design: plug placement, cement design, casing cut and pull, barrier verification
• Rigless and through-tubing abandonment option assessment with honest comparative cost analysis
• Cost estimation at ±30% and ±15% accuracy levels
• Regulatory submission preparation and liaison with the regulatory authority
• Programme phasing and sequencing to optimise mobilisation cost
• On-site supervision and technical authority during execution

What Makes SPD’s Approach Different

We design for the well as it is, not as it was meant to be. Incomplete cementing records, unknown downhole conditions, and legacy completions that do not match the completion diagram — these are the reality of ageing well stocks. We apply conservative assumptions where records are absent, flag the associated uncertainty explicitly, and design contingency operations into the cost estimate from the start.

We are genuinely independent. We have no preferred rig contractor, no cementing service line, and no commercial incentive to recommend one abandonment method over another. When we assess rigless options, the analysis is honest — including the scenarios where rigless does not save money.

We deliver regulatory submissions that are accepted. Our experience working directly with regulatory authorities means our P&A designs are structured to meet the specific requirements of the jurisdiction — not adapted from another basin’s template.

What Clients Have Trusted Us With

• 104-well national risk ranking programme for New Zealand’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE)
• Nine-well single-campaign platform abandonment — delivered 12% under AFE, 18 rig days saved through PWC technology
• Five subsea wells where none met permanent abandonment standard as-found — full compliant pathway delivered
• Full-field onshore P&A study: regulatory submission accepted first time, rigless options confirmed viable for significant proportion of well stock

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