5-6 December 2023 – The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Symposium held its fifth edition on Decommissioning and Abandonment in Bali, Indonesia. This year’s theme was titled “Navigating the Complexity of Decommissioning and Abandonment for a Sustainable Future”, as a means to exchange knowledge and insights on the solutions, management, and safety aspects of unused oil and gas platforms.
In discussing related trends and technologies on sustainable platform reutilization, the KIORCC co-director, Mr. Cho Ilhyung, took the opportunity to take part in the Executive Plenary Session, and also in a panel session to discuss the Rigs to Fish Farm concept.
The Executive Plenary Session was attended by other renowned experts in the field, including Ms. Merry Marteighianti, Vice President of PT Pertamina (Persero) Upstream Research and Technology Innovation; Mr. Mohd Zamri Abdul Ghani, Head of Quality and Assurance (Enterprise Quality), Project Delivery and Technology of PETRONAS; Mr. Arif Irfan Zainai, General Manager for Asset Decommissioning, Malaysia Petroleum Management of PETRONAS; Mr. Brian G. Twomey, Principal Consultant and Managing Director of Reverse Engineering Services Ltd; and Mr. Ridha Yasser, Director of Energy of the Office of the Deputy Coordinating Minister for Maritime Sovereignty and Energy of the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investments.
The panel session was joined by Mr. Devi Putra, Lead Specialist Drilling Research of PT Pertamina (Persero); Mr. David Christensen, Decommissioning Manager of NOPSEMA; Mr. Ketut Sugama, Senior Researcher of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN); Mr. Mohd Hairil Mohd, Associate Professor at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu; Mr. Wendy Prabowo, the Director of Shrimp and Mollusk Broodstock Center of the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Republic of Indonesia (MMAF); and Mr. R. Bambang Adhitya Nugraha, Deputy Director for Marine Tourism and Sunken Ship Cargo Objects of MMAF.
During this Panel, KIORCC presented Rig to Fish Farm feasibility study results. This study concluded that the Grouper species has the most promising economic outcome for this reutilization method, where breakeven points are predicted to be met within 2-3 years of operations. Moreover, other viable platform reutilization methods were also discussed by KIORCC, such as Rig to LNG Terminal, and Rig to CCS/CCUS.
KIORCC’s cooperating institution, the Directorate General of Ocean and Marine Spatial Planning of the MMAF also participated in the Rig to Fish Farm discussion as previously mentioned. On top of this, MMAF further spoke during a Technical Session on Decommissioning for a Sustainable Future, where the topic of the opportunities and challenges of the donation system by oil and gas operators for coral reefs was brought to light.
Through insightful discussions such as these, the MMAF and KIORCC hope to expedite the development of a national plan for sustainable offshore platform reutilization, such as Rigs to Reefs and Rigs to Fish Farm. Additionally, along with other players in the industry, the MMAF and KIORCC hope to increase both domestic and international involvement in the commitment to restore the environment post-decommissioning, while also finding solutions to benefit stakeholders in the field.
