P&A – challenges and technology opportunities addressed in Rio de Janeiro

The November Conference, as organized by Innovation Norway is an annual event that brings together academics and industrial practitioners in Norway and Brazil to discuss challenges in the energy industry.

Harald Linga, SINTEF and Lars Erik Walle, Research Council Norway/ Forskningsrådet

The November Conference, as organized by Innovation Norway is an annual event that brings together academics and industrial practitioners in Norway and Brazil to discuss challenges in the energy industry.

This year a dedicated session on P&A was held with contributors from actors in the two countries. It is estimated that more than 7000 oil wells in both countries will need to be plugged and abandoned in coming years.  This session chaired by Adhemar Freire, NORWEP and Katherine Beltran, NORCE provided an up-to-date status to discuss the current challenges in P&A activities with the involvement of regulators, oil operators, universities, and research institutes from both countries. Updates were given by

• Regulators: Rafael Couto Albuquerque, National Agency of Petroleum Brazil, Nina Ringøen, Petroleum Safety Authority Norway,
• Operating companies: Marcelo de Matos, Petrobras Brazil; Pål Hemmingsen, Equinor; Joao Guandalini, Repsol Sinopec; Johan Kverneland, TotalEnergies,
• R&D-actors: Harald Linga, SINTEF for SWIPA, Mahmoud Khalifeh, University of Stavanger for INTPART and Liv Almas, NORCE for P&A Innovation Program.