Managing well integrity in Queensland

Abstract

A significant increase in activity in the Queensland petroleum industry began around 2005 with the rapid growth of coal seam gas developments. The integrity of these drilled wells is paramount to the continued safe operation of the Queensland petroleum industry, ensuring no detrimental effect to safety, health and environment. The Queensland Petroleum and Gas Inspectorate (PGI) is responsible for monitoring industry compliance with well integrity management requirements under the regulatory framework. This is achieved through three proactive actions (engagement, inspections, audits) and three reactive actions (response to enquiries, complaints, incidents). This paper focuses on the well inspections and audits conducted by the PGI. The PGI conducts an annual program of well inspections as part of its risk-based compliance program. These inspections are in addition to the inspections performed by industry. Although recent inspections have found well integrity-related deficiencies requiring rectification, no major or systemic problems have been identified. In fact, industry generally appears to be proactively addressing any deficiencies they find through their own well integrity management processes. The PGI is in the process of ensuring a renewed focus on well integrity during its own well inspections through structured and standardised inspections that have clear aims. This is part of a continuous improvement process and is a risk-based decision informed by the data that have been gathered. This will help ensure the program is not simply focused on quantity of inspections, but also on outcomes and quality. To complement the well inspection program, several audits have been conducted over the past 4–5 years. As part of this, in the first quarter of 2019, the PGI began conducting audits of the well integrity management systems (WIMS) of the four major coal seam gas producers. The results of this audit show improvement in both WIMS documentation and the implementation of those systems. Future PGI work in this area includes continuing with the recent audit programs, reviewing inspection processes and a plan to increase focus on plug and abandoned wells over the next 18 months.