Innovation backed to revolutionise decom environmental monitoring

Long-term well integrity verification specialist, Sentinel Subsea – which is being supported to accelerate its commercialisation by the Scottish Enterprise High Growth Ventures team – has also announced it is working towards its first offshore field trials with a large independent UK operator.

Taking place during Q2 2019, the trials will see deployment of the technology in the North Sea. Passively monitoring the subsea environment around a suspended or abandoned well for over 10 years without the requirement for intervention, its early detection of leaks aims to mitigate the potential environmental consequences of long-term issues following well plug and abandonment (P&A) activity.

Sentinel Chief Executive Neil Gordon explains: “The long-term integrity of suspended or abandoned well barriers is a critical component of the late life and decommissioning process. With well P&A activity representing a large proportion of North Sea decommissioning activity, the environmental and financial ramifications of a barrier failure cannot be underestimated. It is vital that the industry is able to demonstrate good environmental stewardship to all stakeholders and that is where Sentinel Subsea aims to help.

“In providing an alert to well barrier failure, our solution provides the confidence for industry to adopt innovative decommissioning techniques that have the potential to make a huge contribution to the Oil and Gas Authority’s 35% cost reduction target. The early-detection offered by our technology also has the potential to significantly lower clear-up costs.”

Sentinel Subsea was born out of the city’s Grey Matters Programme, developed by Scottish Enterprise and delivered in partnership with Elevator. The programme was established to drive entrepreneurship in Scotland’s energy sector by supporting experienced executives to develop ideas, form teams and create new start-up, high-growth potential companies.

Commenting on Sentinel’s journey so far, Eleanor Mitchell, Scottish Enterprise’s Entrepreneurial Growth and Grant Management Director said: “It’s great to see Sentinel Subsea make such progress so quickly, following the Grey Matters programme – and we’re delighted to be accelerating their journey through our High Growth Ventures team.

“Since the downturn in oil and gas, Scottish Enterprise has worked closely with partners to address the changing demands of the industry. Sentinel’s success is a shining example of what can be achieved by bringing experienced industry professionals together and building an ecosystem that encourages innovation.”

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