In collaboration with funding partners The Oil and Gas Technology Centre, KCA Deutag and Drilling Systems (and with technical support from Baker Hughes), Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University (RGU) (www.rgu.ac.uk) has launched a new simulator to teach the skills needed for oil and gas decommissioning work.

The simulator will be used to develop remote skills required to carry out well-plugging and abandonment work. Physical tool data and CAD drawings taken from customers’ real-world down-hole tools have been used to create a package of decommissioning tools to assist learning in a very realistic environment.

Paul de Leeuw, director of RGU’s Oil and Gas Institute, said: “Operators and drilling contractors will be able to use the simulator to develop the skills and capabilities of their rig crews for decommissioning wells.”

The total value of decommissioning projects in the North Sea is estimated at £46 billion to 2040. The Oil and Gas Authority estimates that around 250 fixed installations, 250 subsea production systems, 3,000 pipelines and 5,000 wells will need to be decommissioned.