6.1 Well abandonment, site closure procedures and regulations

Among the activities included in proper site abandonment, well abandonment is considered the most important process. Typically it should prevent all physical hazard induced by the well, prevent any migration of contaminants and prevent communication between originally separated hydrological systems. There are a lot of regulatory requirements on the subject of well abandonment on an international, European-wide and national level.

The main international regulations are the "London Convention and London Protocol", dealing with international treaties and the limitation on discharge of land based waste at sea, and the "OSPAR Decision 2007/2 and Agreement 2007-12" on regulations and protection of the marine environment. Additionally there is also a model regulatory framework by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Concerning regulations within the European Union the main documents on the subject are the EU Directive 2009/31/EC from 25/6/2009 with regulations for permitting CO2 storage and accompanying Guidance Documents and the EU CCS Directives with relevance for CO2storage 2003/87/EC, 2009/29/EC and 2010/245/EU.

National regulations on well abandonment are country specific but with similar details. In the European Union either the national regulations are based on the transposition of the EU Directive 2009/31/EC (like in Spain where the CCS Act 40/2010, which is a full transposition of the EU directive, entered into force on 31.12.2010), or it is based on amendments of already existing subsoil regulations (for example Denmark)

 

in depth

6.1.1 Relevant regulations from the hydrocarbon industry (oil and gas production)

Well abandonment is typically handled by national policies and procedures....

6.1.2 CO2 Storage

Directives and regulations on closure and post-closure for CO2-storage are still in development....