Baker Hughes to Handle Plug and Abandonment Operations for Equinor in the North Sea

U.S.-headquartered energy technology giant Baker Hughes has secured a new assignment with Norway’s state-owned energy company, Equinor, to manage plug and abandonment (P&A) operations in the North Sea. The project will take place at the Oseberg East field on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS), with Baker Hughes also providing project management services on behalf of Equinor.

In March 2025, Equinor and Baker Hughes signed a multi-year framework agreement for integrated plug and abandonment services. Now, Baker Hughes has been tasked with handling P&A operations at the Oseberg East field in the North Sea. The company’s Mature Assets Solutions team will lead the integrated P&A campaign planning phase and deliver services for multiple wells offshore Norway.

The Oseberg East field is the smallest platform in the Oseberg area, located 25 kilometers northeast of the Oseberg Field Centre. This field’s development concept involves an integrated drilling, accommodation, and production platform with equipment for first-stage processing.

Oil from the Oseberg East field undergoes second and third-stage processing at the Oseberg Field Centre before being transported by pipeline to the Sture terminal. Additionally, water and gas are injected into the reservoir to enhance oil recovery.

The Oseberg Field Centre comprises three platforms: Oseberg A, B, and D, connected by bridges in the southern part of the Oseberg field, along with the unmanned Oseberg H platform situated 8 kilometers northwest of the field center.

Baker Hughes will establish a P&A Center of Excellence in Bergen and Stavanger to oversee the project, bringing together project managers and experts to centralize P&A activities in the North Sea. This initiative aims to implement the most cost-effective and reliable solutions for responsible well abandonment while maximizing operational efficiencies.

Amerino Gatti, Executive Vice President of Oilfield Services & Equipment at Baker Hughes, emphasized the company’s expertise in managing P&A operations and optimizing processes to meet Equinor’s abandonment goals. He stated, “As this project progresses, we will introduce new efficiencies that establish benchmarks for well abandonment solutions, providing Equinor with cost-effective options through collaboration, technology, optimization, and integration.”

Baker Hughes’ well abandonment portfolio includes technologies like PRIME Powered Mechanical Applications, Casing Integrity & Cement Mapping (CICM), MASTODON casing retrieval system, and the Xtreme SJI mechanical slotting tool. Planning for the P&A assignment at the Oseberg East field is currently underway, with execution scheduled to commence in 2026.

In addition to the Equinor project, Baker Hughes recently secured contracts with Aramco in Saudi Arabia and Petrobras in Brazil. Despite a 14% decrease in orders in Q1 2025 compared to Q4 2024, the company’s Oilfield Services & Equipment segment still garnered significant orders, emphasizing its continued presence in the global energy market.