Innovative Well Intervention Solutions

Wellpro Group provides a complete thru tubing, inflatable packer and well intervention technology portfolio including operational design, project management, service, rental and sales.

Since founding the company in 2018, Jim Thomson and Grant Forsyth have built Wellpro Group from the ground up, driving growth organically and via strategic acquisition activity. They now head a 60+ strong international workforce that is active across the Eastern Hemisphere.

We’re proud that our regional workforces are comprised of a large percentage of local personnel and we’re committed to the development of local talent that will carry the Wellpro Group reputation for outstanding service over the coming decades.

Service Diversification

As part of the company’s strategic growth plans, Wellpro Group now designs and manufactures thru tubing and well intervention tools. In addition to facilitating accelerated market entry, this means we also have the ability to support clients’ bespoke operational requests and address the most demanding of challenges.

To support and drive this growth we have recently hired Alistair Gill as Senior Design Engineer, based in Dubai. A Chartered Engineer with over 12 years’ experience in the oil and gas industry, he has been at the forefront of technology within various R&D departments and brings an extensive knowledge of both well completions and well intervention technology to the business.

We are the provider of a number of technologies across the Middle East, North Africa and Asian energy markets, via strategic alliances with downhole technology developer and manufacturer Omega Well Intervention, and Australian-based manufacturer of inflatable technology, IPI Packers.

In conjunction with Wellpro Group’s technical engineering support and service delivery via the provision of wellsite personnel, these agreements have created a highly responsive, complete well intervention solution for our customers, reducing costs and increasing service efficiency via a single source.

Eastern Hemisphere Focus

What We Do

Via industry-leading technologies and bespoke service, Wellpro Group covers intervention service portfolios, from challenging and nonroutine field operations to in-house engineering and manufacturing solutions.

As an independent provider, we can deploy the most cost effective - and innovative - well intervention technologies available on the market covering the following portfolios:

• Thru Tubing Fishing and Milling

• Thru Tubing Inflatable Packers

• Well Isolation

• Well Abandonment

• Well Surveillance and Monitoring

A Unique Team

People are the cornerstone of our success. Sean McCluskey, our Middle East Regional Manager and Niall Murray, our Asia Regional Operations Manager, are amongst some of the industry’s longest-serving and most-highly experienced well intervention experts. Many of the team bring with them track records of 25+ years to our operations. These industry experts have played an instrumental role in developing the company; building and retaining the best well intervention talent as we continue to grow and diversify.

Wellpro Group demonstrated its commitment to the Middle East with the seven-figure acquisition of a Dubai-based thru tubing and rental provider. This was quickly followed by an organic startup in South East Asia, which has resulted in Wellpro Group becoming one of the leading well intervention companies in the region. Continued growth into new countries, regions and hemispheres is of high focus.

Sentinel Subsea has developed the industry’s only completely passive well integrity monitoring system. The non-invasive solution provides continuous integrity monitoring without the need for any active subsea power source. The company’s mission is to provide operators with long-term monitoring solutions that help support environmental stewardship across the industry. In collaboration with Baker Hughes, Sentinel Subsea have recently deployed several of its passive systems in the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil for two major operators.

Drawing on 40 years of experience working in global leadership roles, Sentinel Subsea Chairman, Ray Riddoch, shares his insight into the importance of well monitoring as he calls for the industry to prioritise its commitment to the environment as well as safety. Having joined the company because of its simple to deploy yet innovative technology, Ray saw the opportunity to revolutionise the way the industry monitors its assets from exploration up to final abandonment. Sharing his thoughts on the importance of the oil and gas industry’s commitment to environmental responsibility, here’s what he had to say.

QCan you give a brief introduction about yourself and provide a short synopsis about Sentinel.

AMy name is Ray Riddoch. I’ve been in the oil and gas industry for over 40 years, mostly on the operator side of the fence. I am chairman of Sentinel Subsea and I joined them on this journey as I believe in what they’re trying to do, and I think passive monitoring technology has a key role to play in the transition as we advance towards a Net Zero future.

QYou have an impressive career spanning over 40 years. Can you tell me how this industry has changed from when you began compared to where it is now?

AWhen I went into the industry, everyone saw the opportunity to, let's be honest about it, make money. You worked hard, did your time offshore, and you made money. That attitude has definitely changed in the industry over the 40 years that I've been involved with it. The oil and gas industry has become more aware of its social responsibilities. We've had a mirror held up to us over the last five to ten years with regards to our impact on the environment. At one point, certainly after Piper Alpha, safety became a big topic of conversation. Similarly, the Environment is now as big as Safety in HSE context as we go towards net zero in 2050.

QSo, touching on your knowledge of the North Sea, what are your thoughts about what's being done about late life and suspended subsea wells?

AAlthough we are well on with decommissioning wells in the UK, there is still a massive task ahead of us. I think of it as almost an industry within an industry. To my mind, what we have got to be aware of is it's going to take several decades to get to a point of resolution and fully decommission of all the subsea suspended and plugged wells we have. So, what happens in that interim period is always the question. Maybe it's not a comfortable question, but I think it's a question that needs to be asked.

QTouching on well decommissioning, there's expected to be hundreds of subsea wells decommissioned in the next decade. Do you think the region is prepared enough for the wave that is approaching?

AI think there's been some incredible work done over the last five years on how we assess, approach and understand the decommissioning challenges that we face, but I don't think we should underestimate the effort and the amount of time that's involved. As you say, there are hundreds of subsea wells and each one is different and will present unique challenges.

QSo what's the current challenge that operators are facing in regard to well monitoring?

AI believe through necessity the industry has championed technology and innovation from the early days. These pioneering technologies have helped us deliver the fantastic industry that the UK has today. However, as the subsea industry has pushed boundaries, the unintended consequence has been added complexity, cost, and risk. I think that if there was a reliable and simple to deploy way of monitoring these wells, then operators should be looking at this seriously.

That’s what interested me about Sentinel, what they have provided into the marketplace is that simple to deploy innovation to support effective environmental well monitoring. A number of years ago the regulator made the operators, and particularly the MD's of the operators, feel uncomfortable when they asked “how do you know that your platform's safe?”. That was all about process safety. I believe that question is still just relevant, and it should be relevant, but it needs to be extended to the “E” of Environment in HSE.

QThe North Sea Transition Authority has outlined stewardship expectations, some of which were particularly relevant to the well life cycle. I understand that Sentinels technology aims to support operators with environmental stewardship, can you talk to me about how this technology is helping the industry’s social license to operate?

AThe social license to operate is a term that has come out over the last few years. But the idea is absolutely right, there is that social license to operate and we have to recognise oil and gas has got a role to play in the transition towards net zero. We need to be aware of our responsibilities to society and, in my opinion, know on a day-by-day basis that our subsea assets are secure.

Sentinel provides that and you will know in the blink of an eye if you have an issue. Whereas, just now the more prudent operators will inspect on an annual basis, fly-by with an ROV on the 1st of January and then 365 days later pass again. The question is, what happens in the interim? That is what Sentinel provides, it answers that question.

QTouching on that, what are your thoughts on the industry's ESG efforts and how do you predict this will impact the future of the industry?

AI think the industry has recognised the change in expectations, not only from society but also from governments and not just in the UK, but globally. There is now an expectation on energy companies to do whatever they can to protect the environment. There is a recognition that oil and gas is still required to provide energy on a global basis however, there is a quid pro quo that you need to do as much as you possibly can to mitigate any impact on the environment.

So is the industry doing enough? There has been huge advances since I started 40 years ago, but I think you can always do better. There's always room to improve and if we look at where we were 20-30 years ago in terms of process safety and where we are now for a hazardous industry, exactly the same can be applied now to the environment.

QHow is this technology changing the perspective of operators in the North Sea?

AWhat's been very interesting to me in my role as Chairman of Sentinel is the appetite that I can see in other global regions. When I look at it, sometimes it’s because of regulatory influence, social pressures, or because the operator is of a view that they need to understand status of their subsea assets. The UK sector has been a leader of global subsea oil and gas for many decades. Now, there's an opportunity to build a leadership in terms of well monitoring, social responsibility and mitigating the potential impacts of subsea wells on the environment.

QSo you joined Sentinel at a pivotal stage in its development, the company has seen a lot of success recently having deployed its passive technology in the Americas for two operators. Can you share a little bit of insight into this and the traction that you've seen in the region?

AWhen I was first approached by the Sentinel team, I was very UK focused. I thought this is going to really help support the industry here in the UK North Sea. I soon realised though the interest for passive technologies was also international and that for me was quite interesting. The same challenges with aging assets and remote wells that we are facing as an industry here are also being faced on the global stage. The simple to deploy the nature of the technology means it has been easily adapted it to suit the requirements of various regions and operators. Flexibility is important for any service provided by the energy industry.

QAnd I know that Sentinel so far have typically been involved with suspended wells, is there capacity to work on monitoring active wells as well?

AWithout a doubt. There seems to be a great deal of focus on Sentinel’s technology being associated with suspended wells, plugged wells and old wells. I personally think that for active wells and producing wells it is equally as important. If I were still an operator, I would like to know if one of my active wells was leaking and causing harm to the environment and I'd like to know that as soon possible, as opposed to waiting until the next ROV inspection. So, for me live wells hold the same environmental importance as suspended wells. We need to monitor, full stop.

QWhat lies on the horizon for Sentinel?

AI think that Sentinel has brought to the oil and gas industry some remarkable new thinking and fantastic innovation on how we monitor subsea assets. The future for Sentinel is to listen to the monitoring challenges that come forward from operators, look at how the technology can support and keep things simple. I think that simplicity is the essence of success, and I wouldn't want to lose the hold on that simplistic approach.

• INTEGRATED CONTROL SYSTEMS

• BOP CONTROL SYSTEMS

• DRILLERS SYSTEMS

• CHOKE & VALVE CONTROLS

• BALLAST CONTROL & MONITORING

• UNINETRUPTABLE POWER SUPPLIES

• REMOTE MONITORING SYSTEMS

• ENERGY MONITORING SYSTEMS

• DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEMS

• CONDITION MONITORING SYSTEMS

• FLUID MONITORING SYSTEMS

• SCADA/HMI PACKAGES

• VALVE TEST PANELS

• PRESSURE TEST UNITS

• GLYCOL INJECTION UNITS

• MULTIPLEX CONTROL SYSTEMS

• INTEGRATED MARINE MONITORING SYSTEMS

• SUBSEA ASSEMBLIES

• PRESSURE & TEMPERATURE MONITORING

• POWER DISTRIBUTION UNITS

• HYDRAULIC POWER UNITS

• FLUSHING SYSTEMS

• HARSH ENVIRONMENT SPECIALIST SYSTEMS

• OBSOLECENCE RESOLUTION SPECIALISTS