Parametric Study on the Elements of Cost Estimation for Offshore Platform Decommissioning

Decommissioning is the last stage in the life cycle of an offshore platform where wells are plugged and abandoned, the structures removed and the seafloor cleared of any debris resulting from the ongoing operations. This process calls for proper planning and cost estimation in order to have successful projects carried out. This study aims at identifying stage-specific assumptions in decommissioning cost estimation and also develop a parametric cost model of parametric range estimating of decommissioning costs using regression models, for early range estimation. To accomplish early cost estimate, secondary data from Gulf of Mexico was used to develop rough regression models that would be used to estimate decommissioning costs for well plugging and abandonment, conductor removal, and structural removal. Results from the regression analysis show that the regression models have a high ability to predict cost since the adjusted R square is more than 50% which means a big percent of variability in dependent variable is explained by the model. Moreover the average F-calculated (137.092) of the 3 elements is higher than the F tabulated (3.49) which means the models have a statistical significance and make a good prediction. Furthermore, the pvalues are very low (