The next MTS Houston Section luncheon presentation will be held on June 28, 2018 and will feature a presentation by Esau Velazquez, the pipeline abandonment project manager in the Fieldwood Energy LLC decommissioning group. Mr. Velazquez will present Gulf of Mexico Pipeline Decommissioning, Planning and Executing in a Changing Regulatory Environment.
Pipeline abandonments have constantly surpassed new installations for the last decade. Since 2008, 3,794 pipelines have been decommissioned while only 2,172 pipelines have been installed. The tasks required to abandon pipelines have remained constant but the regulatory requirements have recently been changing or reinterpreted.
This presentation will cover the regulatory requirements to abandon a pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico and will discuss the new challenges presented by the Sands Sediments program. The standard pipeline abandonment tasks along with the equipment and personnel required will be reviewed. A case study for an unconventional pipeline abandonment will conclude the presentation.
About the Speaker
Esau Velazquez is the pipeline abandonment project manager in Fieldwood Energy LLC decommissioning group. Esau has been in the offshore decommissioning industry since 1994 when he joined Twachtman Snyder & Byrd (TSB) as a project engineer. During his 19 years at TSB, Esau managed the removal of hundreds of platforms and pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico.
Esau was the lead project manager for the recovery of several decks and jackets that were toppled by hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike.
He was also a lead consultant for multiple domestic and international decommissioning studies which have included areas in California, North Sea, South China Sea, Thailand and western Australia. Esau has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Houston.
