Neptune Energy, with its local production centre in Meppen, has been producing oil and natural gas for many decades. In doing so, we also fulfil our responsibility towards the environment: our plugging and abandonment team transforms former wells and central field stations back into fields and nature.
Our project
Local experts are currently implementing major decommissioning campaigns. In the years 2024 and 2025 alone, 28 oil wells and 11 gas wells and roughly the same number of central field stations are currently planned in the region. The investment volume is more than 20 million euros.
The gas wells are being filled by experts using a drilling rig around 35 metres high. The wells are around 2,000 metres deep. The team is working according to the principle of a travelling construction site. We set up the rig at one location, backfill the well, dismantle the rig and then start again in the same way for the next well. The specialists are active at one location for around four weeks at a time for the backfilling work.
The oil wells, which are on average 1,200 metres deep, are continuously backfilled by a second team of Neptune Energy employees using a smaller, in-house winch with a similar process. Later, all associated central field stations and pipelines are plugged and abandoned, and the areas are recultivated.
What does plugging and abandonment mean?
We are active in all phases of oil and gas production, from exploration to plugging and abandonment. Plugging and abandonment marks the final step in the production life cycle. Our responsibility includes the complete restoration of the areas that have been used for mining. Once the work has been completed, we make it available for further utilisation, which marks the end of our supervision by the mining authorities.
How does a dismantling project work?
After the entire planning phase, including the official approval procedures, the plugging and abandonment of the above-ground facilities is on the programme. We often have to extend the central field stations in order to be able to work with a drilling rig on site. Once the well has been backfilled, we also dismantle the sites and pipes and recultivate the site. From start to finish, this process takes around one and a half to two years.
