ERC calculator petroleum and gas - Module 8 transcript

Watch the video Petroleum and gas ERC calculator training – Module 8 – Seismic and infrastructure to learn about the Seismic and Infrastructure sheet and work through examples.

Welcome back to the training for the 2022 edition of the estimated rehabilitation cost calculator for petroleum and gas. This is Module 8. This module will work through entering data into the Seismic and Infrastructure input sheet.

This sheet includes two options for seismic easements - by length and by area. In both cases the disturbance to be entered is only the length or area disturbed by the seismic equipment. Typically, such a disturbance is lineal and contemporary techniques cause minimal disturbance to the environment. For this reason, the calculator applies a default multiplier, currently 5%, to the entered quantity to determine the amount that will be multiplied by the default rate acknowledging that rehabilitation requirements are likely to be minor. The user can override the 5% default by entering a value into the rehab length column directly.

If the value is entered here, this gets multiplied by the rate. If a value is directly entered into the rehab length column, the formula is deleted. If the user wishes to return the formula, they can copy and paste from an unaltered cell. For both the by length and by area table, the user selects the land type and the calculator assigns the appropriate default rate accordingly. The column to the right of the user entries shows how the calculator has allocated disturbance quantities. These are summed at the bottom of each table and multiplied by the default rate to get the total. The totals for both seismic tables are summed and reported to the top of the sheet and this total is reported to the Seismic (Infrastructure Input Sheet) row in the Main sheet. Acknowledging that the actual disturbance is linear for both 2D and 3D seismic, the calculator no longer makes the distinction between the two.

The next table is for tracks and roads. The user can enter either the track or road length and width or the area directly. If the user enters an area, the calculation defaults to this entry. The user then selects the type of road surface from the drop-down menu with options for earthen, gravel, rock, or bitumen. The rate for earthen includes ripping costs and does not include costs for removal of material. From a rehabilitation perspective, the effort associated with the removal of gravel, rock, and bitumen is similar and the rates for these do not make a distinction. So the selection of gravel, rock, or bitumen serves as information only. Similarly to the seismic tables, the user selects the land type and the calculator assigns the appropriate default rate. The column to the right of the user entries shows how the calculator has allocated disturbance quantities. These are summed at the bottom of each table and multiplied by the default rate to get a total. The totals are summed and reported to the top of the sheet and this total is reported to the Tracks (Infrastructure Sheet) row in the Main sheet.

The last table is for camps. To allow alignment with other spatial data, costs for decommissioning/demolition/dismantling the camp are separate from the land rehabilitation. The user selects from the drop-down menu of camps with the selection determined by whether the facility is temporary or permanent, and the capacity i.e. the number of people the camp can house. A temporary camp is typically constructed for relatively short-term activities such as drilling campaigns or one-off activities such as construction of a process facility. Permanent camps are typically anticipated to be required for more than five years and include more hardstand, such as asphalt and concrete, and facilities, such as recreational modules with well stocked exercise equipment, tennis, and basketball courts.

It is up to the user to determine the type of camp applicable in each case. The user may make a case that a camp that has been in use for more than five years is a temporary camp by demonstrating the absence of hardstand, i.e. that the surface is predominantly compacted earth and gravel and only has simple facilities, like very basic recreational facilities. The user enters the number of camps in each category, and then the total land area disturbed by all facilities in the category. For each camp the land area is the total area including buildings and structures and open space that form the camp.

The columns to the right of the user entries shows how the calculator has allocated quantities for each row. These are summed at the bottom of the table and multiplied by the default rate to get a total. The totals are summed and reported to the top of the sheet and this total is reported to the Camps from Infrastructure Input Sheet row in the Main sheet.

The total costs for each table are summed and displayed at the top of the sheet and this total reported to the Main sheet as one line item. The total ERC amount is displayed at the top of the sheet so the user can see how the total changes with quantity entries.

The default rates for the land rehabilitation and decommissioning/dismantling/demolition components are shown at the bottom of the table. The hyperlinks to land subrates and camps subrates take the user to the Subrates tab which lists all the rates used in the camps table. Alternate rates are not available in this sheet. The user should use the Main sheet if alternate rates are justified.

As for all the sheets the first column is for the map ID followed by the name of the seismic area or track or groups of tracks or camp or group of camps. Let’s enter quantities to the seismic by length table first. When we enter a length you can see the calculator automatically applies the 5% to calculate the actual rehabilitation length. To override that calculation, the user enters a value directly and you can see the calculator now takes that entered value. As we enter values to more rows you can see how the selection of the land type changes the cost. The by area seismic table operates in a similar way.

Let's now go to the tracks and roads and demonstrate how the length and width and area entries work. If we enter a length and width and an area, you can see the calculator defers to the area entry. As we look down the table, you can see the effect on cost of the different surface covering and land type selections.

In the camps table we will assume the first row is for Camp 1 and it is a temporary camp of 80 people and the 3 hectares of land disturbed by the camp will be rehabilitated to pasture. So we select Temporary camp – > 50 and <= 100 persons from the drop-down menu and enter 3 hectares to the pasture column. For the next row, we will assume the user wants to enter a group of camps within a desert project area. The camps must all have the same characteristics in terms of temporary or permanent, capacity, and land type. We will assume three small camps in the project area, the first is ten people and an area of 0.5 hectares; the second is nineteen people and an area of 0.7 hectares; and the third, eleven people with area 0.5 hectares. As all the camps are temporary and the capacities all fit within the <= 20 people, the Temporary camp – <= 20 persons item is appropriate. The user enters three for the three camps to the number column and then 1.7 hectares, being 0.5 + 0.7 + 0.5 to the arid column.

As always, for more information or specific instructions, please consult the user guide which is also available on the Business Queensland website, below the download for the calculator.

See you in the next module.

Watch the video: Module 8 – Seismic and infrastructure.