Result
MCGx identified and isolated the source of high-pressure hydraulic fluid loss on a field-critical offshore well, allowing continued uninterrupted production and avoiding a blind subsea intervention campaign. Targeted remediation resolved the issue with minimal intervention, preserving the highest-producing well on the asset and maintaining overall field economics.
Problem
A visible and accelerating loss of high-pressure hydraulic fluid threatened mandatory shut-in of the asset’s most economically critical well. While fluid depletion was clear, the leak location was unknown. Initial suspicion focused on downhole loss, but the well is connected via ~15 km of subsea hydraulic infrastructure with complex interactions between system volumes, shuttle valves, check valves, and cross-communication between HPA and HPB circuits. Physical inspection via ROV was impractical and prohibitively expensive, leaving the operations team without a clear diagnostic path.
MCGx Insight
The challenge was not confirming fluid loss, but determining where it was occurring within a complex subsea hydraulic system. By isolating specific system segments at defined points in time and interpreting pressure and volume responses in context, MCGx triangulated the leak location and demonstrated that the dominant loss mechanism was subsea rather than downhole.
Proof
The well has remained online throughout. Targeted remediation resolved the issue without unnecessary intervention, avoiding blind ROV inspection and preventing asset-wide economic shutdown.