Operation - Geostock

With close to 60 years’ experience in the operation of underground storage facilities, Geostock has acquired extensive know-how, reinforced by the unique synergy between its engineering and operations teams. The company harnesses these advantages to initiate and drive a continuous improvement process, while benefiting from feedback from each phase.

Intervening throughout the life of an underground storage facility, for all techniques and products, Geostock operates or provides technical assistance services in France and abroad at more than 20 sites in operation.

Geostock’s storage operation services range from operational assistance on technical or operational issues, through the secondment of staff to the site, to the full operation and maintenance of storage facilities, with the provision of a dedicated team to cover all aspects of storage management.

Operational assistance

Operational assistance services cover a wide range of areas including:

HSSE monitoring and compliance of storage with rules and regulations;
Managing the permitting process;
HSE, organisational and technical audits of subsurface and surface facilities;
The control and monitoring of asset integrity to ensure compliance with standards and regulations and optimise storage operation and maintenance planning. The key aim here is to safeguard the reliability and performance of the asset, increasing its lifetime and reducing unplanned maintenance costs;
Technical monitoring of the storage facility, including corrosion, hydrogeological, seismic and subsidence monitoring, etc.;

Periodic inspections of well-heads and casings;
Long-term cavern test;
Technical studies on equipment and facilities: new connections, installation of new equipment, etc.;
Design and well operations, revamping or de-bottlenecking of existing facilities;
Optimisation of logistics operations;
Operator training;
Marketing of storage capacity;
Site conversion, diversification and/or expansion;
Decommissioning and site closure;

These services are provided by highly qualified Geostock personnel, including HSE engineers, subsurface engineers (geology, geophysics, reservoirs, hydrogeology, geomechanics, civil engineering, leaching and drilling), surface facility engineers (process, piping, mechanical, electrical and asset integrity), and engineers specialised in regulations and administrative authorisations, commissioning, and cavern operations.

Geostock can also assign on site technical surface or sub-surface specialists and/or operation experts (management of product flows, operation of pipelines and loading facilities) to: