As Gulf of Mexico (GOM) devolopment activity moves into deeper waters, operators must find more-cost-effective ways to exploit oil and gas resources. In 1998, EEX Corp., recognizing that a field in 2,100 ft of water would reach its economic limit by mid-1999, began reviewing techniques to decommission and abandon the field properly. In shallower waters, decommissioning and abandonment has evolved from the use of large rigs to a more streamlined turnkey process performed by a specialist. in many cases, wells can be plugged and abandoned by use of a coiled-tubing (CT) unit and a wireline unit rather than large drilling or workover rigs. EEX felt the same evolution was possible in the deepwater environment.