Salvage and Decommissioning

26 January 2011 North of England Branch Evening Meeting

Chairman Ian Frazer, GL Noble Denton

Sponsored by GL Noble Denton

Report

Flyer

Overview

The very term ‘Design Life’ predicts a precipice at some future date against which all engineering and financial calculations are derived – and yet what shall actually be involved in removing the structures, that were often a feat of ingenuity to install in the first place, is all too frequently considered as a distant problem. Decommissioning, however, is already taking place and increasing in volume. There is disquiet within the oil and gas industry which has been caught largely unprepared for the challenge, let alone the opportunity.

The SUT’s newly formed Salvage and Decommissioning Committee and its interactive Special Interest Group were established in February 2010 to help address this situation, by bringing together the offshore, marine salvage and scientific sectors in order to exchange technologies, methodologies, ideas and information.

This evening meeting began with a brief overview of aims of the Committee and the means by which it intends stimulate activity, before highlighting specific aspects of practical work.

Presentations

Global Decommissioning Opportunities

Brian Twomey, Managing Director, Reverse Engineering Limited

Brian gave a global market overview which contained a summary of the structures to be decommissioned and an estimate of market value and timing.

Synergies between Decommissioning, Wreck Removal and Cargo Recovery

Moya Crawford, Managing Director, Deep Tek Ltd

The international salvage community forms a responsive, risk-based industry that removes structures and recovers property from the seabed as part of its everyday work, using a wide range of equipment, cutting and lifting techniques. The presentation discussed the synergies and highlighted some of the applications.

Overview of North Sea Decommissioning Campaigns

Don Orr, Principal Engineer, GL Noble Denton

A substantial number of offshore facilities have now been removed from the North Sea. The presentation explored the variety of structures decommissioned and the range of techniques employed. This was demonstrated using experience from 3 decommissioning campaigns supported by GL Noble Denton over the last 3 years.