Decom North Sea News 013

MEMBER NEWS

Issue 13 | August 2013

DECOM NewS In this issue • Standard Decommissioning Programme Template • DNS Forward Strategy • Focus on Finance • Members News • Decom Offshore • Update on NORM waste Management

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Issue 13

DECO M NE WS In this

| Augu st 2013

issue

• Sta nd Prograard Decom mme mis • DN Templa sioning S For te ward • Foc Strate us on gy Financ • Me e mbers News • De com Offsho • Up re date Manag on NORM ement waste

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2 Decom News: Issue 13

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MEMB

ER NEW S

DIRECTORS FOREWORD

Brian Nixon Chief Executive Decom North Sea

It has been a busy first 6 months of 2013 for Decom North Sea. We kicked off the year with a learning journey to Louisiana in January to understand how decommissioning is undertaken in the Gulf of Mexico and explore opportunities for collaboration.

This was followed by our annual learning journey to Norway in February.

In March we staged a brand new conference, Decom Offshore, to raise awareness of the key challenges faced by operators and contractors when undertaking a decommissioning project. The event also promoted some new technologies and innovations being developed by the supply chain to address these challenges. The following day we consulted with a large group of our members on the organisation’s forward strategy.

Our programme of lunch & learns and seminar/workshops around the country continue to attract strong interest, and we are moving forward positively with some key industry initiatives such as mapping the strengths and weaknesses of the supply chain and undertaking a review of future demand versus capacity.

The next 6 months are looking to be just as busy. We will be exhibiting at Offshore Europe in September and hope to catch up with as many of our members there as possible. Do please call round to our stand for a catch-up. Our annual conference (held in partnership with Oil & Gas UK) will be held on 2 -3 October at the Fairmont Hotel in St Andrews and as per previous years we will be holding our Annual General Meeting the evening before where we will report on the performance of the organisation and vote new directors on to the board. It is important that our board is represented by individuals not only across the different sectors of the industry but also from across the various North Sea regions so we would encourage our international members to consider putting forward a nomination. We would also be very pleased to receive expressions of interest from companies or individuals who feel able to assist the DNS Board on financial and legal matters.

At the end of October we will be running our annual learning journey to The Netherlands.

As our activity levels continue to ramp up I am delighted to welcome a new member to the Decom North Sea team - Jennifer Mann joined us on the 19th August as our Events & Marketing Manager and is looking forward to meeting as many of you as possible over the next few months.

Brian Nixon

In this issue pg 4 pg 6 pg 11 pg 12-25

Decom North Sea News Decom Offshore Focus on Finance Member News

pg 26 pg 29 pg 30 pg 31

Member Point of View Spotlight on New Members Events Update Decom Members

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DECOM NORTH SEA

Standard Decommissioning Programme Template The Standard Decommissioning Programme Template has been recognised as heralding a step-change for industry after being formally endorsed by the UK regulators and used by three operators for different types of asset.

The template is already allowing industry to have decommissioning plans ratified more quickly and easily which will allow the smooth planning of decommissioning programmes and workloads in years to come.

First to trial the template was BP with the Schiehallion Decommissioning Programme, whilst CNRI used it to set out its plans for the Murchison Platform. Perenco has used the template for the Thames Project.

Alistair Corbett, BP’s Decommissioning Projects Manager, said: “The Schiehallion Decommissioning Programme was approved in June by DECC, using the new Standard Decommissioning Programme Template.

Though it was only officially issued for use in January 2013, we were given permission in December 2012 to trial it.

“That meant seven months from initiation to approval, compared to up to three years in the case of Miller – also the document ended up only 42 pages in length. This equates to a major saving in man-hours and project delivery schedule and demonstrates the success of a joint oil industry and Governmental cooperation project.”

Roy Aspden, Decommissioning Projects Manager, CNRI, said: “We are delighted to have been part of the team responsible for producing the standard decommissioning template as well as pioneering its use.

“The template’s format has enabled us to set out our proposals for the Murchison platform clearly and concisely, making the decommissioning programme easily accessible to our stakeholders and significantly reducing the reading burden without compromising essential information. It has also provided a helpful focus for CNRI’s meetings with the regulator during the development of the programme.

“Overall, the initiative to develop the new template is a great example of what can be achieved through teamwork. It represents

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a step-change in the simplification and standardisation of data vital to those considering and commenting upon decommissioning programmes and augurs well for the future development of the decommissioning capability and cooperation across the range of interested parties.”

Perenco’s Operations Manager Keith Tucker, added: “Perenco’s experience of a recent submission of a draft decommissioning programme on the standard template has proven very successful. It demonstrates a significant step change improvement on the previous process, achieved jointly by DNS and DECC collaboration.’’

DNS worked in collaboration for much of 2012 with operators, contractors, consultants and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to formulate the template.

A workgroup was formed, bringing together representatives from the North Sea industry - BP, Talisman, CNRI, Marathon Oil, GP Decom and Optimus Decom, with additional input from Perenco and Wood Group PSN. This cross-section ensured input from operators who had successfully completed a decommissioning project, operators who were actively preparing for their first project, along with experienced consultants and technology specialists.

An initial draft of the workgroup’s template was circulated to government departments, industry and other stakeholders via DNS members and Oil & Gas UK. More than 50 responses were received and the comments collated into a final draft document by DECC and DNS. The draft was then reviewed again by the workgroup.

The outcome is a template which allows future programmes to be prepared and assessed in a more consistent fashion. It is now live on both DNS and DECC websites with operators being encouraged to adopt it during 2013 before it is expected to become mandatory.

Template Work Group

DNS Chief Executive Brian Nixon said: “We are delighted to have been instrumental in such a major project and the rapid uptake of the template by operators shows very clearly that the approach taken by DNS and partners was a success. We are now building on the collaborative working model to tackle other key industry challenges.

“The members of the working group gave generously of their time to design and deliver the template and this has been an excellent early example of DNS members working collaboratively with Government to deliver a substantial piece of work already showing significant demonstrable benefits. Ultimately, it will reduce costs to the public purse whilst maintaining the integrity and transparency of the decommissioning process.’’

The team involved with the development of the template was recognised internally by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) by winning the Customer Award.

Kevin Munro, part of DECC’s Decommissioning Unit, said: “By partnering with our customers to actively address their needs, our team has helped deliver a project with the potential to achieve considerable savings and efficiencies to operators, the regulator, consultants and contractors. It is also a great example of DECC and industry working together.’’

The success of the template was highlighted also when DNS was shortlisted this year for a prestigious Offshore Achievement Award for its work on the programme with Government and industry.

It is hoped that, in time, the template could also be adopted for use in other European countries (albeit with some minor alterations perhaps being needed), helping operators and contractors alike to standardise their efforts across the North Sea.

DECOM NORTH SEA

Background on Decommissioning Projects which the template has been used for CNRI The Murchison Facilities are located in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) Block 211/19 of the Northern North Sea, approximately 240 km northeast of the Shetland Islands and 2 km west of the UK/Norway median line.

Discovered in 1976, first oil was produced in 1980.

The main scope of the draft programme includes the decommissioning of the Murchison Platform topsides and jacket, the drill cuttings pile at the Murchison Platform, the oil export pipeline from the Murchison Platform to Dunlin Alpha (PL115), the Dunlin riser and topside facilities for Murchison production, three associated subsea wells (Wells 211/19-2, 211/19-3 and 211/19-4) and three tie-back pipeline bundles (PL123, PL124 and PL125) to the Murchison Platform.

BP BP’s Schiehallion field was developed using a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, which has been operational since 1998. The development comprises five drill centres with 54 wells, an extensive subsea infrastructure, the FPSO and a gas export pipeline to Sullom Voe terminal.

The scope of the phase one decommissioning programme covers the pipelines and installations not being reused as part of the redevelopment of the field. The offshore removal and onshore disposal phase of the Schiehallion decommissioning project received regulatory approval in June 2013.

Perenco The Thames area development comprises Thames, Yare, Bure and Wensum reservoirs.

The Thames installation acts as the gathering station for export from subsea completions at the other fields and the Horn and Wren NUI. The Thames installation is a normally attended three-jacket gas production complex, designated AP, AW and AR which can accommodate up to 47 personnel on

board. The initial development, AP and AW, were installed and commissioned in 1986 and operational thereafter.

The 49/28 Thames installation comprises a series of three bridge-linked platforms which together form a natural gas production and compression installation, located approximately 80 kilometres East North East of Bacton Terminal off the coast of Norfolk in the Southern North Sea. The Thames complex is about 140t above LAT steel structure in 32.5m water depth.

Production is projected to be ceased in 2013 due to reduction of gas production by excessive water loading in the wells.

Perenco UK has set up a Thames Decommissioning Project team Q3 2012 to carry out various engineering studies including pipelines cleaning, topside decontamination, platforms removals and well plugging and abandonment. The overall project is planned to be a 4-year programme with potential of platform and jacket removal starting in 2015 subject to a detailed engineering study and market availability of removal vessels.

“” The members of the working group gave generously of their time to design and deliver the template, an excellent example of DNS members working collaboratively with government Brian Nixon, Decom North Sea

Murchison Platform

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DECOM OFFSHORE NORTH SEA

“”

The aim of the 2013 event, entitled ‘Decom Offshore – Confronting Challenges, Creating Opportunities’, was to advise the decommissioning supply chain of the challenges that operators and tier 1 contractors face when undertaking an offshore decommissioning project.

Over 200 delegates attended Decom North Sea’s inaugural flagship event on 27th March at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre which was sponsored by KAEFER International Marine and Offshore Ltd. The aim of the 2013 event, entitled ‘Decom Offshore – Confronting Challenges, Creating Opportunities’, was to advise the decommissioning supply chain of the challenges that operators and tier 1 contractors face when undertaking an offshore decommissioning project.

A mixture of interactive plenary sessions, exhibition space and 1-2-1 opportunities, the event was also there to inform the aforementioned operators and contractors of the many innovative solutions and techniques that the supply chain of today has to offer to address the challenges they face and how by rallying together the industry can start to reap the rewards of the multi-billion pound business opportunity that is North Sea decommissioning.

The event was designed with the help of a group of DNS directors, thus ensuring that industry knowledge and experience was brought to bear on each of the four focus areas.

The first of these was the sub-surface area, which relates to work conducted below the seabed and the particular obstacles that are aligned to the plugging and abandoning of many thousands of wells in the North Sea. The feedback Decom North Sea has received from some of these early projects indicates that

they are taking longer and costing more and presenting more technical challenges than had been anticipated, and this needs to be addressed urgently.

The second area of interest related to the subsea environment between the water line and the seabed. It is here that there is an enormous amount of infrastructure ranging from pipelines to manifolds, production systems, umbilical’s, risers and mooring systems, all of which have to be removed and decommissioned.

The third area of debate at Decom Offshore looked specifically at infrastructure removals and the challenges that accompany the removal of top side structures, integrated production platforms and mainly steel jackets, while the fourth looked at onshore disposal, namely the dismantling, treatment and recycling of equipment removed from the North Sea. A full report of the output of the event is available to Decom North Sea members on the members only section of the website.

Feedback from the event was excellent and planning is already underway for next year’s event which will be held on 27th May 2014. www.decomnorthsea.com/ DecomOffshore2014

Save the Date Decom Offshore 27 May 2014

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DECOM NORTH SEA

Decom North Sea Forward Strategy In December 2012 the Decom North Sea executive team held a strategy day with the board of directors to review what the organisation had achieved to date and how it should position itself going forward. Results of a member survey undertaken earlier in 2012 formed an integral part of this strategy review.

The output from this day was then shared with Decom North Sea members at a consultation event on 28th March to get their thoughts, suggestions and buy-in. A high-level overview of the forward strategy is articulated in the diagram below.

Following this process the board of Decom North Sea has also been restructured to ensure that the directors are able to give the executive team the support and guidance required to deliver this strategy. The 18 directors of Decom North Sea have therefore formed the following sub-committees: Administration Projects Murdo MacIver Alex West Nigel Lees Dick Lagerweij Callum Falconer Keith Tucker Paul Charlton Ian Prince

Nigel Jenkins

Events Roger Esson Paul Charlton Roy Aspden Andrew MacDonald David Hamill Tom Leeson

Communication Mark Stanley David Dent Eddie Grant Stuart Wordsworth

These groups meet regularly and provide advice and support to the executive team as and when required. They will also review new initiatives and ensure that they fit with the organisation’s strategic objectives.

Although Decom North Sea holds regular formal consultations with its members it also welcomes suggestions of new initiatives at any time.

Members are requested to contact Sarah Hillyear – shillyear@decomnorthsea.com or speak to an appropriate director of Decom North Sea as listed above.

Annual General Meeting Decom North Sea’s AGM will be held at 5pm on Tuesday 1st October at the Fairmont Hotel in St Andrews.

Nominations for the board of Decom North Sea will be considered and confirmed at the AGM. Members of Decom North Sea are invited to put forward a nomination for the board by completing a nomination form and returning it to Sarah Hillyear

by Friday 6th September. Email Sarah, shillyear@decomnorthsea.com for a copy of the nomination form.

Nominations are being sought for the following categories: • Operators • Main Contractors • Technical Services, Technology and Equipment Providers • Specialist Advisors, Consultants and Project Managers • Marine & Logistics • Subsea & Wells • Onshore Disposal & Waste Treatment As well as ensuring that there is adequate representation across the various sectors of the industry it is also important that members from around the various North Sea regions are represented so we are encouraging nominations from across the UK as well as internationally. We are also keen to receive nominations from individuals who can assist with financial and legal advice.

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DECOM NORTH SEA

Bookings Open for Conference Bookings have officially opened for the annual Offshore Decommissioning Conference organised by Decom North Sea in partnership with Oil & Gas UK. This year’s event, sponsored by Ernst & Young LLP, will be held at the Fairmont Hotel, St Andrews, on 2-3 October. With annual expenditure for North Sea decommissioning projects forecast to top £1billion in the coming years, this year’s event will focus on collaboration and promoting knowledge share and best practices among operators and supply chain members.

The annual event follows on from three previous sell-out conferences, with more than 300 delegates from the UK, Norway, The Netherlands and the USA attending the 2012 conference.

The two conference days feature a full schedule of workshops and presentations

8 Decom News: Issue 13

including market updates on global decommissioning, well abandonment, industry initiatives and an investigation of the future of the industry. The programme will also feature case studies on collaboration as well as a panel debate on the subject.

The conference will be chaired jointly by Brian Nixon, Decom North Sea’s chief executive, and Mick Borwell, Oil & Gas UK’s environmental issues director. They will be joined by a lineup of industry experts, who will share their knowledge of decommissioning and encourage delegates to participate in a range of interactive discussions on topical issues including current and projected decommissioning levels, lessons learned from recent major projects and collaboration and re-use.

Mr Nixon said: “This flagship event in the decommissioning calendar benefits greatly from the expert advice and commitment we receive from our organising committee, and as a result we have seen year on year growth in interest. The 2013 Conference promises to

be beneficial for all sectors of the industry, and will be a perfect opportunity to meet decisionmakers, share knowledge and best practice, and to understand how forthcoming business opportunities will be contracted.”

Mr Borwell said: “Our decommissioning conference takes place in the context of a vibrant oil and gas industry in which a number of major investments are under way. However, while the industry focuses on recovering the estimated 24 billion barrels of oil equivalent that remain, a steady flow of decommissioning projects represents a parallel and growing business opportunity for the UK supply chain.

This event provides the ideal opportunity for delegates to prepare themselves for the challenges ahead and gain an insight into the latest topical issues.”

For further information and to register, please visit www.decomnorthsea.com . The event is open to non-members as well as members of DNS and Oil & Gas UK.

DECOM NORTH SEA

Decom North Sea Golf Day 2013 This year the Decom North Sea golf day was held at Ballater Golf Club on Friday 21st June with 14 teams participating in the Stableford competition.

It was a very close competition with Team Enviroco only just managing to beat runners up Proserv by virtue of the last 6 holes. The team of Derek Weir, Gordon Thomson, Jim Girling and Kevin Smith won with 80 points. Team captain Derek Weir also managed to pick up the individual winner prize.

The longest drive was won by Harry Gow from Accenture Aberdeen and nearest the pin was won by Sara Mathieson from FG Burnett.

A great day was had by all and over ÂŁ500 was raised for the Pound for Piper Memorial Trust by the player auction.

Thanks to Petrofac who sponsored the half way house and to AMEC, Currie & Brown, Falck Nutec, Marathon, Proserv, TETRA and Wood Group PSN for their kind donations of prizes.

Runners-Up Proserv

The Winners - Team Enviroco Sara Mathieson, Decom North Sea Team

Harry Gow, Accenture Aberdeen Team

We would like to thank the following sponsors:

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DECOM NORTH SEA

DNS Gives Graduates Fresh Insight into Growing Field With many career paths available in the oil and gas industry, graduates choosing to work in the energy sector have a wide spectrum of possible employment to follow.

One of the expanding sectors is decommissioning, with expenditure in the North Sea forecast to top £1billion in coming years. This means a new generation of dedicated workforce to assist in operations is vital.

Decom North Sea (DNS) is dedicated to promoting knowledge transfer and partnerships within the decommissioning sector. In addition to encouraging relationships within the industry, DNS is keen to raise awareness of the exciting opportunities in offshore decommissioning to new talent looking to enter the energy industry.

Over the past couple of years DNS has dedicated time to supporting around 30 students who have chosen to focus their final year project or dissertation on decommissioning. These projects have focussed on a wide range of issues from legal and environmental aspects to consideration of decommissioning in offshore renewables.

In 2012, DNS was approached by Robert Gordon University (RGU) in Aberdeen to see if they would be interested in participating in its exchange programme with University of Tulsa. RGU has been running this initiative for a number of years now where five of the most promising students from the University of Tulsa travel to Aberdeen for three months to study at RGU and gain some industry experience.

A selection of students from Aberdeen then travels to Tulsa later in the year.

This year, DNS welcomed University of Tulsa student Thomas Porter to its offices to give him a look at the burgeoning industry. Thomas is currently studying for a degree in Energy Management. Though many of his studies at home have focused on land and onshore roles, he said his time with DNS has opened his eyes to offshore operations, particularly in the decommissioning market.

He said: “I never realised how vast decommissioning is in the North Sea. Working

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with DNS has been extremely educational, as has studying in Scotland. I have done other placements in Houston and realise a similar mindset in the two cities, and it has been amazing to gain this experience in the offshore capital of Europe.”

During his time at DNS, Thomas has worked on various projects including research into the potential reuse opportunities in offshore decommissioning, allowing him to meet with a number of DNS member companies.

He has also worked closely with the team at DNS to consolidate information on future decommissioning projects.

Thomas has now returned to America and is expecting to graduate in May 2014.

He says he has been happy to learn about the opportunities open to him in the decommissioning sector.

He said: “It was fascinating to have an inside look at the North Sea decommissioning sector. During my time at DNS, I was particularly impressed with the level of responsibility I was given, which allowed me an in-depth look at the sector. I received a great level of education and mentorship, and realised I could have a very successful career in this.”

Brian Nixon, DNS Chief Executive, said: “Thomas was a great addition to the team and showed a lot of potential; he has a promising future ahead of him.

“Our key role at DNS is to raise awareness of the business opportunities in decommissioning and an important aspect of this is to teach the next generation of energy employees about the opportunities open to them.

“Decommissioning is still a relatively new industry in the North Sea but with expenditure levels estimated at around £30 billion over the next 30 years it offers an exciting career prospect for those entering the industry over the next few years.”

“”

I never realised how vast decommissioning is in the North Sea. Working with DNS has been extremely educational, as has studying in Scotland. I have done other placements in Houston and realise a similar mindset in the two cities, and it has been amazing to gain this experience in the offshore capital of Europe.

Thomas Porter Energy Management Student University of Tulsa

FOCUS ON FINANCE

Access to Finance for the Decommissioning Supply Chain Access to finance in the oil and gas sector, particularly for SMEs, is one of the real challenges to growth and this can be particularly pronounced in the decomissioning supply chain where there can be less certainty around timing of future transaction activity.

Against this background it is important that businesses are considering the full range of funding options available to them. One of the recent trends we have witnessed is an increasing number of transactions being funded by banks through asset-based lending.

This is a specialist form of secured lending which connects the loan with the borrower’s assets much more closely than with a traditional secured bank loan. Consequently, in the current market, this structure is ticking the boxes for an increasing number of banks.

Asset-based lending operates by the lender advancing loans based on an agreed percentage of the value of certain types of specific assets. Quite often this is receivables, but multiple asset classes can be used including inventory, machinery and equipment, meaning it can work very well for oil and gas service companies. As greater focus is placed on the asset pool and liquidity than cash flows, asset-based lending may provide greater facility headroom for borrowers and the opportunity to make their assets work harder for them.

Asset-based lending will not be for everyone and there can be an operational impact for borrowers in having to monitor the fluctuations in the relevant asset pool and a cost associated with the bank carrying out the required diligence in respect of the assets. However, this may be an acceptable price to pay for borrowers in the decommissioning supply chain to increase their facility headroom and obtain access to the growth funding they need.

Stuart Fitzsimmons is a Banking & Finance Partner at Maclay Murray & Spens LLP in Aberdeen. www.mms.co.uk

Ensuring the Decommissioning Market Secures its Rightful Share of £280m Government Funding The decommissioning market is a growing sector, with £4.5 billion expected to be spent between 2012 and 2017. It has significant potential for innovation and improved efficiencies that will meet the requirements of the R&D tax relief programme.

Introduced in 2000, the Research and Development (R&D) tax relief scheme is one of the best tax delivered incentives in the UK. Its nature is very different from traditional tax programmes, and is designed to stimulate innovative activity in order to maintain the UK’s world lead in many sectors.

It is anticipated that 80 oilfields, involving 286 wells, 40 platforms and 177 pipelines will require decommissioning within the next five years. A high emphasis is placed upon environmentally and economically acceptable solutions. Input and improvements will be required in the following areas: engineering and planning; well plugging and abandonment (P&A); demobilisation of derrick barges; and platform removal.

With a comprehensive technical justification these areas point towards a high potential of eligibility for R&D tax relief. There is also a high environmental component with untested potential solutions.

Having joined Decom North Sea in November 2012, R&D tax relief specialists Jumpstart are delighted to be in a position to help many innovative oil and gas companies. The majority of Jumpstart’s Technical Analysts are qualified to PhD level and have graduated from the Jumpstart Academy, a training programme which provides them with a comprehensive knowledge of R&D tax relief legislation. www.jumpstartuk.co.uk

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MEMBER NEWS

Archer Appoint CEO Archer’s Board of Directors is pleased to announce the appointment of David King as Chief Executive Officer. Mr King has over 30 years of experience in international oilfield services and replaces Fredrik Halvorsen who has been Archer’s interim CEO since January 2012.

Having built a distinguished career with Halliburton, Mr King held numerous executive leadership roles and worked most recently as president of Halliburton’s Completion and Production Division. He left Halliburton in 2010 after 32 years with the company, to become an independent consultant and currently serves as director on several boards in the United States.

Saad Bargach, chairman of Archer Limited has decided to step down from his position on the Board but will remain as Director. The Board has elected John Reynolds as new chairman. John Reynolds is the co-founder and Managing Director of Lime Rock Partners and has significant experience in the oilfield service sector.

John Reynolds, chairman of Archer’s board of directors, said: “David has an impressive background in the oilfield service industry, deep experience in creating value in Archer’s core business lines, and a vision for leading Archer to the next level. The Board of Directors is excited that he has joined as our new CEO.

“We would like to thank Fredrik Halvorsen for his leadership during what has been a challenging period for Archer and the global oilfield service business. We are confident that the recent capital raise and the sale of the rental and tubular business combined with the commitments given from Seadrill, as the major shareholder, has created a solid financial foundation for our company.

Speaking about his appointment Mr King said: “Archer is a mid-sized oilfield services company with financially strong, experienced and committed major shareholders and has great potential. The company has an impressive client list, a strong track record for safety, a wide geographical footprint, as well as a skilled and passionate workforce of 8,300 people.

“As Fredrik hands over the reins, I look forward to further building the company and making Archer an even more essential service partner to our customers. We clearly have short term challenges, linked to present oversupply of capacity in the US domestic oil service market,

“”

I look forward to further building the company and making Archer an even more essential service partner to our customers.

David King, CEO Archer Limited

but I see solid business opportunities for our services including our technology in the global oil and gas market.

“It is going to be a lot of hard work where all business areas will have to be thoroughly reviewed, but I am ready to roll up the sleeves, and together with all its employees make Archer into a reliable and profitable major oil service company.” www.archerwell.com

Teamwork Where it Really Matters Sabre is a main provider of specialist breathing air services across the industry for operations in potentially hazardous areas and confined spaces.

The close working relationship with Aqua Terra Group, the leading oil and gas industry specialist for difficult access operations in potentially hazardous environments and concrete columns, continues to ensure ongoing development and improvement of the bespoke life-support and emergency systems required for multi-discipline intervention projects within a variety of potentially hazardous areas of operation. Previous projects include the IMPACT and Restart project on the Brent Field, and ongoing engineering, construction and inspection workscopes within concrete columns and confined spaces on Dunlin Alpha.

Specialist intervention projects within

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some of the most challenging environments requires that the design, delivery and installation of equipment to location takes cognisance of not only breathable air requirements, but also plans and designs for evacuation and recovery of personnel from location in the event of an emergency.

To ensure the serviceability and readiness of systems during both normal operation and emergency scenarios, Sabre’s manufacturerapproved service teams complete a variety of tasks that include daily routine pre-use checks, servicing and maintenance requirements of the full system, regular evacuation exercise refresher training with intervention team personnel and air purity testing.

www.sabreh2s.com

MEMBER NEWS

Petrofac Delivers Integrated Decom Study Petrofac has provided further evidence of its integrated decommissioning capability by delivering a multi-discipline Asset Retirement Obligation study for Sasol Petroleum International.

The project allows the South African energy and chemical giant to fulfil its statutory obligations under the ‘Sarbanes Oxley’ legislation in the USA by delivering an assessment of the future costs of decommissioning assets on the Pandé and Temané gas fields in south-eastern Mozambique.

The two fields - which export gas to South Africa via an 865km pipeline – came on stream in 2004 and are expected to continue to produce for between 20 and 25 years.

The project pulls together conceptual engineering expertise from Petrofac’s Engineering & Consulting Services business unit in Woking, supported by decommissioning experts from Petrofac Offshore Projects & Operations and the Group’s well engineering arm SPD, both based in Aberdeen. The project scope included the costs of decommissioning the central production facility for the two fields; between 40 and 50 wells; and environmental remediation.

Andy Bryson, Facilities Engineering, Sasol Petroleum International said: “We’ve had a good personal working relationship with good communication throughout and I was particularly impressed with the way Petrofac was prepared to work with us to edit the Scope of Work to match our expectations before the job was started.”

Ian Whitehead, Decommissioning Director, Petrofac Offshore Projects & Operations said: “This work reflects our growing capability not just here in Aberdeen but across the Petrofac Group. Our team here in Aberdeen now offers extensive experience gained on major decommissioning projects including Brent Delta and North West Hutton, but with the ability to co-opt additional conceptual and front end engineering, subsea and well engineering expertise from other parts of Petrofac wherever we need it.”

“”

This has been a successful project with the various Petrofac business units working very effectively together.

David Heaton, Project Manager, Petrofac Engineering & Consulting Services

Petrofac recently carried out decommissioning work on behalf of Ithaca Energy on the FPF1 floating production facility, which is now undergoing modifications in Poland ahead of its redeployment on the Greater Stella field in the Central North Sea. This work involved engineering down and the removal and disposal of more than 200 tonnes of asbestos and naturally occurring radioactive materials.

Other current projects include the positive isolation and cleaning of Treatment Train Two at the Scottish Area Gas Evacuation facility at St Fergus, on behalf of Apache Corporation; and the redundant ENI gas terminal at Bacton, where Petrofac has carried out positive isolation, engineering down and cleaning of the process equipment, and is now managing the dismantling, demolition, hazardous material removal and site clearance. www.petrofac.com

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MEMBER NEWS

Quickflange Focuses on Research & Development It’s been a busy few months for Norwegian-based Quickflange, one of the decommissioning sector’s leading providers of high performance pipe connection systems, as it continues to expand its product portfolio and bolster its R&D. Led by its R&D team at its Technology Centre in Tvedestrand, Norway, the Quickflange pipe connection solution now covers an increased range of materials including carbon steel, stainless steel: 316/361L, Duplex, Superduplex, 6Mo, CuNi and Monel. The solution also has a new piping range of between 1” and 14” and the ability to cater to wall thicknesses of between 2mm and 15mm.

In addition, Quickflange continues to rigorously test its new products at short notice and is developing products on demand to meet specific operator requirements. The result is good news for the decommissioning sector as it looks for flexible, simple and low impact pipe connection solutions that maintain integrity without being too expensive.

“As an industry innovator, we never stand still,” said Quickflange CEO, Rune Haddeland. “That’s why our focus on R&D and our willingness to develop products on demand is already providing significant added value to decommissioning projects, whether it be the wholesale cutting of pipes, breaking of joints, or construction of temporary new piping systems.”

The Quickflange is a connection solution with the ASME flange machined in such a way that it can slide onto the pipe itself. A hydraulic tool is then used to activate the flange, providing a fast, convenient, safe and highly cost effective piping solution equivalent in strength to a welded or mechanical connection. Benefits include ease of execution and reduced costs, increased flexibility and improved safety with a complete dispensing of ignition sources. www.quickflange.com

“” Our focus on R&D and our willingness to develop products on demand is already providing significant added value to decommissioning projects.

Rune Haddeland, CEO Quickflange

EOT Cutting Tools Mobilizing in North Sea EOT Cutting Tools, a TETRA Technologies company, is now mobilizing equipment from facilities in Aberdeen and Lowestoft, UK, for work throughout the North Sea. Diamond wire cutting tools ranging from 152 – 1,524mm, specialized topside diamond wire cutting systems, and core drilling services up to 254mm in diameter are all available.

With these tools, EOT offers North Sea operators an experienced team and state-of-theart equipment for IRM and decommissioning work, including planning and engineering, as well as topside and subsea cutting, facility removals, well sectioning, drilling and pinning.

EOT teams are also available for work on a call out basis. EOT’s diamond wire cutting system is recommended for cutting steel and concrete

14 Decom News: Issue 13

structures, both topside and subsea. Subsea operations are remotely controlled topside and monitored via a saw-mounted camera. When needed, subsea saws can also be adapted for use with a remotely controlled vehicle (ROV).

EOT’s dual-drill and mag-drill systems are recommend for boring or drilling of all tubulars and plate steel, including multiple strings of grouted casing. Like diamond wire, these systems can be used topside or subsea. Subsea operations are remotely controlled from the surface and monitored via a drill-mounted camera.

EOT specializes in cold cutting services, and with more than 10,000 successful cuts completed brings critical experience and proven tools and technology to North Sea operators. In addition to a full range of readily available tools, EOT also offers specialty, customized cold cutting solutions.

To see a demonstration of EOT’s cold cutting tools or discuss solutions for your project, please contact Eddie Grant on +44 (0) 7788 926096 or EGrant@tetratec.com www.tetratec.com

MEMBER NEWS

Cyberhawk Attracts Investment Cyberhawk, the world leading remote aerial industrial inspection company, announced a £1.25m investment at the end of June 2013.

This was led by Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) along with the Scottish Investment Bank, part of Scottish Enterprise.

The funding will enable Livingston-based Cyberhawk to accelerate its growth, create jobs and expand its products and services, ensuring that it continues to lead the commercial development of the Remotely Operated Aerial Vehicle (ROAV) inspection market.

Decommissioning is a major market for the company, as illustrated by the decom work on the Brent Delta platform’s drilling derrick that recently won the Oil & Gas UK Award for Business Efficiency. The highly detailed images of the paint condition and engineering analysis allowed the paint scope to be challenged by the award-winning Stork Technical Services/Cyberhawk team.

More recently, offshore decommissioning work has involved the inspection of the underdeck of platforms to identify potential dropped objects and the structural condition to allow decommissioning planning. Other work has involved the inspection of the flare tips and booms on offshore platforms to fully understand their condition before shutdown.

Cyberhawk’s innovative inspection solution provides a step improvement in safety by reducing overside work and work at height. Additionally there are dramatic cost savings with no interruption to production and no need for large areas of scaffolding.

Cyberhawk has a team of qualified and experienced plant inspectors that provides the client with an inspection report before leaving the platform. This avoids weeks of delay associated with other inspection methods and enables informed decision making. www.thecyberhawk.com

Gulfstream Services Contracts Gulfstream Services Inc (GSI), has successfully completed two six figure decommissioning contracts with major oil and gas service companies, Helix Well Ops UK and Dof Subsea.

The Helix contract was part of the BP North West Hutton decommissioning project where GSI tools were used to remove 10” and 20” pipelines from the seabed.

GSI’s Hydraulic Shear was an effective engineering solution in the situation due to the quick boat to boat times.

GSI equipment was used by Dof Subsea for the cutting and recovering of items on a North Sea platform including a 6” pipeline, concrete mattresses, clump weights and various small steel structures. Similarly, after the assignment it was reported that the performance of GSI equipment and personnel were above expectations and caused no downtime.

Caroline Grant, Operations Manager GSI, said: “We are delighted to be involved in such high profile projects with Helix and Dof Subsea. The efficient delivery of the project is a testament to the effectiveness and quality of our products and staff and this is further proof that we are at the forefront of the decommissioning market. Since we established the GSI hydraulic shear division in 2006 we have performed over 8000 cuts in worldwide locations using our specialised decommissioning equipment.”

Around 6300 subsurface cuts have been carried out and 2000 land based cuts. The deepest cut completed by the firm was 3019ft, for major oil and gas projects in the Gulf of Mexico.

GSI recently increased its staff numbers in response to business growth – the company currently has 12 members of staff and plans to expand this by a further three in the coming months. www.gulfstreamservices.com

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MEMBER NEWS

Sky-Futures Seajacks Announce Success Construction of Recognised Seajacks Scylla Sky-Futures, a specialist unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) industrial inspection company, were recently recognised for innovation and entrepreneurship with a meeting in the Cabinet office with the Prime Minister.

The meeting was followed by an announcement from Lord Young, the government’s enterprise minister, outlining an extension of the government’s business start up scheme for ex-military personnel.

Sky-Futures was identified and highlighted in the speeches during the policy announcement as the case study for successful ex-military entrepreneurs.

Sky-Futures was chosen due to their innovative enterprise with particular reference being paid to their employment of ex-military personnel. Chris Blackford, Operations Director said, “our UAV operators all have hundreds of hours flying time and are military trained. This experience enables us to provide safe, fast and cost effective inspections on and offshore”.

The innovative remote inspection service using UAVs is expected to be widely used in decommissioning and the Sky-Futures team is already delivering inspection services to extended life assets offshore in the North sea. “The experience gained from working on degraded structures is vital as we start to deliver more decommissioning work. In the offshore environment safety is paramount.

Using a UAV for first line maintenance and inspection work is safe and cost effective and helps de-risk climbing and scaffolding operations later on.”

The team at Sky-Futures have been working incredibly hard with the operators delivering work offshore in the North sea and Baltic sea and onshore in the UK, Norway and North Africa. Recent work includes live flare stacks (on and offshore), under deck inspections, flare booms, support vessel operations, telecommunications towers and exhaust chimneys. www.sky-futures.com 16 Decom News: Issue 13

Seajacks International has entered into a contract with Samsung Heavy Industries to build the world’s largest and most advanced self-propelled jack-up vessels, Seajacks Scylla.

Seajacks also has options for the construction of an additional two units.

Based on the Gusto MSC NG14000X design, Scylla will be the fifth new self-propelled jackup to join the Seajacks fleet since 2009 and will be delivered in the second half of 2015.

The vessel will be equipped with a 1500t leg-encircling crane, incorporate useable deck space in excess of 5000m2, and have over 8000t of available variable load.

Sailing at speeds of 12 knots or over, Scylla will be outfitted with 105 metre long legs that have the ability to install components in water depths of up to 65m.

Based in Great Yarmouth (UK), Seajacks were acquired by Marubeni Corporation and Innovation Network Corporation of Japan in May 2012 who have just established Seajacks Japan. www.seajacks.com

MEMBER NEWS

New Sales Director at Jee Jee Ltd, a leading independent multi-discipline subsea engineering and training company, has hired a new business development director to continue company growth as Jee enters its 25th year in business.

Nigel Ross has been appointed to ensure Jee meets its ongoing growth strategy by further developing relationships with key customers and seeking new business opportunities to support expansion plans. He will be based in the Aberdeen office.

Mr Ross has more than 20 years’ experience in business development and sales management within the oil and gas industry and has held positions at Xodus, Shell and Wood Group dealing with international clients.

Jee managing director and founder Trevor Jee said: “We are delighted to welcome Nigel.

He joins us at an exciting time as we continue to expand our team and capabilities through an ambitious plan for company growth.”

The appointment comes as Jee celebrates

its 25th anniversary. From beginnings as a one-person consultancy, the company now has three offices in the UK, and a team of 90 staff who provide integrated subsea services and whole life-of-field engineering to key operators in the industry. Due to client demand, the company is planning moves to larger offices this summer for its central London base and its Aberdeen office.

Mr Jee continued: “Looking ahead, we are keeping a close eye on the decommissioning sector, as the demand for strategy, execution and decommissioning activity will rise in the coming years. Our continuing growth puts us in good standing for future projects as we expand our staff and further strengthen our capabilities.” www.jee.co.uk

“” We are delighted to welcome Nigel. He joins us at an exciting time as we continue to expand our team and capabilities.

Trevor Jee Managing Diriector, Jee

PROVEN SOLUTIONS I N T E G R AT E D W E L L A B A N D O N M E N T & P L AT F O R M D E C O M M I S S I O N I N G

®

sales@akd-engineering.co.uk www.akd-engineering.co.uk sales@tetratec.com www.tetratec.com

www.decomnorthsea.com 17

MEMBER NEWS

Wood Group Centre of Excellence Wood Group is strengthening its decommissioning offering by forming a centre of excellence that brings together the knowledge, experience and resources of Wood Group PSN and Wood Group Kenny.

The initiative underlines Wood Group’s commitment to the onshore and offshore decommissioning sector. Bringing together 18 years of topside and subsea decommissioning expertise, Wood Group can support all phases of decommissioning activity from late life of field operations through facility preparation, removal, final disposal and close-out.

The ‘Decommissioning Centre of Excellence’ is an initiative designed to bring all of the company’s decommissioning capability into one area, enhancing the decommissioning services on offer to existing projects and new customers.

Willem van Es, Wood Group manager, leading the initiative, said: “Being better joined up and integrating the range of services we offer to customers is something we are focused on. The benefits of bringing together our decommissioning expertise in particular, centre on sharing resources, becoming more efficient and innovating. As a centre of excellence, it also means we are creating an environment where we can share, learn, evolve and review, collectively, what we’re doing for our customers. This is a great opportunity for us to draw on the strength of our combined capability and experience to stand out as a power house in decommissioning service support in the North Sea and beyond.’’ www.woodgroup.com

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ROMAR Contract Wins Aberdeenshire-based oilfield service company ROMAR International has been awarded two contracts with a combined six figure value in South East Asia with two major oil and gas operators.

This is the first contract win for the company since recently expanding into the region with local representative, STEP Oiltools. ROMAR has employed a further six personnel in recent weeks to support the two operations.

The first project will commence in July this year. The scope of work includes use of the ROMAR SS1000 Swarf Handling system and Swarf Flowhead for the abandonment of four wells. Following the initial contract, there is capacity for a contract extension for ROMAR to provide contingency cover for a longer term period.

Similarly, the second, based in Northern Australia, will involve ROMAR swarf handling systems being used to assist in well abandonment and slot recovery operations. The assignment will begin in early August and will last for a 30 day period.

ROMAR International commercial director Robbie Gray said: “Being awarded these contracts is a huge milestone for ROMAR. South East Asia is a target location for us and we have seen considerable growth in the region thanks to our relationship with STEP Oiltools. These contracts are a testament to the quality of our products and underpin ROMAR’s position as market leader in this sector.”

Since 2001 the company has grown in size and as well as South East Asia, currently provides products in many oilfield industry provinces including the UK and Norwegian North Sea, West Africa, Gulf of Mexico, and South America. www.romarinternational.co.uk

MEMBER NEWS

Winning on Safety in the North Sea A focus on safety culture has transformed HSSE performance on Brent Delta’s decommissioning project, winning two major UK industry awards.

The team decommissioning the Brent Delta platform in the North Sea is celebrating an outstanding success at this year’s UK Oil & Gas Industry Safety Awards.

Derek Allan, Project Manager, and the Brent Delta decommissioning team led by Project Director Austin Hand, won the new award for workforce engagement on safety issues.

In addition, Marc Brankin of contractor Stork Technical Services won the award for “most promising individual” for his work on Brent Delta, in particular for actively embracing the platform’s new safety culture.

Brent Delta: The final chapter After more than 35 years of service, with 99.5% of recoverable reserves produced, the North Sea field is being decommissioned, Brent Delta first. The platform ceased production in late 2011. (Read September’s Shell Online story “Making the most of Brent”.)

“Decommissioning projects have their own special safety challenges,” says Derek. “In addition, we saw an unusually high incident frequency during the last stages of operation on Brent Delta that suggested we needed to raise morale and get everyone on the platform focused on the importance of safe and efficient decommissioning. In short, we needed to rebuild the platform’s safety culture.”

The foundations were laid by creating a good working environment for the decommissioning team. A three-year construction campaign began by tidying up the aging platform, creating the appropriate office space to facilitate team integration and refurbishing key areas to help create a more professional working environment.

“We wanted people to care about their workplace,” says Austin Hand.

The management encouraged everyone on the team to have a voice and to highlight where improvements could be made. Wherever possible, management responded to the suggestions and requests – even down to providing certain kind of ice creams.

“In this way we showed we took the workforce seriously and demonstrated that Shell cares about the welfare and safety of those working on the decommissioning of Brent Delta; and that led to positive changes in behaviour,” says Derek.

Safety-minded In May 2012, Brent Delta began the real journey to a new safety culture by introducing, a belief-based training programme provided

by MindSafety™ aimed at embedding a new safety culture. It was the first time that the programme had been embraced fully on an offshore installation, and every person in the team has since been touched by it.

In another first, MindSafety™ trainers delivered the programme offshore to engage directly with crews in their workplace. Also, any new team members are introduced to the process during their induction.

“” In my entire career in the offshore industry I have never before seen the workforce so engaged in working with the management to focus on safety. For this achievement to be recognised by the industry is a fantastic boost for the team.

Austin Hand

Derek Allan, Project Manager for Brent Delta receiving the workforce engagement award from John Wiseman of Fairfield Energy Some members of the workforce have trained as safety coaches so they can use their MindSafety skills and knowledge to drive positive safety behaviours on the installation and ensure the programme is sustained. In total, some 4,000 hours of training has been conducted, representing a large investment in safety.

Recognition is another important element of the culture change. The team introduced celebratory meals on the platform every two weeks with an awards ceremony for people who have made the best contributions to safety performance during their trip.

By the end of Q1 2013, Brent Delta was reporting a TRCF of just 1.2, a five-year low for the facility. The target is to reach zero by the end of 2013. This would make Delta one of the safest installations in the North Sea, a major turnaround in just 12-18 months.

“Derek and I agreed at the outset that we wanted to restore pride, to do that we set out to give Brent Delta to the Offshore Installation Manager and the workforce. I actually said the OIMs need to know we work for them and they will deliver for us. We are both passionate and proud of what we have achieved but I want the credit to go to Derek for his inspirational leadership and the OIMs and workforce for embracing the idea and bringing it to life.”

“In my entire career in the offshore industry I have never before seen the workforce so engaged in working with the management to focus on safety. For this achievement to be recognised by the industry is a fantastic boost for the team,” concludes Austin. www.shell.co.uk www.decomnorthsea.com 19

MEMBER NEWS

Weatherford New Technologies The evolution of the industry has resulted in the development of new equipment and technologies that can bridge the gap between crane based operations and campaigns which call for the capabilities of a full jack up rig.

To provide the necessary resources to address late stage intervention and well abandonment operations, a new method has been developed which focuses on safety and efficiency. This new technology consists of a fit-for-purpose system, which includes a modular Pulling and Jacking Unit (PJU). The PJU is mobile, efficient, and fully capable of addressing all aspects and phases of intervention and abandonment operations.

By providing a full range of intervention and abandonment services from a single resource, a multitude of operations can be addressed, which greatly reduces the inefficiencies typical seen when utilizing a range of components. The Pulling and Jacking Unit has proved to be a safe and cost-effective alternative to conventional equipment and allows the client to address the project objectives from a single inclusive source. Evidence of the efficiencies associated with a total service package which includes the collaborative efforts of experienced personnel and a full array of services have been realized in both the safety record and cost savings. The capabilities of the PJU offer a reduction in total costs and fewer total risks which ultimately result in a higher return on investment and less uncertainty for the operator. www.weatherford.com

AKD Engineering Current Contracts The Lowestoft head-quartered world leader in engineered fabrications and services to the oil and gas industry has signed a new contract with Shell for the Bacton Rejuvenation Project within the last 90 days.

This award adds to their current order book with contracts currently already underway with Shell, GE Vetco Cyclotech, Saipem, and Petrofac in the North Sea. AKD has also signed agreements to work with Aker Solutions for another 3 years.

AKD’s Sales manager Denise Farr said: “with these latest contract wins, we are well on course to deliver good results for 2013.

Our focus is firmly on excelling in delivery for our clients. We have a strong reputation for delivering on our promises and this is underlined by the amount of renewals we are securing.

“We have a highly skilled and specialised workforce and it is our reputation for getting the job done that is fuelling our success and current growth. In a tight market for skills, clients know that they can rely on AKD to have the people, engineering teams and processes to deliver projects.

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The largest single win is the Bacton Rejuvenation contract consisting of nine skid packages and all interconnecting pipe work with a value around £5 million. Phase I operations will immediately commence and project completion is due December 2013. This project will further support the local supply chain and the company’s future investments in the area. This project will be managed from AKD Lowestoft facility with an integrated project team.

AKD are actively involved with live Decommissioning projects for the Southern North Sea sector. Denise Farr adds: “At this stage we are working directly with clients on surveys and studies. This will then follow with upfront detailed engineering works. With AKD’s in-house engineers, offshore crews, partnership with TETRA and a wealth of past experience, AKD are in a great position to then carry out the active decommissioning stage”.

Martin Jolley Managing Director said “In almost every case, these contracts are renewals or extensions of contracts with previous clients, made possible by our track record of excellence and value.

Established in 1955, AKD Engineering is one of the most well-known and trusted names in the oil and gas industry. Providing highly engineered fabrications up to 300 tons Martin Jolley managing director of AKD, added: “We are clearly delighted to be awarded this formal contract with Shell. This signifies a milestone in the development of the company, and puts us at the top end of our niche market.

With similar prestigious long-term contracts already in place with other leading industry giants, we are extremely proud of what we have achieved here at AKD. www.akd-engineering.co.uk

MEMBER NEWS

AMEC Environmental Services AMEC is extending its environmental services for the North Sea oil and gas market by growing its Environment & Infrastructure presence in AMEC’s Seafield House office, Aberdeen.

AMEC’s Environment & Infrastructure business has a broad range of environmental capabilities and services, from environmental planning and appraisal and regulatory management to technical safety studies and engineering services, including environmental impact assessment, marine-based modelling, integrated risk management, operational performance and compliance assurance programmes. A key focus of activity will be assisting the industry in dealing with the very considerable environmental challenges associated with late life asset management and decommissioning.

Alec Jones, Director and oil & gas sector leader for AMEC’s UK environmental business, added: “Our technical capabilities range from early in the life cycle right through to late life and decommissioning and we can help to

minimise environmental, health and safety impacts and effects, enabling our customers to meet complex regulatory requirements and their project delivery objectives.”

The team in Aberdeen is being led by recently appointed Technical Director, Andrew Bannister. Andrew has previously held industry roles in drilling and production operations, as well as an extensive career in environmental consulting, focusing on operational performance, auditing and compliance support to the oil and gas industry both onshore and offshore.

The team’s experience offers operators a compliance process for a successful execution of the dismantlement of assets, ensuring sound decision making, behaviours and reporting that brings a net benefit to the project whilst minimising environmental liabilities. Their

capabilities are a key component of AMEC’s wider decommissioning capabilities working across its engineering and consultancy services, and across the oil and gas and nuclear sectors, providing operators with a robust service offering to meet the decommissioning challenges for the UK and internationally.

In June, AMEC was awarded a framework contract by BP to provide environmental and related consulting services for all of BP’s assets in their upstream, refining and marketing, alternative energy and shipping businesses worldwide. Under the agreement, AMEC will be called upon as required to provide a wide range of services including decommissioning, emergency response and continuity planning, remediation engineering, waste management and environmental services. www.amec.com

www.decomnorthsea.com 21

ADVERTISEMENT

the smarter path to decommissioning You know you need to decommission; however, your time and resources are limited. Recognising this, suspended well abandonment expert OIS has launched wellintel, a bespoke decommissioning consultancy service that prepares you for decommissioning while allowing you to focus on your core business activities.

This service includes ■ collating and analysing well-specific data ■ performing initial well categorisations ■ preparing DECC and HSE notifications.

Undertaking this preparatory work early on gives you the best possible opportunity to include the appropriate assets in an OIS rigless multi-operator campaign – probably the most commercially effective solution for suspended well decommissioning.

22 Decom News: Issue 13

To find out how wellintel can expand your capacity and accelerate the decommissioning process, visit www.ois-ltd.com

MEMBER NEWS

SPEX Secures Contract SPEX Group, an Aberdeen-headquartered provider of innovative technology solutions and services to the global oil and gas industry, has secured a further multi-million dollar contract with Shell for the development of a subsea tool.

The revolutionary Emergency Severance Tool (EST) is due to undergo final field tests in the Gulf of Mexico later this year. SPEX plans to make the tool commercially available in 2014.

The EST operates at depths up to 10,000ft, and forms an integral part of the drilling riser the large diameter pipe that connects the rig to the seabed. The EST is positioned just above the blow-out preventer (BOP).

All drilling wells feature BOP safety valves, but there is a limit to their shearing capacity, and they are often unable to shear through large diameter of heavy-walled items being run into the well – items the industry has termed nonshearables.

If there is an uncontrolled event, similar to the Macondo incident, the EST is trigged and will sever the non–shearable item that is otherwise obstructing the BOP, allowing the severed drillstring to fall into the well, and enabling the BOP to safely close and seal.

As well as fully designing, manufacturing and testing the EST on behalf of Shell Houston, once the product is commercial, SPEX is licensed to manufacture, sell and service the EST on a global basis.

The Aberdeen-headquartered company has invested significantly to expand its engineering

and technology innovation capability to partner with clients to develop and deliver the next generation of smart tools that solve some of the industry’s biggest problems. The EST is one of a number of innovative projects SPEX is currently working on.

Chief Operating Officer Nadir Mahjoub said: “Shell looked to us for a solution to further reduce risk offshore and help safeguard the environment if there was an incident. Our team came up with the EST. “It is one of a number of innovative projects SPEX is working on at present and has been taken from concept trial to field trials in little more than two years. Because we have exceptional people, equipment and infrastructure all under the one roof, we can work extremely quickly to help solve client problems and challenges.’’

The SPEX Group aligns with clients to develop turnkey solutions for their technology problems or challenges. It comprises three key business areas – Engineering & Technology Innovation (ETI), Production & Fabrication and Field Services – working with clients including both major oil & gas operators and service companies. www.spexservices.com

Other game-changing products being developed with Shell are: Collapsible Insert Device (CID) - the CID forms part of the well casing and uses propellant to collapse a liner sleeve to significantly reduce the uncontrolled release of hydrocarbons in the worstcase event that the wellhead or BOP is damaged or breached.

Riser Severance Tool (RST) - an ROV or surface deployed tool that uses explosive technologies to sever the complete riser in the event that the rig unexpectedly drifts. By severing the riser, the rig can move off-station without causing damage to the subsea BOP or wellhead, thus ensuring the well can be safely and quickly brought back under control.

Squibb Group Squibb Group started work in the Oil & Gas/Petrochemical industry in the 1970’s at the Thames hinterland refineries of Coryton, Shellhaven and Canvey Island, eventually becoming a “partner” to Mobil Oil. Amongst some of the major projects undertaken was the demolition of a Catalytic Cracker Column, executed using a Tower Crane.

Squibb Group were recognised as the first

contractor to utilise such a crane on a project of this nature and were widely acknowledged for such an innovative approach.

As a natural progression Squibb started to look at the forthcoming opportunities for decommissioning offshore and initially on behalf of Kinsail, carried out feasibility studies covering the removal of several gas platforms in the South Irish Sea. Having extended its services into the Nuclear Industry, Squibb Group have recently been awarded a prestigious framework agreement with Magnox for the decontamination and de-plant at various Nuclear Installations across the UK. This provides further evidence of Squibb’s commitment to ensuring the safe decontamination and

demolition of complex installations in hazardous industries.

Utilising a wealth of onshore experience, Squibb Group are committed to developing technically innovative solutions for the proposed decommissioning of UK offshore installations, with a particular focus on addressing environmental concerns, health & safety of personnel and costs.

Having established a formidable reputation as one of the premier demolition contractors in its native United Kingdom, Squibb Group has evolved to become a major global force across the controlled demolition and dismantling sectors, taking its knowledge and experience across Europe and into the Middle East regions. squibbgroup.com

www.decomnorthsea.com 23

MEMBER NEWS

Proserv at Cutting Edge of Decommissioning In the next five years, the total UKCS decommissioning spend is estimated to reach £5billion covering 40 platforms across 80 fields; 60% greater than projected costs for the Gulf of Mexico over the same period.

Proserv is at the cutting edge of this emerging marketplace, delivering innovative solutions to meet the complex challenges in large decommissioning projects including multi-well severance campaigns and infrastructure removal.

The experienced Proserv team, with the knowledge and understanding of the intricate issues associated with structural integrity and well abandonment, had the foresight to invest in the design and development of revolutionary next generation cold-cutting technology, proven to be crucial to enhance efficiencies.

The company’s pioneering Multi-String Cutter (MSC) tool provides complete well severance and reduces in-well operational time by up to 50%, offering clients a superior cutting solution for their most challenging decommissioning and abandonment requirements.

The Proserv MSC tool is powered by our

established topside Jet Cut water abrasive system which has been operating globally for over 10 years. Using a direct injection of abrasive material into the water stream, and operating at pressures between 10,000psi and 15,000psi, it is capable of cutting both externally and internally from 6” to 180” diameter. This includes a wide range of cutting applications such as concrete coated pipelines, jacket legs, piles and mooring chains.

Proserv’s specialist engineering capacity allows this solution to be purpose built to suit any cutting task. The MSC is smaller than conventional tools and deployed to cut and pull in one lift reducing the operational duration, cost and deck footprint; providing streamlined and cost efficient operations. In addition, it delivers real benefits in the health and safety environment to the crews deploying the technology compared with traditional well severance methods.

With pressure expected to mount on the supply chain for expertise and capability, the demand for leaner and more effective technology in the North Sea’s increasingly congested decommissioning market is expected to intensify, driven by a predicted sector expansion of approximately 300% by 2018.

As a leading global energy production, technology and services company, Proserv have successfully deployed our Jet Cut technology for more than 50 structure decommissioning projects through prime contractors over the

last 12 months. The Jet Cut system, along with Proserv’s Friction Disc Cutter and Diamond Wire Cutting tools, has also been deployed in other regions including the Far East and Gulf of Mexico whilst the MSC tool has consistently delivered in the Gulf of Mexico in recent years ahead of it’s global roll out.

David Dent, Proserv’s Vice President M&T – Offshore and Subsea Services, said, “Decommissioning has always been a fundamental part of Proserv’s integrated technologies.”

David, who also sits on Decom North Sea’s Board of Directors, continues “Underpinned by the company’s international talent pool of technical and engineering expertise, we have invested heavily in developing an extensive range of state-of-the-art cutting tools.”

Richard Lind, Product Line Manager (MSC tool) said: “At a time when decommissioning costs are spiralling, next generation technology is providing real value because of its pivotal role in ensuring asset integrity as well as making sure projects are delivered on time and within budget.

With a considerable track record in decommissioning projects in the North Sea and internationally, we can now demonstrate further development of our range of specialist cutting tools in accordance with North Sea standards and best practice.” www.proserv.com

Augean North Sea Services Augean North Sea Services (ANSS) have recently acquired a fully permitted waste transfer station in Aberdeen in order to further establish ourselves in the hazardous waste management industry locally.

The Greenbank Waste Management Centre in Tullos can accept all categories of hazardous

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waste for treatment or transfer to Augean’s network of in-house treatment and recycling centres throughout the UK – a unique offering in the North-East of Scotland.

We are currently investing in the refurbishment of the site and are finalising the commissioning of a liquid waste storage tank farm which will more than double the existing storage capacity of the site. ANSS are also working to add further to our storage and transfer capabilities in the area.

Augean North Sea Services is a joint venture between Augean PLC and Scomi OilTools. The joint venture enables the development of innovative solutions to

manage all waste streams derived from North Sea exploration, production and decommissioning activities. Our Kingscliffe NORM facility, Port Clarence thermal and recovery facility, and our unique quayside facility at Pocra Quay in Aberdeen are at the forefront of treatment and recycling innovation.

Wider services offered through Augean PLC include Oil Sludge Treatment, Solvent Recovery, Energy from Waste Incineration and a network of waste transfer stations throughout the UK as well as experience dealing with a variety of problematic wastes. www.augeanplc.com/ANSS

MEMBER NEWS

Easing the Burden of Suspended Well Decommissioning The new OIS Wellintel service gathers the information operators need. Offshore Installation Services Ltd (OIS), an Acteon company, has launched a new service designed to help operators fulfil their suspended well decommissioning plans.

Wellintel is a well data collection and review service that gathers and prepares the information operators require before they start a decommissioning programme. OIS engineers with extensive well abandonment knowledge and detailed understanding of the entire decommissioning process will deliver the service.

Operators having an up-to-date well inventory and regulatory documentation ready for submission to DECC and the HSE can take advantage of commercially efficient opportunities such as multi-client abandonment campaigns that may arise at short notice.

Decommissioning offshore assets is a key challenge for the UK’s offshore oil and gas industry. The UK government’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is prompting

operators with assets that require permanent abandonment to expedite the process.

For many operators, the main obstacles are lack of time or limited in-house resources to deal with the critical tasks required to prepare for decommissioning. The Wellintel team will help by collating well-specific data, such as end-of-well reports and well status diagrams, and the initial assessment of well categorisation in accordance with O&G UK guidelines, which is required to identify which assets are available and suitable for vessel-based abandonment, thereby easing the burden on operators.

The Wellintel service can also support operators with preparing the submissions to DECC and the HSE that are required before starting a decommissioning programme. These submissions include the oil pollution emergency plan, PON 5 (application to abandon a well), PON 15f (permit to use and/or discharge chemicals during well abandonment), the Marine Coastal Access Act licence and the HSE notification.

Since its launch, Wellintel has attracted a high degree of interest amongst North Sea operators who recognise the value of this approach. One operating company has already started using the service as part of its decommissioning strategy.

One of the key features of the proposition is that the costs of the Wellintel service are deductable from future abandonment work

by OIS.

www.ois-ltd.com

“”

Once the Wellintel process is complete, OIS can provide well abandonment solutions, including vessel charter, marine management, equipment and personnel, and full offshore project management for any suspended wells that are suitable for vesselbased abandonment.

Operators that use OIS for back-of-boat suspended well abandonment work within 18 months of using Wellintel can recover the costs incurred against the project management fees associated with the well abandonment project.

Tom Selwood, OIS Vice President Commercial and Business Development

www.decomnorthsea.com 25

MEMBER POINT OF VIEW

Update on NORM Waste Management NORM (‘naturally occurring radioactive materials’ are naturally present in the earth’s crust and have not resulted from any anthropogenic activity), occurs as a scale over time throughout the oil & gas exploration and production processes and buildup can decrease effectiveness of components as well as create a potential operational safety hazard and environmental management hazard.

Operators are allowed to discharge offshore at the point of production subject to permitting and regulatory compliance. However some waste may be deemed unsuitable for safe offshore discharge or those brought onshore requires specialist decontamination and subsequent disposal, importantly this includes waste arising’s from decommissioning of both redundant offshore and on-shore facilities.

Whilst a small part of the overall decommissioning project, NORM is a unique hazard and requires robust management arrangements to ensure high levels of safety and environmental performance are maintained. There have been a number of key developments in the last few years which will affect how NORM is managed on both operational and decommissioning facilities.

HMG NORM Strategy The UK Government (and the devolved administrations) have spent a number of years developing a clear policy and guidance for industry on the management of Low Level Waste, this was summarised in Policy for the Long Term Management of Solid Low Level Radioactive Waste in the UK (2007) and specifically for the nuclear industry by the NDA in the UK Strategy for the Management of Solid Low Level Radioactive Waste from the Nuclear Industry (in 2010). The policy statement also acknowledged that a UK wide strategy was needed for radioactive waste arising from the non-nuclear industry. A decision was made to split the strategy in two parts, with Part 1 dealing with small users producing relatively low volume arising’s of wastes containing mainly anthropogenic radionuclides (published in Match 2012) and the planned Part 2 specifically for high volume arising’s of naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) wastes scheduled for 2014, which will cover NORM produced from oil/gas industries.

26 Decom News: Issue 13

UK Regulators (EA for England, SEPA for Scotland, Natural Resources Wales for Wales and Northern Ireland Environment Agency for Northern Ireland) will continue to ensure that operators are applying both the Waste Hierarchy and Best Available Technology (or equivalent) to manage NORM, which will inevitably lead to application of stricter controls and application of technology both offshore and onshore. UK Regulators are taking increasing interest in volumes and levels of radioactive discharges of NORM into waters including environmental and human health dose assessment. Currently most NORM waste is discharged to sea, however a ruling from the Scottish Government has concluded that direct discharge to sea is not the BPEO.

“”

some waste may be deemed unsuitable for safe offshore discharge or those brought onshore requires specialist decontamination and subsequent disposal Mark Lyons, L2 Business Consulting Limited One of the issues that affects the industry today is the lack of accurate information on the volume of NORM wastes from oil and gas facilities, which is envisaged to increase as the number of facilities subject to decommissioning increases because older installations often have substantially higher NORM concentrations plus the potential from onshore developments such as unconventional gas. The current estimate is around 200 m3 of NORM wastes is brought onshore per annum in the UK from off-shore oil and gas activities,

Mark Lyons is a Director of L2 Business Consulting Limited, a member company of Decom North Sea who provide independent consultancy advice on radioactive waste management, decommissioning, radiation safety and regulatory compliance.

with the total annual production of NORM from off-shore oil and gas approaching 1000 m3. These figures do not include the impact from the future decommissioning programme.

SEPA on behalf of all UK Regulators is currently engaged in developing the NORM Waste Strategy including gathering more information on the volumes and types from all NORM waste producers, treatment providers and disposal facilities.

Although at an early stage, in previous work research has identified a reliance on very few treatment and disposal providers for NORM. The main focus on UK LLW relates to nuclear industry arising’s which are significantly higher than NORM producers but competing for the same treatment and disposal capacities. One of the aspects of the strategy work is to ascertain whether there will be sufficient capacity within these routes for the future.

Recently two DNS members have opened new NORM treatment facilities to complement existing market capacity, Nuvia SITA NORM Park offering storage, treatment and disposal and NORM Solutions Ltd, a joint venture between Enviroco and John Lawrie Group, who offer similar services. At the same time there are a number of landfill sites who are able to receive NORM wastes or who are actively considering to gain regulatory approval to receive NORM wastes. There is limited capacity at the national Low Level Waste Repository (LLWR) to dispose of NORM as the radiological capacity of the repository for certain NORM related radionuclides is limited under the proposed Environmental Safety Case (ESC), hence making it the disposer of last resort for NORM wastes.

Overall there is an acceptance that market capacity exists until 2016 but that existing and future new facilities will be needed to meet the increasing market demands including importantly the future decommissioning programme.

MEMBER POINT OF VIEW

Radioactive Substances Exemption In late 2011 the radioactive substances exemption approach was fundamentally altered in the UK to implement the requirements of European Council Directive 96/29/Euratom (Basic Safety Standards Directive, BSSD), leading to changes in the Radioactive Substances Act 1993 (RSA93) for Scotland/Northern Ireland and the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2010 (EPR10) (as amended). In this article they are universally identified as Radioactive Substance Regulation (RSR).

From the BSSD the exemption levels and waste disposal criteria for NORM wastes, the dose limit for the public is an exemption criterion of 300 ÎźSv/year for disposals from industrial activities, with an additional limit of 1mSv/year for a landfill operative.

It is fair to say that the new exemption regime under RSR is much more complex than the old Exemption Orders and generally requires the advice and support of specialists such as a Radioactive Waste Adviser (RWA), which is a regulatory requirement where an operator as a RSR Permit.

Natural radionuclides in NORM wastes are mainly radium-226 (Ra-226) and radium-228 (Ra-228), with their daughter’s products, there can also be small concentrations of lead-210 (Pb-2010) and polonium-210 (Po-210) present.

Typical out of scope for solid or relevant liquids (assumed to be in secular equilibrium) are for Ra-226 0.5 Bq/g, for Ra-228 1.0 Bq/g and for wPb-210 and Po-210 5Bq/g each.

Whilst the NORM waste exemptions exist the RSR regime still requires certain requirements from operators, which can be summarised as follows: Accumulation If you do not have a RSR permit for the accumulation of NORM waste then you may accumulate NORM waste providing its concentration is less than 10 Bq/g. If you do have a RSR permit for the accumulation of NORM waste then you may only use the exemption to accumulate waste with a NORM concentration up to 5 Bq/g. There is no limit on the total quantity of NORM waste that you may accumulate in either case but you must dispose of the waste as soon as practicable to prevent unnecessary accumulation.

Keep Adequate Records Operators must keep adequate records which contain the location of waste on the premises, the NORM concentration of the waste (including factual supporting evidence), the date that waste was generated or brought onto the premises and when applicable the date that waste was disposed of or transferred from the premises.

All NORM wastes must be Labelled The NORM waste must carry the appropriate hazard warning labels and basic information to comply with other legislation relating to health & safety.

Allow Regulators Access to Records and Premises Operators must allow UK regulators access to your records and premises so they can check compliance with the waste exemptions.

Prevent Accidental Removal, Loss or Theft Operators must make normal commercial arrangements to prevent theft of any NORM wastes or plant/equipment contaminated with NORM. Dispose of Waste as Soon As Practicable Operators have a duty to dispose of waste as soon as practicable. The regulators can ask you to justify the length of time that particular waste has remained on site. The fact that disposal costs are expensive will not be accepted as adequate justification as to why radioactive waste has not been disposed of. The operator must show they have applied the Waste Hierarchy and that wastes have been disposed of via an appropriate route.

As mentioned the approach to the various levels of exemption is complex to interpret, but the following figure shows a simplified approach and the routes for waste disposal that are applicable for exempt NORM wastes:

Out of Scope Not subject to regulation or control under the RSR Regime

<5 Bq/g Exempt wastes that can be disposed of to a number of exempt disposal routes including incineration, unassesed landfill, (activity limits apply) or a suitably permitted facility.

If >50 GBq, then must send to assessed landfill

<10 Bq/g Exempt wastes that can be disposed of to an assessed landfill (must provide regulator with radiological assessment for first disposal and must stop disposal if regulator objects)

>10 Bq/g Requires a RSR Permit and only disposal to permitted management and/or disposal facilities

www.decomnorthsea.com 27

ADVERTISEMENT

28 Decom News: Issue 13

SPOTLIGHT ON NEW MEMBERS

Prima Uno Prima Uno Planning and Programming are new members to Decom North Sea and are currently looking to set up an office in Aberdeen.

We are a specialist Project Planning, Forensic Planning and Programme Governance consultancy providing programme management, project planning, forensic planning, programme audit / interrogation, programme governance, project recovery, delay analysis and extensions of time analysis.

Sometimes unforeseen events can occur which cannot prevent projects running late but giving clients visibility of areas of concern and unachievable dates can often be invaluable. We can pinpoint, evaluate and eliminate issues. We validate project schedule and report not just on the issues but how to resolve them.

We joined Decom North Sea because Prima Uno is looking to engage with Aberdeen based Businesses. We aim to bring exceptional service to the area. Prima Uno aim to create jobs and exciting opportunities for people and businesses in Aberdeen. We offer a professional service that will give added value and flexibility to a range of planning and project controls services.

“We pride ourselves on delivering the best service above and beyond your expectations because our name is our reputation” “By being a single service provider we can offer individual support. By specialising in one area we are ensuring our customers will receive a better service. Prima Uno’s consultants combine an in depth project planning and project controls expertise with world class skills and techniques.

Prima Uno can offer a wide range of services and can assist with demands for long and short term projects.” said Prima Uno Managing Director Sarah Purdham.

Sarah who is the Managing Director has significant knowledge of planning, project controls and forensic planning in various industries such a nuclear, civil, water, rail, tunneling, utilities, renewables, oil and gas. Sarah has built up a successful portfolio of high profile projects such as London 2012 Olympics, Terminal Five Heathrow, various high profile projects for Transport for London and Dubai Meydan Racecourse. primauno.co.uk

New Members We are pleased to welcome the following new members: Acorn Coaching and Development Ltd Bond Dickinson LLP Eni Hewett Limited Frazer - Nash Consultancy Hardy AVARR Limited IKM Testing (UK) Ltd James Fisher Marine Services Macaulay Scientific Consulting Met Office Mourik Services B.V. Nexen Petroleum U.K Limited Prima Uno Planning and Programming Ltd R.U.M Consultancy Ltd Seaway Heavy Lifting Tinne Consultants Limited

Frazer-Nash

Vanguard Villatek Ltd Viking SeaTech

Frazer-Nash Consultancy is an Engineering Consultancy with extensive experience in a number of industries, including a strong presence in Oil and Gas. We offer expertise in a range of technical areas including structural assessment, fluid, thermal and dynamic analysis, electrical and mechanical design and modelling, software development, human factors integration, safety case development and asset management strategies.

Frazer-Nash also provides systems engineering functions including strong project management, requirements capture, options assessment and due diligence services. We have found all of the Decom North Sea events very useful and became members at the beginning of the year to allow us to better support the offshore community in planning and delivering safe and efficient decommissioning programmes.

“” As new members to Decom North Sea we are excited about meeting the other members and learning about new challenges.

Full membership of Decom North Sea is open to any commercial organisation involved with decommissioning.

Associate membership is open to non-commercial organisations and individuals who wish to be kept informed of Decom North Sea activity and attend networking events and conferences.

For further information visit www.decomnorthsea.com

www.fnc.co.uk

www.decomnorthsea.com 29

UPCOMING EVENTS

Events Update Decom North Sea Annual General Meeting Fairmont hotel, St Andrews, 1 October Opportunity for Decom North Sea members to hear an update on Decom North Sea activities, raise any issues and vote new directors on to the board.

Offshore Decommissioning Conference 2013 Fairmont Hotel, St Andrews, 1 - 3 October The annual Offshore Decommissioning Conference organised by Decom North Sea in partnership with Oil & Gas UK will be held at the Fairmont Hotel in St Andrews again this year.

More information can be found on page 8.

Lunch & Learn This series of events allow the supply chain companies to have the opportunity to give 15 - 20 mins presentations on their capabilities in offshore decommissioning to an audience of operators, major contractors and potential partners. All Lunch & Learns will be held at the Palm Court Hotel between 12-2pm.

21 August

SPE Offshore Europe, Aberdeen, 3 - 6 September Decom North Sea is exhibiting at SPE Offshore Europe on stand 5C100 and welcomes visits from potential new members to discuss opportunities in the decommissioning market.

Learning Jouney to The Netherlands, w/c 14 October The aim of this learning journey is to explore offshore decommissioning opportunities in the Dutch Continental Shelf, promote Decom North Sea members capabilities to the Dutch market and explore opportunities for collaboration. We will be working with our partner organisation IRO to organise this visit. For more information and to register your interest in participating in this learning journey contact shillyear@decomnorthsea.com

Southern North Sea Special Interest Group Meeting Lowestoft, 7 November Decom North Sea and East of England Energy Group (EEEGr) have formed a Special Interest Group focussed on the decommissioning opportunities in the Southern North Sea. The next meeting of this group will be held on the 7th November. More information to follow.

Please visit www.decomnorthsea.com for details of future events and to book your place on any of the Decom North Sea events listed above.

This event will include presentations from Jumpstart, KDC and McLeod & Aitken.

18 September This event will include presentations from AKD Engineering, Sabre Safety and Simon Storage.

27 November This event will include presentations from D.E.C.O, Red 7 Marine and Wildwell Control.

Future Decom North Sea Lunch & Learns (2014) Each of these lunch & learn events will have 3 complimentary Decom North Sea members presenting on their capabilities and experience in the offshore decommissioning industry.

Get involved!

If you are interested in participating at one of these events, please contact Sarah Hillyear on 01224 452170 or shillyear@decomnorthsea.com

30 Decom News: Issue 13

decom members

Our Members Full membership of Decom North Sea is open to any commercial organisation involved with decommissioning. Associate membership is open to non-commercial organisations and individuals who wish to be kept informed of Decom North Sea activity and attend networking events and conferences. For further information, visit www.decomnorthsea.com MEMBERS AS AT 17TH JULY 2013 60 North Recycling Ltd • Abandonment & Cutting Energy Services Ltd (ACES) • ABC Contract Services Ltd • Aberdeen Harbour Board • Aberdeenshire Council • Accenture • Acorn Coaching and Development Ltd • Acumen Energy Ltd • Advanced Underwater Surveys Ltd (adus) • AF Decom Offshore AS • AKD Engineering Ltd • Aker Solutions • Allseas Group S.A. • AMEC • Aquatic Engineering & Construction • ARCADIS (UK) Limited • Archer • Argon Isotank Ltd • Arnlea Systems Limited • ASCO UK Ltd • Aubin Ltd • Augean PLC • Axis Limited • Axis Well Technology • Babcock International Group • Baker Hughes • BAUER Water • Bilfinger Salamis UK Limited • BiSN Technologies Ltd • BMT Cordah Ltd • Bond Dickinson LLP • Bonn & Mees • Boskalis Offshore • BP • Burges Salmon LLP • Cape Industrial Services Limited • Cashman Equipment Corp. • Central Insurance • Centrica Energy • Champion Technologies • Chevron North Sea Limited • Claxton • Cleveland Steel and Tubes Ltd • Clydeport Operations Ltd • CNR International (UK) Ltd • Cooper Lomaz Recruitment • Cortez Subsea Ltd • CSL • Currie & Brown • Cutting Underwater Technologies Ltd • Cyberhawk Innovations • D3 Consulting • Danbor Services • D-Comms (Scotland) Limited • DECO( Diving, Engineering & Consultancy Office ) • Decommissioning Project Services Ltd •Dundas & Wilson • Dunlop Oil & Marine Ltd (Contitech Beattie Ltd) • Dutton International Limited • E.M.W Consultancy Ltd • EC Harris • Enermech • Eni Hewett Limited • EnviroCentre Ltd • Enviroco Limited • Epeus Group Ltd. • ERM • Ethan Consultancy Ltd • Ethos Environmental Ltd • Expro North Sea Ltd • Falck Nutec • Flowline Specialist Limited • Fraser Offshore Limited • Frazer - Nash Consultancy • Fugro Subsea Services Ltd • GCG Shotblasting Services Ltd • Genesis GmbH • Geoprober Drilling • GL Noble Denton • GP Decom Limited • GRC Recycling • Gulfstream Services International UK Ltd • H.J. Hansen Recycling Industry Ltd • Halliburton • Hardy AVARR Limited • Hawk Enviro Ltd • Heerema Marine Contractors • Hess Ltd • Hilti • IKM Testing (UK) Ltd • Ince & Co Services Ltd • Infield Systems Limited • Interwell UK • J. Bryan (Victoria) Ltd •James Fisher Marine Services • JEE Ltd • John Lawrie (Aberdeen) Ltd •Jumpstart Limited • Kaefer International Offshore Ltd • KCA DEUTAG Drilling Ltd • KDC • Kishorn Port Limited • Kongsberg Maritime Ltd • Kotug Offshore BV • L2 Business Consulting Limited • Leafield Logistics and Technical Services Ltd • Ledingham Chalmers • Lerwick Port Authority • Lloyd’s Register EMEA • Lucion Marine • Macaulay Scientific Consulting • Macaw Engineering • Maclay Murray & Spens • Maersk Oil UK Ltd • Maintenance Support Limited • Mammoet Salvage BV • Marathon Oil U.K. LLC. • Maxoil Solutions Ltd • McDermott International • McLeod Aitken • Met Office • Montrose Port Authority • Mourik Services B.V. • MSIS Group • Mwaves Ltd • Natas Highlands Ltd • Network International • Nexen Petroleum U.K Limited • Norisol • Nuvia Sita NORM Ltd • Ocean Kinetics Ltd • Oceaneering International • Offshore Design Engineering Ltd • Offshore Installation Services Ltd (OIS) • Oil States MCS Ltd • Oilmac • O’Kelly Brothers Demolition & Environmental Contractors • Optimus (Aberdeen) Ltd • PacTec EPS Ltd • Panda Rosa Metals • Pangeo Subsea Scotland Ltd • PDL Solutions (Europe) Ltd • Perenco UK Ltd • Peterhead Decommissioning Limited • Peterson SBS • Petrofac • Port of Frederikshavn • Premier Oil Plc • Prima Uno Planning and Programming Ltd • Project Development International (Pdi) Ltd • Project, Time & Cost International Ltd • Proserv • Quickflange UK LTD • R.U.M Consultancy Ltd • RAM Tubulars Scotland Ltd • Red 7 Marine Offshore • Red Stone Drilling Ltd • Rigmar Services Limited • Robertson Metals Recycling Limited • Roemex Speciality Oilfield Chemicals • Romar International Ltd • Rotech Subsea • RPS HSED • RVA GROUP • RWE Dea UK • Sabre Safety Ltd • Safety Critical • Scanmet A.S • Schlumberger - SMITH Services • Scopus Engineering Ltd • Scotoil Services Limited • Scottish Enterprise • Seafox Contractors BV • Seajacks UK Ltd • Seaway Heavy Lifting Senergy (GB) Ltd • SFF Services Limited • Shell UK Limited • Shepherd & Wedderburn • Shepherd O’Brien • Simmons & Company International • Simon Storage Ltd • Siskin Asset Management Ltd • Sky Futures • SLR Consulting • SMD Robotics Ltd • SMRU Ltd • SNCLAVALIN UK Ltd • Spartan Solutions Ltd • SPEX Services Ltd • Squibb Group Ltd • Stanley Hydraulic Tools • Stena Recycling Stavanger AS • Stork Technical Services • Superior - Wild Well Energy Services Ltd • Swire Oilfield Services Ltd • Talisman Energy (UK) Limited Tam International North Sea • TETRA Technologies Ltd • Thomas Muir ( Rosyth) Ltd • Tinne Consultants Limited • TRAC Oil&Gas • Tracerco Ltd • Tullow Oil Plc • TWMA • UKPS Offshore • Underwater Cutting Solutions • Universal Pegasus International (UK) Ltd • URS Corporation • Vanguard Villatek Ltd • Veolia Environmental Services • Viking SeaTech • Weatherford • West Oil Tools Well Services • Westlord Associates LTD. • Wood Group • Worley Parsons • Partners Caithness Chamber of Commerce • Carbon Energy Club • Danish Marine and Offshore Group • East of England Energy Group (EEEGR) • Energy North • Energy Coast • IRO • NOF Energy • Scottish Renewables •

www.decomnorthsea.com 31

Plug and abandon wells without a rig

Contact your Baker Hughes representative and let us plan and implement your next end-of-well solution.

Mastiff System Advantages

Mastiff system outperforms conventional methods for removing tubing and conductors.

Improve safety and efficiency during offshore well abandonment with the Baker Hughes Mastiff™ rigless intervention system.

© 2013 Baker Hughes Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. 38784 07/2013

The system’s modular configuration and low weight make it easy to mobilize and ideal for operation on platforms with limited deck load capacity.

With a 320-ton pulling capacity, the Mastiff system can cut and pull 50-ft conductor sections, making it safer and more efficient than conventional jacking systems.

The Mastiff system is part of the Baker Hughes well plug and abandonment service that provides consistent, reliable end-of-well solutions.

Advancing Reservoir Performance

Self-elevation eliminates working at height Rig-up in 24 hours Skid quickly and independently between well slots Transport modules in standard sea-freight containers Cuts and pulls 50-ft conductor sections with inner casing and cement 85-ton total weight Lift capacity: 320 tons Two height configurations for versatile operation

bakerhughes.com/wellabandonment