Offshore staff
KOPERVIK, Norway – Statoil has awarded a Letter of Intent to AF Decom Offshore and Saipem UK to remove redundant North Sea platforms.
The commission, issued on behalf of Norwegian gas trunkline system operator Gassco, concerns the H7 and 2/4-S installations.
AF Decom Offshore will remove and sell the entire H-7 platform, with Saipem UK taking out the 2/4-S platform jacket, with both programs due to be implemented by end-2014.
Confirmation of the contracts is subject to sanction from the Gassled joint venture, which owns both platforms. However, both projects are expected to be approved by year-end, according to Gassco.
The H-7 platform is in the German sector of the North Sea. Between 1977 and 1999 it was used to maintain pressure in the pipeline transporting gas from the Ekofisk complex in the southern Norwegian North Sea to the terminal in Emden on Germany’s north coast.
The platform was disconnected from the pipeline four years ago. AF Decom Offshore’s remit involves removal of the whole installation and subsequent transport to the company’s yard in Vats, north of Stavanger, for disassembly and scrapping. The estimated value of this work is $77.4 million.
The 2/4-S riser platform is in the Norwegian sector and came onstream in 1985. It was used to transport gas from Statpipe to Ekofisk. From 1998, however, the 2/4-S platform was rendered superfluous as Statpipe’s gas was re-routed directly into the Norpipe system via the Ekofisk Bypass pipeline. The 2/4-S topside was removed in 2001, and the remaining jacket will now be removed.
Saipem UK will remove the jacket and transport it to shore, under a $73-million program. Scrapping of the jacket will be awarded later under a separate contract.
A project sanctioning of the removal projects by Gassled JV is expected by the end of this year. Statoil is the technical service provider for 2/4-S and ConocoPhillips fulfils the same role for H-7. However, Statoil is handling both removal projects on assignment from Gassco.
06/29/2011
