ConocoPhillips gives all-clear for Ekofisk removal program
The nine base-scope platforms for the new program are 2/4 D, 2/4 P, and 2/4 R, all at or around the Ekofisk center; the two Albuskjell platforms 1/6 A and 2/4 F; Cod 7/11 A, Edda 2/7 C; and two booster platforms, 36/22 A and 37/4 A, both in the UK sector on the route of the Norpipe oil pipeline. Two of Heerema’s crane barges will share the removal work: Thialf will be used at the Ekofisk center where its dynamic-positioning capability will enable it to operate without anchoring, while Hermod will be deployed for the outlying and remote structures.
Two more platforms, 2/4 H and 2/4 Q, are among the options in the contract. Both are living quarters facilities still in use, so they cannot be decommissioned before a planned new accommodation platform, 2/4 L, is in place. This will be a large installation, with around 500 beds. FEED work is currently out to bid.
The jacket of Gassco’s 2/4 S riser platform is also an option. This platform was connected previously to the Ekofisk Tank via 2/4 R; Statoil, the original operator, removed the topsides and bridge in 2001 using the Thialf following concerns about subsidence. Gassco’s redundant H-7 booster platform, in the German sector on the route of the Norpipe gas pipeline, is likewise a contract option, but no agreement has yet been signed, according to ConocoPhillips. A possible third-party candidate is BP’s 2/4 G, another riser platform bridge-linked to the Ekofisk Tank, but this is not yet a contract option and further discussions are required between the two parties.
Offshore work has been split into four stages, Miller says. All the platforms were abandoned and left in a cold state several years ago. The first stage, therefore, requires offshore surveys to check platform data and to confirm inventories. The second stage involves a make-safe operation to establish access, mount hand-rails, install fire-fighting equipment and ensure the removal work can be done safely. AF Decom will perform most of this work. The third and fourth stages are respectively topsides and jacket removal, which will primarily involve Heerema.
The first stage already has been carried out for the first four platforms to be removed – 2/4 P, 2/4 R, 36/22 A, and 37/4 A. Make-safe operations will be executed on the two booster platforms this summer, with the Hermod deployed to lift equipment on board. The crane barge was expected to arrive in August, after completing topsides removal operations on BP’s North-West Hutton platform in the UK sector.
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Volume 68 Issue 9
September 2008
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