Economic Report 2017

E C ONOM IC R E P OR T 2 0 1 7

Brent Decommissioning Project – the Role of the Supply Chain AĨter ϰ0 years oĨ oƉerations, the rent &ield, northͲeast oĨ the ^hetland Islands, is reaching the Ĩinal stage oĨ its liĨe cycle͘ ^ince it ǁas discoǀered in 1ϵ71, the rent &ield oƉerations haǀe Ɖroduced oǀer three ďillion ďoe, contriďuted more than ά20 ďillion in goǀernment tadž reǀenue ;in today͛s moneyͿ, and created and sustained thousands oĨ ũoďs͘ At its ƉeaŬ in 1ϵϴ2, the rent &ield ǁas Ɖroducing more than ϱ00,000 ďoe Ɖer day ;ďoeƉdͿ, e q uiv ale nt t o t h e annual e ne r gy ne e ds of ar ound h alf of all UK h om e s at t h e t im e . The rent &ield has Ĩour large Ɖroduction ƉlatĨorms ʹ three concrete graǀity structures ; raǀo, harlie and eltaͿ and one steel ũacŬet ;AlƉhaͿ͘ rent elta ceased Ɖroduction in 2011, and rent AlƉha and rent raǀo in 201ϰ͘ Br e nt C h ar lie is e x p e ct e d t o ce ase p r oduct ion w it h in t h e ne x t fe w y e ar s. Wlanning Ĩor decommissioning the Ĩield started in 200ϲ and rent decommissioning is an iconic, multiͲďillionͲ Ɖound Ɖroũect͘ It is one oĨ the largest decommissioning Ɖroũects to taŬe Ɖlace on the UK ^ due to the sinje and comƉledžity oĨ the Ĩacilities and interͲrelated inĨrastructure, its age, remote location, and the harsh enǀironment oĨ the Eorth ^ea͘ ^hell suďmitted its draĨt ecommissioning Wrogramme to the eƉartment Ĩor usiness, nergy & Industrial ^trategy ; I^Ϳ in &eďruary 2017͘ A ϲ0Ͳday Ɖuďlic consultation commenced on ϴ &eďruary 2017 and e nde d on 10 A p r il 2017 . The rent &ield is a ϱ0Ͳϱ0 ũoint ǀenture ďetǁeen ^hell and sso, ǁith ^hell as oƉerator, and they haǀe inǀested ďillions oĨ Ɖounds in rent inĨrastructure, including a ά1͘2 ďillion redeǀeloƉment Ɖroũect in the 1ϵϵ0s that signiĨicantly edžtended the liĨesƉan oĨ the Ĩield͘ Throughout the rent &ield͛s history, tens oĨ thousands oĨ ũoďs haǀe ďeen created Ĩor rent oƉerations, many oĨ them highly sŬilled, and there haǀe ďeen huge ďeneĨits to local com p anie s t h r ough t h e significant sup p ly ch ain se r v icing Br e nt . urrently, around 1,000 ƉeoƉle onshore and oĨĨshore are emƉloyed on the rent oƉerations and the decommissioning Ɖroũect͘ The rent decommissioning Ɖroũect is ǁorŬing ǁith oǀer 100 north east oĨ ^cotland comƉanies in a ǁide range oĨ caƉacities and disciƉlines͘ Additionally, ǁorŬ is ďeing conducted ďy Aďle UK Limited in Teesside, north east ngland, ǁith some study ǁorŬ carried out in the Eetherlands ďy the Allseas GrouƉ͘ The UK doe s not h av e a h e av y - lift v e sse l cap ab ilit y com p ar ab le t o t h at of A llse as’ P ione e r ing Sp ir it . In t e r m s of ov e r all Ɖroũect sƉend to 202ϱ, it is currently anticiƉated to ďe around ϴϱ Ɖer cent on UK local content͘ ^hell has ďeen ƉreƉaring Ĩor, and conducting, an edžtensiǀe range oĨ engineering decommissioning actiǀities including͗ Ɖlugging and maŬing saĨe the 1ϱϰ ǁells across the rent &ield͖ strengthening the underdecŬs͖ installing lift p oint s and cut t ing t h e le gs and se cur ing w it h clam p s ah e ad of r e m ov al t o sh or e and r e cy cling of t h e four ƉlatĨorm toƉsides͖ recoǀering oil and gas deďris across the rent &ield and remoǀing the oil ʹ Ŭnoǁn as ͚attic oil͛ ʹ t r ap p e d at t h e t op of som e of t h e sub se a st or age ce lls; and cle aning and flush ing of p ip e line s in p r e p ar at ion of st ab ilisat ion or r e m ov al. tell Ɖlugging and aďandonment ;W&AͿ is one oĨ the Ŭey actiǀities in decommissioning, reƉresenting close to halĨ oĨ the total sƉend on a tyƉical Ɖroũect͘ ^ince 201ϲ, ϯ2 diĨĨerent contracts haǀe ďeen inǀolǀed in ǁell W&A actiǀity on the rent &ield͘ ^eǀenty Ɖer cent oĨ these contracts are ǁith AďerdeenͲďased Ĩirms, w it h t h e r e m ainde r sp r e ad acr oss t h e r e st of t h e UK. W e ll P &A h as alr e ady b e e n com p le t e d on D e lt a and Br av o. Other serǀices Ɖroǀided ďy the UK suƉƉly chain haǀe included͗ enǀironmental imƉact assessments and ƉreƉaratory studies in suƉƉort oĨ the decommissioning Ɖrogramme͖ staŬeholder engagement, ǀeriĨication and assur ance se r v ice s; innov at iv e t e ch nical solut ions t o sam p le t h e st or age ce lls on t h e t h r e e concr e t e gr av it y b ase structures͖ and site remediation͘ The rent Ɖroũect demonstrates that the sŬill set edžists Ĩor these actiǀities across t h e UK.

2 0