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DECOMMISSIONING INSIGHT REPORT
2016
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Central and Northern North Sea and West of Shetland
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Operators forecast the removal of 342 topside modules from 28 platforms from 2016 to 2025, with a total
weight of 449,260 tonnes to be removed.
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A number of topside removals are forecast between 2016 and 2017 with no activity between 2018 and 2019.
This is similar to the forecast in last year’s report due to the small number of large decommissioning projects
already under way in the northern North Sea.
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Activity beyond 2019 is higher than last year’s forecast due to the inclusion of new projects and more detailed
activity schedules.
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From 2020 to 2025, 62,000 tonnes of topsides on average are estimated to be removed per annum.
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Topside removal activity on eighty-two per cent (23) of the platforms has not yet been contracted out.
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Figure 18 opposite shows the tonnage per year of uncontracted topside removals. The topside removals for
the Brent and Murchison fields, not shown, have already been contracted to Allseas and a consortium of AF
Gruppen and Heerema (the Heerema-AF Consortium), respectively.
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The removal of Brent will be carried out by single-lift using the Pioneering Spirit heavy lift vessel, while the
removal method for Murchison involves a combination of reverse installation and piece-small.
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The total forecast for substructure removals in these regions is close to 167,800 tonnes on 21 platforms from
2016 to 2025.
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Activity mirrors the forecast for topside removal, with some planned removals in the near term (2016 to 2020).
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Fifteen of the planned substructure removals are expected to take place between 2023 and 2025.
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Ninety per cent of this activity is yet to be contracted out (19 substructures), shown in Figure 19 opposite.