Decommissioning and abandonment

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Decommissioning and abandonment

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

ƒ Need to decommission ƒ Increasingly environmentally- conscious world ƒ Pollutants and toxins ƒ Effects of seabed debris ƒ Fishing and dredging interests ƒ Congestion of seabed ƒ Now a legal requirement ƒ Determine methodology for removal at design phase ƒ Involve stakeholders early on

ƒ Avoid ‘decide and defend’ approach

At the end of the operational life of a pipeline, there is a need to address the future condition and status of the pipeline, so that it never presents a risk of pollution or interference with the activities of other users of the sea. It is important that all stakeholders be involved early on. We must avoid making a decision and then trying to defend it. This can result in a huge increase in additional costs. The upper picture shows 12 shore-end pipe connections exposed at low tide, at the Thorness Bay SOLO pipeline terminal (part of the PLUTO pipeline system) on the Isle of Wight. They have survived over half a century of battering by the sea. The lower photograph shows the effect of a century of oil spillages that are currently being cleaned up in Baku, Azerbaijan on the shores of the Caspian Sea. The historical remediation work is a prerequisite condition for new abstraction concessions.

ENVIRONMENTALANDSAFETYINFLUENCES