A thirty day public consultation on plans to commence decommissioning of the Brent oil and gas field in the North Sea will begin week commencing Monday February 16. The field has produced around 10% of all UK North Sea oil and gas and generated more than £20 billion of tax revenue for the UK since production began in 1976.
The decommissioning program, submitted by Shell, for the Brent Delta platform (one of four installations located in the field) recommends that the 23,500 ton 'topside' of the platform is removed in one piece by a heavy-lift dedicated vessel that arrived in Rotterdam in January. Work is underway to strengthen the topside in anticipation of the lift, which will be one of the heaviest the North Sea has ever seen. This single lift technique will substantially reduce the risk, cost and environmental impact of the operation.
Shell Photographic Services, Shell International Ltd
If the decommissioning program is formally approved by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), the topside will be taken to Able UK, a specialized decommissioning company in Teesside, where more than 97% of the material will be reused or recycled.
Alistair Hope, Brent Decommissioning Project Director, Shell, said: "The Brent field has been a prolific national asset for many years, creating and sustaining thousands of jobs and contributing billions of pounds to the UK government. The engineering and planning skills which led to the discovery and subsequent successful production of oil and gas over four decades are essential during decommissioning, which is the natural next stage of the field's life. We hope many people will play an active part in the consultation."
A second decommissioning program for the remaining infrastructure in the Brent field, including Brent Delta's legs, three other sets of topsides and legs, 140 wells and 28 pipelines, will be submitted when Shell is confident the proposals are safe, technically achievable, environmentally sound and financially responsible. It will be subject to a separate consultation. Brent Delta stopped production in 2011 and Brent Alpha and Bravo ceased in November 2014. Production from the field continues through Brent Charlie.
Stakeholders from over 180 organizations, including NGOs, academic institutions including the University of Aberdeen and independent scientific experts have been engaged in the development of the Decommissioning Program since 2007.
