NorSea Group (UK) Limited has won North-east Scotland’s first major “small piece” decommissioning contract.

Work has already begun on the six-month project which is being carried out at NorSea Group’s Peterhead facility on behalf of Endeavour Energy and involves safe disposal of subsea manifolds and associated pipework from the Renee and Rubie fields, in the UK North Sea.

All materials from the fields, which lie 200km North-east of Aberdeen, are being delivered to Smith Quay which is operated by NorSea Group. The company says that the important element of the £0.5 million contract was the requirement that reuse of returned material be maximised and NorSea Group will achieve a 100% recycling rate.

The returned material includes 1,000 tonnes of concrete mattresses which will be used as hard core and in road construction projects; 200 tonnes of pipework and skid units which will be recycled as scrap metal; manifold valves which will be refurbished and reused and a 17 tonne crossover manifold which will be transported to the Underwater Centre at Fort William where it will be used for diver training.

The company says that the work will initially create up to six new jobs.

“This is our first decommissioning win and the first such project to be carried out in the North-east,” said Walter Robertson, MD of NorSea Group (UK). “We are primarily known as a logistics and base services company servicing the offshore industry but as part of our future growth strategy we are developing our decommissioning capability. In the current economic climate we anticipate that many more decommissioning projects will be coming forward and we are already involved in tendering for additional contracts in this area.

“In addition to Peterhead we have facilities at South Quay, Montrose capable of carrying out similar types of small piece decommissioning work, so we see great potential for servicing additional contracts there.”

Operations Director Mike Munro, who is overseeing the work, said Smith Quay and Embankment, was constructed by Peterhead Port Authority to service the DSV and Subsea vessel market and is ideally located to service the northern and central North Sea.

“With 200m of quayside and a draft of 10m, Smith Quay is ideal for the landing of small piece decommissioning works and can handle structures up to 4,000tonnes in weight. A laydown area in excess of 15,000m2 and our on-site crane with a 220t capacity makes us self-sufficient in the landing of most materials and larger capacity cranes are available at short notice.

“We also carry out rigorous testing of all decommissioning materials to detect the presence of NORM (Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material) and if it is present, we work with Scotoil Services, our specialist partnership company, to carry out decontamination at our on-site SEPA approved licensed premises.”

Source: www.offshoreenergytoday.com

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