Able UK earns offshore decommissioning contract

Billingham, United Kingdom-based Able UK says it has been awarded the contract to dismantle, recycle and dispose of offshore natural gas platforms from the Sable Offshore Energy Project (SOEP) operated by ExxonMobil Canada off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada.

The project will be managed by the Able Seaton Port facility on the River Tees in northern England, and the first shipment of structures is scheduled to arrive there in the second quarter of 2020.

“This contract reflects our reputation and the expertise we have built up over many years as leaders in the rapidly developing offshore decommissioning sector,” says Able UK Executive Chairman Peter Stephenson.

“The project will involve the removal of seven platforms and their jackets using one of the biggest crane vessels in the world, the Heerema Thialf, with the components being transported to Able Seaton Port in a series of barge movements,” adds Stephenson. “We expect that the onshore dismantlement, recycling and disposal work will extend over a 10-month period”

Able UK says its record of undertaking complex offshore decommissioning projects stretches back more than 30 years, with the company handling work for what it calls “most major operators in the oil and gas sectors, as well as the U.S. and French governments.”

The appointment of Able UK to handle the platforms was made by Netherlands-based Heerema Marine Contractors. That firm was contracted by ExxonMobil to undertake the removal of the platforms.

Currently work also is underway at Able Seaton Port on the 24,200-metric-ton Shell Brent Delta platform, which arrived at the facility in May 2017 following the construction of Able UK’s new ASP Quay Six work area.

Two more platforms from the Brent oil field in the North Sea are scheduled to arrive at Able Seaton Port, with the Brent Bravo expected in May 2019 and the Brent Alpha a year later.