Aberdeen-based Well-Safe Solutions has won a contract with Repsol Sinopec to execute the decommissioning of 14 wells in its Buchan and Hannay offshore fields in the UK.
Well-Safe Solutions will utilize its purpose-built decommissioning unit specifically designed for decommissioning of subsea wells, the Well-Safe Guardian. The company bought the rig - then known as Ocean Guardian - in 2019 from Diamond Offshore, and converted it into a bespoke plug and abandonment (P&A) unit.
The Buchan and Hannay decommissioning deal will mark the first time the Well-Safe Guardian has deployed its Dive System and Subsea Modular Decommissioning Riser Technology (SMART) system onboard the semi-submersible unit. The offshore well-decommissioning activities are planned to start in 2022.
Well-Safe Solutions said the multi-million-pound contract was "the first fully-inclusive well decommissioning contract of its kind and enables Repsol Sinopec and Well-Safe Solutions to manage efficiencies, knowledge, and cost."
"The schedule control provided as part of this contract enables Well-Safe to deliver its Plug & Abandon (P&A) Club approach helping to deliver a campaign-based approach aligned with the OGA Decommissioning Strategy. The commercial model represents a step-change from a conventional transactional approach to an outcome-oriented model, empowering the supply chain to deliver the most innovative and efficient solution with a fair shared risk-management philosophy within the contract," the decommissioning specialist said.
José Luis Muñoz, Repsol Sinopec’s Chief Executive Officer, said: "There are 14 subsea wells in the Buchan and Hannay fields that require decommissioning as part of planned activities. We are pleased to appoint the contract for this work to Well-Safe Solutions, who will take a campaign approach to the work, recognizing that schedule flexibility is key to driving efficiency.
"Collaboration has been key to achieving a solution that enables innovation and maximizes efficient use of resources, whilst minimizing the carbon footprint of the project. We are pleased the contract has been awarded to an Aberdeen-based company – the agreement will exceed the UK local content target as set in the North Sea Transition deal, of over 50% for decommissioning projects.”
Phil Milton, Chief Executive Officer at Well-Safe Solutions, said: "This is a fantastic achievement for Well-Safe Solutions. Our team has worked closely with the team at Repsol Sinopec to develop a contracting delivery model that enables this project to be delivered in a manner that aligns with Repsol Sinopec’s decommissioning strategy, OGA’s decommissioning strategy and Well-Safe’s P&A Club approach. With complete schedule control, this enables us to optimize our efficiencies, retain learnings and deliver a multi-operator, multi-well campaign.”
Decommissioning in the Buchan and Hannay fields began in 2017 with the off-station and onshore recycling of the Buchan Alpha platform, which was completed at Dales Voe in Lerwick Shetland, after ceasing production as planned in 2017 – after 36 years and almost 150mm barrels of oil produced. The decommissioning and recycling of the Buchan and Hannay Subsea Infrastructure started with pre-works in 2019 with final completion of this scope currently ongoing and expected to finish by Q4 2021.