Decommissioning

In 2021 and 2022 TAQA UK delivered the largest single topside removal project of its kind in the North Sea, with the 36,000tonne Brae Bravo topsides and 11,000tonne upper jacket, for which we exceeded our reuse or recycle target of 95%.

The campaign also saw the removal of one of the 1,000-tonne drill rigs on the adjacent Brae Alpha, an early element of the overall decommissioning strategy for the platform.

We’re underway with simultaneous P&A campaigns on Tern, North Cormorant and Cormorant Alpha. To support this we installed a 1,900tonne modular drilling unit on Cormorant Alpha – the first operational unit of its kind in the UK North Sea.

We’re also investing in the return to service of platform drill rigs on Brae Alpha and Harding, in advance of P&A. 

We’re managing the largest single offshore decommissioning Engineering, Preparation, Removal and Disposal (EPRD) contract in the UK North Sea, under which Allseas will remove four platform topsides and three steel supporting jackets weighing around 114,000 tonnes in total.

A major project scope to flush and disconnect the subsea pipelines and flowlines from our subsea wells to their host platforms, as well as the associated inter-platform pipelines.

Scheduled across three summer campaigns, beginning in 2024, the subsea flushing and disconnection scope covers 11 fields, 52 wells and eight inter-field pipelines. 

Subsea well decommissioning work will also be conducted on up to 52 subsea wells

We’re collaborating with the supply chain to find the optimum decommissioning solution for Harding – a three-legged, gravity-based structure that needs a bespoke approach.