Decommissioning Focus of Subsea Seminar
16 August 2012
The subsea sector will learn about future oil and gas planning and decommissioning options for a North Sea asset at an industry seminar next week (21 August) in Aberdeen.
Guest speaker at the Lunch n Learn style event, which has been organised by industry body Subsea UK, will be Steve Etherson who is responsible for Subsea and Pipelines at CNR International. He will give an overview of CNR International's pre-planning for the decommissioning of the Murchison platform.
Neil Gordon, chief executive of Subsea UK, who will welcome delegates to the seminar at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (AECC), said: "This event offers delegates a great opportunity to hear first-hand about decommissioning experience in the North Sea, an area of growing importance in this region.
"With around 70% of UKCS production expected to come from subsea wells, the subsea industry has a lot still to play for in the North Sea. However, as decommissioning increasingly becomes a part of our industry, it is important that we collaborate to develop solutions to the challenges facing the subsea sector now and in the future.”
The two part presentation will cover the chief removal options being considered for the decommissioning programme, specifically looking at pipelines, bundles and wellheads/debris to be taken out of service. It will also look at the removal options for Murchison including details of the platform and subsea profile.
Speaking ahead of the event, Mr Etherson said: "As the largest steel jacket platform to be decommissioned to date, Murchison presents a series of complex challenges. These have to be underpinned by thorough preparation and in-depth evaluations of the possibilities in order to make CNR International’s first decommissioning programme a real success.
"Ensuring we harness the best possible expertise in assessing the options as well as in developing the eventual programme to be carried out is key. Sharing the results of the process to date reflects our commitment to joint industry learning and a partnership approach to meeting the challenges of decommissioning in the North Sea over the coming decades.”
Pre-planning for the Murchison Platform began in 2010 with a raft of studies to enable the comparative assessment of options needed to identify the way forward – a process which is expected to result in submission of a decommissioning programme in early 2013 and cessation of production in 2014.
The seminar, which is part of Subsea UK’s on-going programme of interactive events available for the subsea community, will be held on 21 August in Room 18 at the AECC.
Limited places are still available, for more information: /3250/lunch-and-learn-with-cnr
For more information on CNR International’s decommissioning activity: www.cnri-northsea-decom.com
