Table Of ContentEnvironmental Engineering
Series Editors: U. Forstner, R. ]. Murphy, w. H. Rulkens
Springer
London
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D. G. Gorman and J. Neilson (Eds.)
Decommissioning
Offshore Structures
With 56 Figures
i
Springer
Series Editors
Prof. Dr. U. Forstner Arbeitsbereich Umweltschutztechnik
Technische Universitat Hamburg-Harburg
Eillendorfer StraBe 40
D-21073 Hamburg, Germany
Prof. Robert J. Murphy Dept. of Civil Engineering and Mechanics
College of Engineering
University of South Florida
4202 East Fowler Avenue, ENG u8
Tampa, FL 33620-5350, USA
Prof. Dr. ir. W.H. Rulkens Wageningen Agricultural University
Dept. of Environmental Technology
Bomenweg 2, P.O. Box 8129
NL-6700 EV Wageningen, The Netherlands
Editors
Prof. D. G. Gorman Dr. J. Neilson
The Oil & Gas Institute The Oil & Gas Institute
The University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen
Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UK Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UK
ISBN-13:978-1-4471-1SS4-0
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Decommissioning offshore structures. -(Environmental engineering)
1 Offshore structures
I.Gorman, D. G. (Daniel Geelan), 1949- II.Neilson, June
627.9'8 lSBN-13: 978-1-4471-1554-0
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Decommissioning offshore structures / D.G. Gorman and J. Neilson (eds.)
p. em. -- (Environmental engineering)
ISBN-13:987-1-4471-1554-0 e-lSBN-13:987-1-4471-1552-6
DOl: 101007/987-1-4471-1552-6
1. Drilling platforms. 2. Offshore structures. 3. Oil wells--Abandonment.
I. Gorman, D.G. II. Neilson, J. (June), 1948- . III. Series: Environmental engineering (Berlin, Germany)
TN871.4.D43 1997 97-29240
622'.33819--dc 21 elP
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© Springer-Verlag London Limited 1998
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Preface
This book is an extremely important benchmark in the development of a co
ordinated approach and a framework for a methodology of decommissioning
offshore installations on the North West European Continental Shelf, and I am
pleased and grateful that Professor Gorman and Dr Neilson have asked me to
contribute this preface to the volume.
My contribution, requested by the University of Aberdeen, was to have been only
the chapter entitled "Technical Aspects of Decommissioning Offshore Structures".
Little did I know that the consequences for me in agreeing to prepare a paper for a
conference on the subject of Decommissioning in September 1996 would be the
beginning of a dialogue and interaction which would ultimately lead to my
appointment in July 1997 as Co-ordinator of the Oil & Gas Institute of the
University of Aberdeen. One of the major reasons for this development has been
my interest in, and increasing awareness of, the complexity and scale of the task
that is facing the UK and Norway (in particular) over the next two decades in
decommissioning the infrastructure of platforms, pipelines and sub-sea equipment
in a manner which meets the demands and aspirations of legal, political,
economic, environmental and engineering interest groups.
This book is the first attempt to bring together a coherent body of specialist
knowledge in those principal areas and has resulted in a clear exposition of the
high degree of interdependence of knowledge in those areas necessary for· the
development of the so-called Best Practicable Environmental Option in each case.
It is the case that the University of Aberdeen, with its general strength and
particular experience over the last twenty-five years, is usually well placed to pull
together the multi-disciplinary strands of Law, Economics, Engineering,
Geosciences and Environmental Management to develop a national strategy and
core of expertise for decommissioning, disposal and removal of the multi-million
tonne residue of the offshore oil and gas industry as it moves inexorably from its
present mature phase to the inevitable post -mature and depletion phase.
All eyes have been fixed on the Shell Brent Spar story as it has progressed, and all
minds are pre-occupied with the lessons that have been learned very swiftly in the
last two years. These lessons have changed very rapidly the conventional wisdom
vi Preface
of potential removal and disposal options and methods with the result that the Oil
and Gas Institute of the University of Aberdeen wish to further develop knowledge
in this area, and to disseminate as rapidly as possible that knowledge.
The publication of this book by Springer-Verlag is very timely and must be
welcomed by all who are, or will soon be, faced with the responsibility of
managing and engineering major decommissioning projects. I sincerely hope that
the pace of research and study in the area of decommissioning within universities,
oil company operators, design contractors and by the supply companies, from
whom the industry can expect continued innovation, will result in further
published material.
Finally, I take this opportunity to congratulate the editors, Professor Gorman and
Dr Neilson, for the professional manner in which they co-ordinated the
contributions for such a wide and distinguished group of academics, and to Lisa
Robertson for her patience and thoroughness during the final preparation of the
manuscript.
Peter A Meenan
Coordinator, Oil & Gas Institute
The University of Aberdeen
June 1997
Contributors
G Simpson holds the Schlumberger Chair in Energy Industry Management at the
University of Aberdeen. He worked for EssolExxon for over 20 years in the UK,
the USA and Norway, in various technical and managerial roles, and joined the
University of Aberdeen in early 1997. He has a PhD in Geology and an MBA and
is a Fellow of the Geological Society, a member of The Institute of Petroleum, The
Society of Petroleum Engineers and The Petroleum Exploration Society of Great
Britain.
P A Meenan is co-ordinator of the Oil and Gas Institute of the University of
Aberdeen. His chief areas of experience lie in the Project Management, Design,
and Construction Supervision of civiVstructural and marine engineering contracts
including steel bridges and offshore structures. Experience has included quality
assurance of welding; large diameter piling on and offshore and heavy reinforced
concrete foundations; design and construction of major temporary works; offshore
structure loadout operations and offshore construction/installation, including very
heavy lifting operations; management of advanced F.E. analysis projects.
A G Kemp is currently Professor of Economics at the University of Aberdeen. For
many years he has specialised in his research in petroleum economics with special
reference to licensing and taxation issues. For many years he has been a
consultant on petroleum contracts and legislation to a large number of
governments, the World Bank, the United Nations, oil companies and the
Commonwealth Secretariat. He was a specialist adviser to the UK House of
Commons select Committee on Energy from 1980 until its abolition in 1992. He
is member of the Secretary of State for Scotland's independent panel of economic
consultants. He is an editorial adviser to a number of energy and other
academic/professional journals. In 1993 he was appointed by the Minister of
Energy to the new UK Government Independent Energy Advisory Panel. He is
Director of Aberdeen University Petroleum and Economic Consultants (AUPEC)
which provides consultancy service in petroleum services.
L Stephen is a Research Fellow in Petroleum Economics at Aberdeen University.
Since 1994 she has worked on a number of papers and articles on prospects,
decommissioning and related issues in the UKCS with Professor A G Kemp.
viii Contributors
M J Baker is the first holder of the U.K. 's first Chair of Safety Engineering which
was established in 1990 at the University of Aberdeen. Prior to that he was a
lecturer and then Reader in Structural Reliability at Imperial College, London. He
has published widely in the area of structural integrity and serves on a number of
national and international committees concerned with safety and reliability. He is
a chartered civil and structural engineer and a Fellow of the Safety and Reliability
Society.
ADM Forte was appointed to the Chair of Commercial Law in the University of
Aberdeen in 1993, having taught previously at the universities of Glasgow,
Dundee and Edinburgh. His published work has concentrated mainly on
commercial contracts, insurance law and, more recently, on salvage. Professor
Forte is a member of the Banking Law Committee of the Law Society of Scotland
and of the Advisory Committee on Contract Law to the Scottish Law Commission.
G Jordan is a Professor of Politics in the Department of Politics and International
Relations, University of Aberdeen. His main research interests are in British
central government and in interest group theory. He has also worked on budgetary
issues and local government. In 1992 he published a study of the Finniston
Committee entitled Engineers and Professional Self Regulation. His latest book
(with William Maloney) is The Protest Business? Mobilizing Campaign Groups,
Manchester University Press 1997.
L Bennie is a Lecturer in Politics in the Department of Politics and International
Relations, University of Aberdeen. Her research interests are in green politics and
Britain's political parties. Recent publications include (with J. Mitchell and J.
Brand) How Scotland Votes: Scottish Parties and Elections, Manchester
University Press 1997. She is currently completing a PhD thesis on the Scottish
Green Party.
D Gorman is a Professor in Engineering at the University of Aberdeen. His major
field or research is structural analysis, and in particular vibration analysis. He is a
Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the Institution of Engineers
and Shipbuilders in Scotland. Currently, he is course director for the Aberdeen
University MSc programme in Technology and Management in the Oil and Gas
Industry.
J Neilson is employed in the Department of Politics and International Relations,
University of Aberdeen. Prior to completing her PhD in 1990, she was a Librarian
at Queen Mary and Westfield College, London where she specialised in British,
European and International Standards relating to social and environmental issues.
Contents
1. The Environmental Management Aspects of
Decommissioning Offshore Structures ..................................................... 1
GSimpson
2. Technical Aspects of Decommissioning Offshore
Structures ................................................................................................ 23
PAMeenan
3. Safety and Reliability of Decommissioning
Offshore Structures ................................................................................. 57
MJBaker
4. Economic and Fiscal Aspects of Decommissioning
Offshore Structures ................................................................................. 79
A G Kemp and L Stephen
5. Legal Aspects of Decommissioning Offshore
Structures ............................................................................................... 125
A DM Forte
6. Political Aspects of Decommissioning .................................................... 141
A G Jordan and L G Bennie
Subject Index. ......................................................................................... 163
1
The Environmental Management Aspects of
Decommissioning Offshore Structures
G Simpson
Introduction
This chapter reviews the environmental management aspects of the
decommissioning of offshore structures, with particular reference to the United
Kingdom Continental Shelf. After some brief background material and a
discussion of the principles involved, the topic is described in terms of three
separate levels. Level one is defined by the minimum requirements, as set out in
the legal framework and government guidelines and requirements. The second
level is represented by a set of guidelines, agreed by the operating companies and
published by the association that represents them, the United Kingdom Offshore
Operators Association (UKOOA). These go somewhat beyond the legal minimum,
and provide a management system and an environmental checklist for all offshore
operations, of which decommissioning is just one. Finally, an examination of the
specific case of Brent Spar will illustrate how Shell fulfilled all requirements to
the letter, went some way beyond even UKOOA's guidelines, and still
encountered major difficulties. The management issue at this point goes beyond
the quantitative ticking off of tasks and conditions, and into the softer qualitative
areas of politics and sociology, social responsibility and ethics.
Background
Approximately 220 oil and gas facilities and about 5,000 kilometres of pipeline
have been built and installed on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKeS)
since the mid 1960s, with similar numbers applying to the combined totals of the
other sectors of the North Sea, in Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and Ireland
[1]. The installations cover the full range of types, including platforms made of
either steel or concrete, which sit on the sea-bed, floating production systems,
often including offshore storage and loading facilities (FPSOs), other offshore
storage and loading units (e.g. Brent Spar and Fulmar FSU), sub-sea production
systems and pipelines. Each is different, and presents its own problems in terms of
water depth, type and size. In the shallower waters of the southern North Sea,
platforms typically weigh less than 5,000 tonnes; some deep water steel platforms
are an order of magnitude heavier than this and the largest concrete platforms
weigh over 200,000 tonnes. The Norwegian Troll platform is the largest moveable
man-made structure ever built, at over one million tonnes displacement [2].
D. G. Gorman et al. (eds.), Decommissioning Offshore Structures
© Springer-Verlag London Limited 1998
