Spirit Energy has completed a £40M decommissioning operation to plug and abandon three subsea wells in UK waters.
More than 30 UK supply chain partners of Spirit Energy delivered key plug and abandonment activities on the Seven Seas and Grove G5 production wells, and the Grove Deep exploration well, located in the UK Southern North Seas between April and July this year. The Seven Seas and Grove G5 wells collectively produced 56 billion cubic feet of gas during their operational lives.
“Some of the biggest challenges involved working with older infrastructure, alongside the Southern North Sea’s notoriously unpredictable weather. It’s why close working across all of Spirit’s teams and with our contracting companies has been absolutely critical to this project’s success,” said Spirit decommissioning manager Ceri Wheaton.
“We’ve had multiple vessels in the water at any one time, including tugs, a rig, a construction support vessel and ROVs, all while having to work together along with existing assets that are still in the field. Frequent and clear communication between onshore and offshore means that decisions can be made quickly leading to a safe and efficient campaign.”
The decommissioning operation combined multiple tasks into a single campaign, removing over 234t of subsea infrastructure. All of the recovered materials are to be reused or recycled in UK yards.
DeepOcean’s construction support vessel Edda Freya carried out enabling works at both Seven Seas and Grove G5. Remotely operated vehicles were used to disconnect subsea infrastructure and prepare the well for the next phase of decommissioning. Well-Safe’s jack-up rig, the Well-Safe Protector, then completed reservoir abandonment activities.
The decommissioning of the three subsea wells is part of a broader effort of the UK industry to decommission subsea wells which are no longer producing oil or gas.
“Safely and efficiently decommissioning offshore infrastructure when it cannot be repurposed is a key focus for our industry, and our support for the NSTA’s decommissioning charter reflects our commitment to doing this work safely and efficiently,” said Matt Browell-Hook, Spirit Energy’s director of energy transition, decommissioning and projects.
“It’s particularly pleasing that we are on course to recycle or reuse 100% of the subsea materials recovered with the work to be carried out in UK yards. The campaign has been a great example of how operators and contracting companies can work together, and its success is testament to the hard work and expertise that exists right across the UK supply chain.”
