Breaking it Down: Offshore Decommissioning

When it’s time to begin the process of decommissioning an offshore oil and gas platform, there are many factors to keep in mind. For example, the age and location of the structure, as well as its history and any unique features may need to be considered. And then there are always unknown potential hazards that may arise while work is underway. That is why effective preliminary planning, engineering and permitting are critical to ensuring a project is completed safely and on schedule. Though the work scopes and regulations governing decommissioning are widely known throughout the industry, each platform comes with its own specific challenges.

Planning depends upon several variables, including the year the platform was installed, its location, water depth, maintenance history, platform conditions and budget. All these factors must be taken into consideration in order to safely prep, disassemble and remove a facility. Given this complexity, it pays to have an experienced team in place who can creatively resolve any issues that arise.

On one recent decommissioning project for a major producer, Danos’ scope of work comprised 130,000 man-hours, including everything from prepping the facility to repurposing and installing a new power system. From pre-job planning to subcontractor management to closeout, our team of integrated service professionals worked together to execute each step of the project successfully and without incident. They even figured out a safe method for welding less than 10 feet from the well tree — find out how they did it here.