Heavyweights form new oil and gas decommissioning consortium

The grouping includes Lloyd’s Register (LR), WorleyParsons and Ardent, using a collaborative supply chain approach to offer an end-to-end solution to reduce the interfaces, costs and risks of decommissioning for the O&G industry.

Global spending on O&G decommissioning is expected to come up to $13bn per year by 2040.

This consortium brings together 350 years of collective experience and includes leading experts to cover all aspects of decommissioning, from late life management to planning, readiness for removal, execution, waste management and monitoring post removal. The consortium has the unique capability to take well operatorship, duty-holdership and title of offshore structures, in addition to providing independent third-party assurance.

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“This consortium offers a new, collaborative approach to decommissioning for operators,” said Steve Gilbert, LR director of asset management and decommissioning. “It represents a fundamental step change for the industry, aligning assurance, project management, and safe, fit-for-purpose removal and disposal.”

Acknowledging that decommissioning projects can be daunting; with cost uncertainty, massive project scope and unknown long-term liabilities, Gilbert said: “The consortium helps to reduce the overall cost, time and liability burden for operators and allows them to focus resources on more fruitful activity, knowing that their decommissioning project is in safe hands. As experts in asset and risk management, and a number one provider of verifications services, this approach will assure safety, efficiency and reputation.”

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Peter Pietka, Ardent ceo said: “We bring to the consortium over 150 years of maritime retrieval experience, as a global leader in salvage and wreck removal. Through our expertise, we are in the unique position of being able to apply techniques and learnings from other sectors such as marine wreck removal, to improve how to tackle the increasingly important challenge of decommissioning offshore oil and gas infrastructure.”

The consortium is set to deliver smarter decommissioning activities with end to end project management and execution for operators in Europe, Asia and Americas that include best practices from other sectors such as float and tow, used widely in salvage.

“The value for industry is that our combined expertise covers the full decommissioning lifecycle. We have the unique capability to become well duty holders and take title of offshore structures plus we offer independent assurance throughout the decommissioning process. This consortium provides a new benchmark in cost-effective decommissioning activities, with safety and peace of mind for the operator,” concluded WorleyParsons global decommissioning lead John Cox.