Decommissioning and abandonment

Decommissioning and abandonment

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BENEFITS AND COST EFFECTIVENESS

ƒ Benefits and cost-effectiveness ƒ Sale of recovered materials is negligible ƒ Hazard has been removed with any liability ƒ Minimum maintenance on empty line ƒ Can accountants delay for another fiscal year? ƒ Sell on the facility? ƒ Was money left in budget (or included in sale)? ƒ Pipelines are ‘out-of-sight and out-of-mind’ of public ƒ Reuse for another field ƒ Reuse for CO 2 disposal ƒ International agreement reached February 2007 ƒ Have they sold the liability with facility? ƒ Sale of platforms to wind generator companies ƒ Trunk pipelines used for power lines

Benefits and cost effectiveness Total removal of a hazard Eliminates future monitoring

Sale of recycled materials generates little income Have the operators budgetted for pipeline removal? It is in the interests of the company to delay removal of facilities. They can undertake minimum survey and maintenance for a number of years whilst the line is empty. Perhaps it is possible to find a new use for the pipeline. Perhaps further smaller fields can be discovered and developed. Or we may find in the future that carbon dioxide can be disposed of in reservoirs, gaining carbon credits. An international agreement was reached in February 2007 on the use of hydrocarbon reservoirs for carbon sequestration. One benefit to us is the fact that offshore pipelines are hidden from view of the press and public. Providing they remain inert and safe, they can often be left on the seabed with little concern. This contrasts with the landfall and offshore jackets and other topside structures. One important aspect to note is whether the current owner of the subsea facilities has a budget to de-commission them. It is now common for the original owner to have sold them on to smaller oil companies. Problems may arise in the future should these small companies go into liquidation with no assets for removal. Proposals have been made to sell platforms to wind generation companies. The pipelines provide a conduit for power lines to shore.

OPTIONS FORABANDONMENT,DECOMMISSIONINGANDREMOVAL