Work has resumed on a huge decommissioning campaign at the Taqa-operated Brae field in the North Sea
The Sleipnir heavy lift vessel has this week removed the West Drilling Rig on board the Brae Alpha platform, with the larger Brae Bravo jacket structure nearby to follow.
Heerema Marine Contractors is contracted on the work in partnership with AF Offshore Decom.
Having carried out the single-lift operation yesterday (June 20) the Sleipnir vessel is now moving to the former site of the neighbouring Brae Bravo facility to remove the upper main jacket.
© Supplied by TaqaSleipnir has the rig on its deck and will carry the Brae Bravo jacket on its cranes to travel to Vats in Norway for dismantling.
The 36,000-tonne Brae Bravo topsides were removed in a separate campaign last year. leaving just the top of the jacket and a navigation aid visible above the water.
The platform sub-structure consists of a 109m tall, eight-legged steel structure, with a total weight of around 22,000 tonnes.
OPRED, the environmental regulator, approved removal of the jacket two weeks ago.
The lower portion of the substructure, referred to as the “footings”, will be addressed in a separate decommissioning programme.
Major operation
Last year, Taqa said decommissioning the Brae Bravo topsides involved more than 500 people and nearly 400,000 man-hours.
It also brought together the world’s two largest crane vessels, Thialf and Sleipnir operated by Heerema, for the first time.
Brae Bravo was installed in 1987, with first oil was achieved on 13th April 1988 reaching a peak production of 94,567 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
The platform ceased production in December 2017, having produced more than 500million barrels of oil equivalent over its lifetime.
Taqa said that more than 300,000 people travelled to Brae Bravo over the course of its life, working with 5,000 different companies.
Operated by TAQA, current equity holders in the asset include Spirit Energy (13.33%) and Neo Energy (10.5%).