Scottish oil and gas removals firm CessCon Decom has broken ground on its Brunei decommissioning and marine maintenance facility, which is set to launch in 2025.
The company held the formal ‘ground-breaking’ ceremony at the facility, which is set to be the country’s first integrated decommissioning and marine maintenance yard, in Pulau Muara Besar on 8 May.
CessCon Decom is developing the project as part of a joint venture, Anson International, which includes local partners Qaswa Holdings of the Adinin Group of Companies, Brunei’s Ministry of Finance and Economy’s Strategic Development Capital Fund, and South Korea’s Dongil Shipyard Co.
The partners founded the JV in 2022.
By offering decommissioning services along with marine maintenance, repair and overhaul, Anson International aims to retain and generate significant value within Brunei.
The 16-acre integrated yard will serve as the anchor facility for the Brunei Darussalam Maritime Cluster.
Anson aims to first service Brunei’s domestic decommissioning market before expanding to pick up wider regional demand across Southeast Asia.
More than 200 offshore fields in Southeast Asia are expected to stop producing by 2030, with total decommissioning costs estimated to range from $30 billion to as much as $100 billion, according to forecasts made in 2019.
The yard’s operation will create more than a hundred direct jobs, with Anson offering apprenticeships and overseas training with CessCon Decom and Dongil for local staff.
“The development and operation of the facility provides the opportunity to share our knowledge and experience gained across projects in the UK and Europe,” said CessCon group CEO Lee Hanlon, one of the founding directors and board members of Anson International.
“We have already secured a significant pipeline of work over many years for the new facility and look forward to working with our partners to deliver safe, efficient, cost-effective and environmentally responsible decommissioning operations in Brunei and the wider region from 2025 onwards.”
Additionally, Livingston-based CessCon Decom also created a new decommissioning base at the Port of Aberdeen, with the potential to create up to 50 jobs.
Based at Crathes Quay at the £400 million South Harbour expansion, the facility will deliver dismantling, recycling and reuse services, with a key focus on subsea infrastructure.