You have been reading my take on a variety of important subjects in the oil and gas industry, which I have been analysing, for a year now, by way of the Special Reports. This month however, I have taken the liberty of offering this platform to an experienced industry leader, who has volunteered to pen down a foreword article for the Report. Andrea Bombardi, the chief commercial officer for Energy & Infrastructure, at RINA Services, a subsidiary of Italian maritime body RINA, expresses his opinion about a key aspect of the offshore industry:
“The oil and gas industry has had to adapt quickly to the fall in the oil price. The cost of new projects, if they go ahead, is much more in focus along with optimising operational costs. Another area where the low oil price has opened up alternative strategies is in platforms that are coming to the end of their life.
The global regulatory regime for decommissioning of offshore assets is intended to strike a balance between the need to protect the environment, navigation, fishing and other sea users, and to take into account safety, technical feasibility and the cost of decommissioning. At present the majority of decommissioned offshore installations are completely removed from the sea and recycled onshore – but is this the best solution? With a forecasted cost of decommissioning between $70 and $82bn from 2016 to 2040, operators are starting to look at innovative solutions.
Alternative solutions to decommissioning can strike a balance between costs and benefits. These include re-use and re-purposing of platforms with possibilities, including artificial reefs, green energy farms, centres for fishing or underwater activities and even hotels. These innovative solutions to extending the useful life of platforms may involve removing and disposing of part of the structure.
RINA Services has experience in providing certification for decommissioning. To make the re-purposing of platforms practical it can help balance the need to protect the environment, navigation, fishing and other sea users with safety, feasibility and cost of such a project.
Of course, the maximum benefit to the operators is to manage late life assets for as long as is practicable. Once a field is depleted, however, RINA’s third party audit (TPA) services can help bring confidence and assurances to the uncertainties involved in decommissioning or change of use. The wide range of TPA services can involve numerous activities to help manage end of life projects, including mothballing procedures covering technical issues such as flushing, cleaning and disposal of residual hydrocarbons; marine operations including structure integrity and re-installation of pad-eye or lifting frames; structural design appraisal, inspection and certification for change of use, aquaculture certification and applicable tourism certification schemes.
Whatever be the future for a platform; decommissioning or repurposing projects must be executed in a safe, environmentally-sound and cost-effective manner. Third parties are an essential part of ensuring sustainable, transformational processes and can help operators optimise their costs at this stage of their assets’ lives.”
Read the Market Focus article next……
