Irish Kinsale Decommissioning Begins

Decommissioning of the Kinsale gas fields off Ireland's south coast has begun, AGR, the Norwegian company tasked with the work, said on November 16.

The Kinsale fields, operated by Malaysia's Petronas, ceased production in July after 42 years. The fields in the Celtic Sea were formerly Ireland's only source of domestic production until the launch of the Corrib field in 2015.

"Following the planning stages we have now commenced offshore operations on the Kinsale Alpha platform and are preparing to commence operations on the nearby Kinsale Bravo platform in the coming months," AGR's COO Andrew Stannard said in a statement. "Despite the challenges of Covid-19 the mobilisation of equipment and personnel to the Kinsale Alpha was completed without issue and the project is progressing well and to schedule."

AGR has started mobilising a hydraulic workover unit and associated equipment and services to permanently plug the wells, he said. The company is working under a contract it received in 2018. The decommissioning campaign is due to wrap up by mid-2021.