Wood Gets UK Brent Decommissioning Job

Anglo-Dutch major Shell has awarded Wood Group a contract to support Shell in the decommissioning of their Brent Bravo oil and gas platform in the North Sea. No value for the contract was given

Wood Group said that with immediate effect it would prepare the platform for removal via single lift methodology. This includes conductor removal, structural strengthening and installation of under deck lift points, in addition to the modifications required to enable the platform to operate on minimum manning mode.

Brent Bravo platform

(Credit: Shell)

Wood Group’s Dave Stewart said: “We have over four decades of experience supporting Shell’s Brent field and this new contract clearly demonstrates our client’s trust in our consistent delivery of innovative and efficient technical services that have been designed for offshore decommissioning challenges." Wood Group engineers who were members of Unite or RMT unions were on strike in the summer owing to a labour dispute, disrupting summer maintenance work on Shell's platforms, including Brent.

The Brent Delta topsides arrive at the Able UK yard at Seaton, Teesside for scrapping, May 2 2017 (Photo credit: Able UK)

At the end of April, Allseas' custom-built vessel Pioneering Spirit lifted the topsides off the Brent Delta platform; it was delivered to Able UK’s Seaton Port for a decommissioning process that will see at least 97% of the structure re-cycled (see photo above).

William Powell