Woodside awards offshore decommissioning contracts

Woodside Energy has completed the award of all major contracts for the decommissioning of subsea infrastructure at the Enfield, Griffin, Stybarrow, and Echo Yodel oil and gas fields offshore Western Australia, the company said on May 31.

The decommissioning campaign is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2023, pending regulatory approvals. Woodside has been conducting successful decommissioning activities at the Enfield and Balnaves fields since the first quarter of 2022.

The upcoming campaign will involve the decommissioning of the Nganhurra Riser Turret Mooring (RTM) at the Enfield field, the Griffin RTM, and the Stybarrow Disconnectable Turret Mooring. Woodside said it is on track to meet regulatory requirements and is actively engaging in stakeholder consultation to develop environment plans for the campaign.

These plans are being updated based on stakeholder feedback or submitted to the regulator, NOPSEMA, for assessment.

The awarded contracts have been given to experienced and specialised service providers. These contracts cover the removal and disposal of riser and disconnectable turret moorings, umbilicals, flowlines, and other subsea infrastructure.

Some of the specialist contractors engaged in the subsea decommissioning campaign include TechnipFMC, Heerema, McDermott, Fugro, DOF, McMahon, and Transocean, which has been awarded the contract for the permanent plug and abandonment of wells in the Stybarrow field.