Wireline Magazine Autumn 2020 Issue 49

"In an evolving industry you need innovation to reap the benefits, not tomorrow but in the longer term.”

less competitive in the longer term and we could see costs escalate in an area already well known to be the costliest.” In the near term, he adds, a lack of well decommissioning activity may also start to impact removals, given these activities are concurrent. “Becauseofthat, it’s importanttoexploreopportunities to stimulate activity in well decommissioning - and if cost is one of the main barriers, then enabling multi operator campaigns could be one way of unlocking more work.” Supply chain champion s It’s clear that the fallout from this year will affect decommissioning execution and forecasting over the medium term. Even though operators like Chrysaor and Shell have been able to forge ahead with topsides and jacket removals, a considerable volume of work has still been pushed to the right, particularly on the wells front. At the same time, the acceleration of COP at some assets means contractor schedules may become increasingly pressured in the coming years. In addition to championing the value of long-term flexible contracting, Shell U.K.’s William Lindsay warns of the danger of speeding up COP processes without

Joe points to the fact that both projects considered here are large internal company portfolios, in which the operators and contractors have been able to learn and share information over the course of the contract. “Some companies don’t have the ‘benefit’ of a large portfolio of decommissioning work, and industry needs to work hard to enable multi operator campaigns so we can see these gains shared across operators,” he adds. “I also think it’s interesting how the long execution windows have allowed the supply chain to develop their own campaign strategy,” he says, noting Allseas’ execution of four projects for four different operators in Denmark and the UK. “Effectively this is a multi- operator campaign…exactly what we set out to do by providing these large windows of time in which to work. I think this shows there are elements of success in these projects already.” While “removal-ready” projects were able to continue this year, Joe notes that the industry has seen a general reduction in expected expenditure this year and next. Well decommissioning activity in particular has been heavily affected and may take the longest to recover, as operators try to reduce expenditure in uncertain times. “A lack of wells activity in the short term could mean that we lose people, resources and infrastructure to conduct this job,” he says. “This may make the industry

Above left: Unmanned topsides are lifted away.

Above right: The HMC semi-submersible crane vessel, Sleipnir. Its dual-fuel capabilities, also help lower the overall carbon impact of decommissioning operations.

2 6 | w ire lin e | A u t u m n 2 02 0