CNR's Murchison platform removal in the UK North Sea has been completed, according to Heerema Marine Contractors, part of the Heerema - AF (HAF) Offshore Decom Consortium.
Heerema Marine Contractors (HMC) and AF Offshore Decom (jointly called HAF Decom) for the full engineering, preparation, removal, and disposal (EPRD) of the Murchison platform, comprising of a 24,000-ton topside and a 14,000-ton jacket.
On 19 June, by use of HMC’s Heavy Lift Vessel Thialf, the HAF Consortium safely offloaded the lower section of the Murchison Jacket on the quay of AFOD’s Environmental Base in Vats, Norway, marking the successful completion of the offshore removal phase of the Murchison platform.
HMC's heavy lift vessels Hermod and Thialf were used to perform a full reverse installation of the Murchison topsides modules. Mobilization was on 18 June and by 27 August, after just 80 days, the topsides scope was completed, via 26 heavy lifts and five vessels transits from the field to Vats.
"The fixed price contract where the outcome was defined but the method and timing was at the consortium’s discretion enabled this phase of the overall Murchison decommissioning project to be completed two years ahead of its original schedule," says HMC.
Murchison was one of the North Sea’s largest, standing 254m from the seabed to the tip of the flare stack – and described as one of the friendliest. It has been subjected to the harsh environment of the North Sea, with waves of up to 28m-high and wind speeds in excess of 50m/s (110mph) over its 36-year life.
At peak production, in 1982, it produced 150,383 boe/d and overall it has produced about 400 MMboe, or about 50% of the oil in place.
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