Maersk Oil UK has awarded fellow company Maersk Supply Service to provide decommissioning services for the Janice field in the North Sea.
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Janice A FPU. Images from Maersk Oil. |
Maersk Supply Service (MSS) will provide engineering, project planning and managing the scope of the subsea decommissioning.
The work will see up to 10 MSS vessels used, covering all three of the company’s asset types: anchor handler, platform supply and subsea support vessels.
On the Janice decommissioning project to date, all anchor chains connected to the Janice A floating production unit (FPU) have been disconnected, the first risers have been recovered and removed and the tow-away of the floating production unit has been completed, MSS said.
MSS has brought in three sub-contractors to help execute the deconstruction of the Janice subsea facilities from start to finish, with the project partners supporting the engineering, ROV operations, and waste management. The project is due to complete during summer 2018.
“This is a prime example of MSS managing a service integration that reduces costs and complexities for the customer. We see good potential for this service in the decommissioning market," Jørn Madsen, MSS CEO said.
In August last year, Maersk Oil revealed its plans to shut down its operations at Janice due to the falling oil prices. At the time, the company and UK Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) foresaw the loss of 200 onshore and offshore jobs.
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Janice subsea assets field layout. |
The firm had received approval for cessation of production (COP) on the Janice A FPU from the OGA in July 2016. The decommissoining project consists of cutting the risers under the FPU and recovery of the mooring chains and anchors to shore. In addition, approximately 60m of exposed section of pipeline in PL1631 at the Southern Wye location will be cut and recovered.
Decommissioning of the project will take place in four phases: Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3a, and Phase 3b.
In Phase 1, the Janice A FPU removal will consist of flushing and cleaning pipeline facilities, the disconnection of all lines from subsea trees, disconnection of the risers and mooring lines at the FPU allowing sail away at the earliest convenience.
Phase 2 is the plugging and abandonment (P&A) of the well.
Phase 3a will consist of the removal of subsea infrastructure within the Janice drill center.
In Phase 3b, decommissioning will take place of the remaining subsea infrastructure within the Janice, James and Affleck fields, in accordance with the approved Decommissioning Program. This will be finalized with trawl sweeps and as-left surveys as required, Maersk said.
The Janice A FPU is about 278km (172mi) east-southeast of Aberdeen in block 30/17a. It is connected to three subsea well clusters producing from the Janice and James fields in block 30/17a and Affleck field located in block 30/19a, and has been continuously on location since it was installed in 1998.
The Janice field was brought online in 1998, with the James field being developed and produced since 2004. The most recent development tieback back to Janice was the Affleck field development (66.7% Maersk and 33.3% Repsol Sinopec) in 2009.
The Janice A FPU is a converted H3.2 semisubmersible, which supports the production, export and utility systems required to handle the well fluids. The vessel, formerly known as Port Royal was built in 1983 and purchased in 1997 as an existing offshore accommodation support vessel. The vessel is moored using 12 lines (three per vessel corner) each line comprising of about 1500m of chain ending with a 15 Te Stevpris anchor.
The Janice subsea system is based upon a cluster of subsea wells arranged in two groups equally spaced about the drilling center. The Janice subsea well cluster currently consists of nine oil production wells and four water injection wells. The drilling center is 450m south east of Janice.
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