AF Group, Saipem UK Win Contracts for Removal of Two North Sea Platforms

AF Decom Offshore AS and Saipem UK Ltd have been awarded a Letter of Intent for the tasks of removing the H7 and 2/4-S jacket platforms in the North Sea. The conditional contracts have been awarded by Statoil on behalf of operator Gassco.

AF Decom Offshore AS will remove and sell the H-7 platform, while Saipem UK Ltd has been assigned the task of removing the 2/4-S platform. Both installations will be removed from current locations by the end of 2014. The conditional contracts are subject to project sanction of the removal projects.

The H-7 platform is located in the German sector of the North Sea. In the period 1977 to 1999 it was used to maintain pressure in the pipeline transporting gas from the Ekofisk Centre to the terminal in Emden, Germany. The platform was disconnected from the pipeline four years ago. The contract awarded to AF Decom Offshore AS involves removal of the whole installation and transport to the AF Decom Offshore AS yard in Vats north of Stavanger for disassembly and scrapping. The estimated contract value is NOK 420 million(77.29554 million U.S. dollars).

The 2/4-S riser platform is located in the Norwegian sector and came on stream in 1985. It was used to transport gas from Statpipe to the Ekofisk Centre. From 1998 the 2/4-S platform was superfluous as the Statpipe gas was sent directly into Norpipe through the Ekofisk Bypass pipeline. The 2/4-S topside was removed in 2001, and the remaining jacket will now be removed. Saipem UK Ltd will remove the jacket and transport it to shore. The estimated value of this contract is NOK 400 million. The assignment of scrapping the 2/4-S jacket will be awarded later in a separate contract.

A project sanctioning of the removal projects by Gassled JV is expected by the end of this year.

The two platforms H7 and 2/4-S are owned by the joint company partnership Gassled. Gassco AS is the operator, with Statoil as the technical service provider for 2/4-S and ConocoPhillips as the technical service provider for H-7. Statoil is carrying out the removal projects on assignment from Gassco AS.

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Source: Gassco , June 29, 2011.