Ineos Submits Windermere Decommissioning Application

Ineos UK has submitted a decommissioning application to the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) for the Windermere field, located in the Southern Basin of the UKCS.

The Windermere facilities comprise the platform, wells, export pipeline and the umbilical between Windermere and the ST-1 platform.

Topsides and jacket will be removed and recycled or disposed onshore. The pipelines will be partially removed, while the existing buried sections of umbilical will be left in situ, the company explained.

The application is for the 5 year decommissioning project, including planning phase, with offshore works due to begin in 2019.

According to Ineos, the production from Windermere ceased in April 2016. In 2017, the pipeline and umbilical between Windermere and ST-1 were cleaned and flushed and left in a flooded condition. The two wells on Windermere were shut-in and all topsides pipeline cleaned and disconnected and ready for decommissioning.

Following the completion of the work, a post decommissioning environmental seabed survey, centered around sites of the wellheads and installation, will be carried out.

Results of this survey will be available once the work is complete, with a copy forwarded to BEIS.

The Windermere field, located in license block 49/9b, was discovered in 1989 and is located in 35m water depth.