John Lawrie to develop new decommissioning site at Port of Dundee

Metal recycling, decommissioning, and steel tubulars specialist John Lawrie Group will expand its operations in Scotland after agreeing a deal to develop a new site at the Port of Dundee.

John Lawrie Group said on Monday that it had reached an agreement with Forth Ports to establish a new metal recycling and decommissioning base at the Port.

According to the company, both organizations will invest in the project, which will see an existing two-acre site at the port redeveloped to create a new purpose-built concrete pad.

A combined investment of around £5 million ($6.47M) is being made by both businesses in the development, which covers construction costs, the long-term lease of the site and the purchase of plant and equipment.

The company will use the site to dismantle redundant offshore infrastructure brought ashore during oil and gas decommissioning projects and also for metal processing operations.

Scheduled to be up and running in early 2020, the facility will be operated by John Lawrie Group’s metals division. At launch, up to 10 new full-time jobs will be created, with the prospect of further posts being added as operations at the site develop. The company will add the new site to its existing metal recycling facilities in Aberdeen, Montrose, Evanton, and Lerwick.

Dave Weston, John Lawrie Metals managing director, said: “This is a significant investment for John Lawrie Group and comes 12 months after we acquired a metal recycling facility on Shetland. It underlines our commitment to support the oil and gas decommissioning sector and forms part of our long-term strategy to develop John Lawrie Group’s operations across the country.

“Over the coming 12 months, we will be working closely with all of the relevant authorities and licensing bodies as we finalize plans for this development in Dundee.”

The company added that deep-water berths and a strategic east coast location could secure a sizeable portion of the £15.3 billion ($19.9B) that was forecast to be spent on decommissioning oil and gas infrastructure from the UK Continental Shelf over the next decade.

David Webster, Forth Ports’ senior port manager for Dundee and Leith, said: “This is a major milestone in Forth Ports’ strategy to develop a full-service oil and gas decommissioning hub here at the Port of Dundee.

“We are excited to be working with John Lawrie Group to develop this new decommissioning facility. The opening of the facility in early 2020 will be a very visible sign of the Port of Dundee’s ambition to support the North Sea oil and gas decommissioning sector.”