The principals of Laslett International have been involved in the engineering, construction, installation, hook-up and commissioning of 38 North Sea Oil & Gas Production Facilities. These have included 30 in UK sector, 2 in Danish sector, 1 in Irish sector and 5 in the Dutch sector.
These offshore production facilities have included fixed and floating units such as concrete structures, steel jackets, TLP, floating semi-sub and FPSO’s.
In addition to the North Sea the principals have similar experience involving oil and gas production facilities in the GOM, Offshore Middle East, Offshore India, Far East Asia, North Africa, West Africa, Caspian Sea and Offshore Brazil.
This offshore experience has also included sub-sea pipelines, wellheads, power and sub-sea control systems.
The principals and associates at Laslett International have been involved with North Sea oil and gas projects since 1972 and although this is not a specific decommissioning project case study it does show the breadth of knowledge available within Laslett International in respect to the offshore facilities which are now or will be the subject of decommissioning.
Many of the above projects included provision and/or considering future decommissioning especially from an engineering and operational integrity perspective.
The requirement for Professional Project Management and Planning is as essential in a Decommissioning Project as it was when the installation was first created. The management process requires a conceptual assessment of the deconstruction method and a risk assessment associated with all stages of the decommissioning and dismantling process.
A comprehensive project plan (schedule and resourcing) is required as a basis for project control. The logistics of offshore activity is a major consideration as it is in any offshore construction project. The project plan/schedule must incorporate all environmental and safety considerations to be able to demonstrate all aspects of the Decommissioning Programme for the purposes of seeking approval.
We have been involved in feasibility studies that have reviewed various options for decommissioning. These studies have included detailed analysis of the original design and construction of the asset. In particular, safety and environmental requirements to consider protection against accidents when decommissioning and dismantling installations which contain hydrocarbons. The studies also involved a review of the list of applicable legislation for such decommissioning projects including the myriad of applicable laws and standards.
At Laslett International we have developed an application (VCM Index) which provides a clear visual structure of a project together with all key linkages. The indexed data enables project information to be searched and found easily making it possible to find and retrieve references from the as-built project documentation.
The use of a visual representation of the decommissioning project structure, all the project data and project data links are beneficial in understanding a complex decommissioning project.
VCM Index contains Decommissioning Metrics (Safety, Environment, Technical, Societal and Economic) as well as an Inventory of Materials covering Material Type, Location and Weight etc.