Member Article

Able UK begins work on major dismantling contract

One of the biggest-ever oil platform dismantling contracts is now underway at a North East facility.

Three huge barges have delivered modules a BP platform to Able UK’s TERRC (Teesside Environmental Reclamation and Recycling Centre) in Graythorp, with another three scheduled to arrive in the future.

Installed in 1981 and sited 130 kilometres northeast of the Shetland Islands, the 37,000 tonnes North West Hutton installation had accommodation and facilities for over 200 personnel and a production capacity of 130,000 barrels a day.

The field ceased production in January 2003 and in 2006 BP announced that Able UK would undertake the task of recycling and disposal of the structures at TERRC.

Says Able UK Chairman Peter Stephenson “A project of this kind is a challenging and complex operation. We have worked closely with BP over a number of years preparing for this. “Given the scale of the project, it will provide considerable employment for a period of two years.

“Whilst this is a very big platform - and indeed the largest of its kind to be decommissioned so far in the North Sea - the work involved is the same as we have undertaken in dealing with many redundant offshore structures over the last 20 years. What it demonstrates is that TERRC is established as a world-class centre for the marine reclamation and recycling industry with enormous potential for the future.”

Additional information is available at www.ableuk.com.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .