Allseas to Remove UK Gas Platforms

Final preparations are underway for Allseas to remote two disused Sprit Energy gas platforms from Morecambe Bay in the East Irish Sea, Sprit reported Thursday.

Allseas’ Pioneering Spirit construction vessel will remove the DP3 and DP4 platforms, which first produced gas in 1985 from the South Morecambe field, Spirit Energy noted in a written statement emailed to Rigzone. The operator added that Pioneering Spirit is the world’s largest construction vessel and is easily capable of lifting the two 11,000-tonne platforms, which will be taken ashore.

“After two years of preparing the DP3 and DP4 installations for removal, we’re now looking forward to one of the most significant milestones in the project with the removal of both platforms, remarked Donald Martin, Spirit Energy project manager. “Seeing the Pioneering Spirit in the East Irish Sea will be an impressive sight – its capacity and single-lift methodology made it a good fit to safely execute this project.”

Spirit pointed out the 12 wells that had been connected to DP3 and DP4 have already been plugged and abandoned, using a slant rig to accommodate the angle at which the wells were drilled in the 1980s. The U.K.-based company, owned by Centrica plc (OTCMKTS: CPYYF) (69 percent) and Stadtwerke München Group (31 percent), added that the manned Central Morecambe platform nearby now produces from the field previously tapped into by DP3 and DP4.

According to Spirit, the removal campaign will start later this year.

To contact the author, email mveazey@rigzone.com.