Allseas wins removal contract for multiple North Sea installations

Allseas has been awarded a contract by Aker BP for the removal and disposal of multiple topsides and jackets from the Valhall area in the Norwegian North Sea.

The contract is the latest award triggered by Aker BP under the terms of the frame agreement signed with Allseas in 2017 to provide transport, installation and removal services for the Valhall oil field.

Work comprises removal and disposal of the Drilling Platform (DP) 5,950 t topsides and 4,350 t jacket, and Production and Compression Platform (PCP) 10,900 t topsides and 9,500 t jacket from the Valhall complex, plus the 1,100 t Hod topsides and 3,500 t jacket from the connected Hod field, 13 km to the south.

Allseas’ heavy lift vessel Pioneering Spirit will execute the work between 2021 and 2026. Water depth at the field is approximately 70 m. Platform preparations are scheduled to commence later this year, continuing into the 2021 lift season.

In addition, Aker BP have invoked the option for the removal and disposal of the Valhall Quarters Platform (QP) jacket and the 2/4-G jacket on the Ekofisk field, 24 km north of the Valhall complex. This option was associated with the 2017 award for the removal and disposal of the QP topsides, removed by Pioneering Spirit in June 2019.

The QP topsides was the first of the three original structures (QP, DP, PCP) at Valhall to be removed as part of the modernisation of the Valhall field centre by Aker BP. Hod is remotely operated from Valhall and was the first unmanned platform in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea when production started in August 1990.

SVP Projects in Aker BP, Knut Sandvik, says:

“Aker BPs ambition is to revitalize the Valhall area and to produce another billion barrels from the area. A safe and efficient removal of the original structures will be an important milestone on this journey. The remaining installations at the Valhall field centre and the Flank platforms will continue to produce for many years to come.”