Woodside receives green light for Echo Yodel subsea decommissioning

Australia’s National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) has accepted Woodside Energy’s plan to remove subsea infrastructure from the Echo Yodel field.

The Echo Yodel subsea infrastructure includes a pipeline with a pig launcher connected, an electrohydraulic umbilical (EHU), two umbilical termination assemblies (UTAs), an infield umbilical termination basket (IUTB) and infield control jumpers.

The infrastructure is located in Commonwealth waters in the NWS Province, about 140 kilometers northwest of Dampier on the coast of Western Australia. The closest landfall is the Montebello Islands, located approximately 68 kilometers to the south of the operational area.

The pipeline will be recovered via reverse reel lay, reverse S-lay, cut and recover, or a combination of these three methods.

The EHU is planned to be recovered onto reels using a heave compensated crane and associated equipment. Deburial and marine growth removal, such as water jetting, may be required to enable safe recovery of the infrastructure, Woodside said.

Activities will take place between 2022 and 2026 by a number of vessels during one or multiple campaigns.

The cumulative duration is two to eight months and is dependent on further engineering assessment, vessel availability and unforeseen circumstances and weather.

Woodside Energy submitted the decommissioning plan to NOPSEMA on 17 April 2020 and the offshore regulator accepted it this 24 March.

Woodside is the operator of the Echo Yodel infrastructure on behalf of the North West Shelf Project participants, also including BHP Billiton Petroleum, BP Developments Australia, Chevron Australia, Japan Australia LNG (MIMI) and Shell Australia.