Eni entrusts Well-Safe Solutions rig with more decommissioning work

Aberdeen-based decommissioning services provider Well-Safe Solutions has received a further contract extension from Italy’s energy giant Eni to decommission selected subsea and platform wells across a portfolio of projects in the Dutch North Sea.

Eni recently exercised another 90-day option for the Well-Safe Protector jack-up under a newly agreed contract amendment. The work will be carried out in direct continuation with the previously declared option which started in November 2024.

Upon completion of the latest option with Eni, Well-Safe Protector will move directly onto the Spirit Energy contract announced in November 2024.

This means that the rig will be committed until at least August 2025, with further longer-term options agreed with Eni as part of the newly signed contract amendment.

The amendment is said to offer increased flexibility to Eni which has the option to approve an additional 120 days of work to decommission platform wells immediately after the Spirit Energy work, along with two further options at 180 days each.

If exercised, the options have the potential to keep the Well-Safe Protector committed until Q4 2026 outside the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS).

“Well decommissioning continues to account for a considerable amount of the North Sea’s overall decommissioning activity – with a 50% increase in well decommissioning forecast by OEUK last year,” said Phil Milton, Chief Executive Officer at Well-Safe Solutions.

“Effective well decommissioning cannot exist without cooperation, and we are looking forward to deepening the partnership we currently enjoy with Eni as we build the foundations of a long-term well decommissioning campaign at this key moment in the North Sea’s development towards a low-carbon future.”

Being operational in the North Sea continuously since August 2023, Well-Safe Protector has already decommissioned 25 wells across Dutch and UK waters to date for Eni, Ithaca Energy and Neptune Energy.