DeepOcean and Enpro deliver attic oil recovery project for Shell

Subsea contractor DeepOcean has completed the attic oil recovery project for Shell in the North Sea.

According to DeepOcean, the recent campaign on Brent Bravo concrete structure wrapped up with no safety incidents, ahead of schedule and within budget.

The project management occurred between the DeepOcean offices in Haugesund and Aberdeen throughout the challenges of COVID-19 restrictions.

DeepOcean carried out the work in collaboration with its subcontractors Enpro Subsea.

Enpro Subsea deployed its F-Decom system enabling access and removal of ‘attic’ oil from concrete storage cells at the base of the Brent Bravo platform in 140 metres water depth.

The system system deployment took place from a DeepOcean construction vessel, leading to a reduction in operating days per cell.

According to Enpro, the F-Decom is the only field proven system for securely accessing fluids within gravity-based structures concrete cells assisting operators to safely meet their decommissioning regulatory obligations to protect Europe’s marine environment.

The project involved Enpro’s offshore engineers and onshore support teams working alongside DeepOcean’s operations and subsea teams onboard the construction vessel, the Maersk Forza.

Specifically, this is the fourth such campaign the company has undertaken for Shell to support its ongoing decommissioning programme in the Brent field, located north-east of the Shetland Islands.

“Shell has previously deployed our F-Decom technology on both their Brent Bravo and Brent Delta platforms. For the 2020 Bravo project, our collaboration with DeepOcean has allowed us to optimise this same low risk system, specifically for working from a vessel, yielding significant operational efficiencies, and increasing value to our client.”

Roy Nilsen, DeepOcean project manager, also said. “The attic oil recovery project on Shell’s Brent Bravo platform was a great project for DeepOcean and its success comes from the combination of Enpro Subsea’s F-Decom system and DeepOcean’s expert subsea engineering and WROV capabilities as well as the good collaboration between all parties involved.”