[UK] Brent

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escveritas
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[UK] Brent

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As the joint-owner and operator of the Brent Field, Shell and Esso are required to submit a decommissioning programme to the UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) – the body that regulates the decommissioning of offshore oil and gas installations and pipelines in the UK. View the interactive animation below to find out more about each step of the Decommissioning process.

The decision to decommission

The decision to decommission Brent has not been taken lightly. Having extended the field’s life for as long as possible, our next step before considering decommissioning was to explore potential ways to re-use the platforms. Options given consideration ranged from carbon capture and storage facilities, to wind farms and even offshore prisons and casinos.

However, eventually Shell and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) concluded that the age of the infrastructure, its distance from shore, the lack of demand for re-use, as well as the cost of modernising the facilities, made its re-use prohibitive. So decommissioning is the only viable option.

Shell has been working for years on the long-term planning necessary to stop production and subsequently decommission the Brent Field. Production from Brent Delta stopped in December 2011 and both Alpha and Bravo in November 2014. Production from Charlie is expected to stop within the next few years.

As operator of the Brent Field, Shell is required to submit a Decommissioning Programme to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). The programme includes detailed recommendations for closing down and making safe the four platforms and subsea infrastructure of the Brent Field. These recommendations are the result of over 10 years of engineering studies, expert input, consultations and scientific assessments, including extensive discussions with more than 180 organisations including non-government organisations, academia, fishermen and local communities. This comprehensive programme of consultation reflects one of the major lessons learnt from the decommissioning of Brent Spar two decades ago.
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Re: [UK] Brent

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BRENT FIELD TIMELINE

We began the long-term planning necessary for the decommissioning of Brent Field life in 2006. We recognised then that this is a huge, complex and technically challenging undertaking. At present, we are nearing the conclusion of our studies investigating options for decommissioning together with wide internal and external consultation.

A history of innovation

Late 1970s: Three enormous gas compression modules were built to re-inject gas into the reservoir. At the time, these contained the world’s largest offshore reciprocating compressors.

1977: A pipeline from the Brent Field to St Fergus in Scotland was completed. It was the world’s largest single welded pipeline at the time.

Late 1990s: Brent Field undertook what was at the time the world’s largest oil field depressurisation. It remains one of the largest engineering projects ever undertaken in the North Sea.

2000: The Brent Field was externally benchmarked as the highest-performing North Sea field. It was also internationally recognised as leading in the management of its facilities.

Record-breaking production

In the 1980s, the Brent Field was consistently producing over 400,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day – enough oil in a year to provide energy to over 12 million homes. In 1982, production peaked at 504,000 barrels of oil per day. The one billionth barrel of oil was produced from the Brent Field in March 1987.

By the early 1990s, the Brent Field was supplying 13% of the UK’s oil and 10% of the UK’s gas needs. In the mid-1990s, Shell started an ambitious project to convert the field from a majority of oil production to one focused predominantly on gas. This cost £1.2 billion and provided jobs for more than 3,000 people.

By 2001, the Brent Field was yielding record levels of gas production; 25.5 million cubic metres per day. Its total oil and gas production reached 700,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The redevelopments, planning and commitment of everyone involved led to Brent’s pre-eminence in the UK sector of the North Sea. It has even given its name to the oil benchmark that is used to price two-thirds of the world’s internationally traded crude oil.

Brent’s contribution to the uk economy

In its lifetime, Brent has generated over £20 billion in tax revenues (in today’s money) for the UK Government and provided a significant amount of the UK’s oil and gas.

The Brent Field has supported tens of thousands of highly skilled jobs, and the UK’s oil and gas supply chain generally. This has helped many UK companies enter the global oil and gas marketplace. At the time of its early development, Brent was one of the deepest offshore oil fields in the world. The skills gained by UK companies in its supply chain have now been exported globally.
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Re: [UK] Brent

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THE BRENT STORY

The Brent oil and gas field, lying north-east of the Shetland Islands, has been a cornerstone of the UK’s hugely successful oil and gas industry for 40 years. It has created and sustained thousands of jobs, contributed billions of pounds in tax revenues, and provided the UK with a substantial amount of its oil and gas.

The Brent field, operated by Shell, lies off the north-east coast of Scotland, midway between the Shetland Islands and Norway. It is one of the largest fields in the North Sea and is served by four large platforms – Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta. Each platform has a ‘topside’ which is visible above the waterline and houses the accommodation block, helipad, as well as drilling and other operational areas. The topsides sit on much taller supporting structures, or ‘legs’, which stand in 140 metres of water and serve to anchor the topsides to the sea bed.

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When the Brent field was discovered in 1971, it was one of the most significant oil and gas finds made in the UK sector of the North Sea. At that time the expected life span of the field was 25 years at the most.

Continuous investment and a redevelopment in the 1990s by the field’s equal partners, Shell and Esso Exploration and Production UK (Esso), have extended the life of the field well beyond original expectations. Since production began in 1976, two thirds of the revenue generated from the field has been paid to the Government as tax – amounting to more than £20 billion (in today’s money).

To date, the Brent field has produced around three billion barrels of oil equivalent. At its peak in 1982 the field was producing more than half a million barrels a day. Its production that year would have met the annual energy needs of around half of all UK homes.
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Re: [UK] Brent

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Decommissioning The Brent Field
Now, after many years of service to the UK, the Brent field is reaching the stage where almost all the available reserves of oil and gas have been retrieved. The next step in the lifecycle is to retire or ‘decommission’ the Brent field’s four platforms and their related infrastructure. This will be a complex, major engineering project and will take over ten years to complete.

It follows the decommissioning of other operators’ platforms in the North Sea with programmes submitted to the government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) so far. This is the body that regulates the decommissioning of offshore oil and gas installations and pipelines in the UK. Shell is now carefully planning the Brent field’s decommissioning process following a tightly defined regulatory process. Our task is to find a way to carry out this work that will:
  • ensure the safety of people working on the project
  • have minimal impact on the environment
  • be technically achievable
  • consider the impact on affected communities, and
  • be economically responsible.
We have made detailed recommendations on how best to decommission the Brent oil and gas field and are confident that these proposals are safe, technically achievable, environmentally sound and financially responsible.

Commemorating Brent History and its People

The Brent Field first started production in 1976 and celebrated its 40th anniversary on 10 November 2016. In recognition of this significant milestone, we have commissioned:
  • an online memory book;
  • an oral history project; and
  • a local artist to capture the essence of the Brent Field.
Through these projects we want to collect and share the stories and achievements of the Brent field and its people over the years.
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Re: [UK] Brent

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BRENT FIELD DECOMMISSIONING PROGRAMME

The Brent oil and gas field, a 50:50 joint venture between Shell (operator) and Esso Exploration and Production UK (Esso) lies 186kms north-east of the Shetland Islands in the North Sea.

Why is Shell decommissioning the Brent Field?

At the time of its discovery the expected lifespan of the Brent Field was 25 years. Through continuous improvement and significant investment in the 1990s, we have extended the life of the Field well beyond original expectations. After over 40 years of service to the UK, the Brent Field is now reaching the stage where almost all the economically recoverable reserves of oil and gas have been extracted, and in line with UK legislation, the Brent Field will now be decommissioned.

The decision to decommission Brent is a natural step in the life cycle of the field.

Brent Delta stopped production in 2011 and Brent Alpha and Bravo ceased in November 2014. Production from the field currently continues through Brent Charlie.

What is the Brent Field Decommissioning Programmes document?

Decommissioning in the UK Continental Shelf follows a mature and tightly defined regulatory process that is stipulated in the UK’s Petroleum Act 1998.

As the operator of the Brent Field, Shell must submit Decommissioning Programmes to The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), for review, followed by public consultation, as part of the extensive approval process.

In accordance with legislation, we have submitted two Decommissioning Programmes (DP) in a single document. One DP covers the Brent installations and wells, and the other covers the Brent Field Pipelines. Our DP documents includes the recommendations for closing down and making safe the four platforms, the wells and the subsea infrastructure.

The Decommissioning Programmes were subject to public consultation between 8 February and 10 April 2017, and a simultaneous consultation with other government departments, and statutory consultees was carried out.

The DP documents are supported by a suite of detailed Technical Documents (TDs) for each aspect of the programme; an Environmental Statement (ES); a Comparative Assessment (CA) process; and a Stakeholder Engagement Report.

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What is in the Brent Field Decommissioning Programmes document?
Shell has been preparing for, and executing, the following decommissioning activities:
  • Plugging and making safe the 146 wells across the Brent Field;
  • Removing to shore, and recycling the platform’s topsides;
  • Cutting the upper portion of the Brent Alpha steel jacket, and removing to shore for recycling.
  • Removing the oil –known as ‘attic oil’ – trapped at the top of some of the subsea storage cells; and
  • Recovering oil and gas debris from the seabed across the Brent Field;
  • After completing the comparative assessment process of feasible decommissioning options, and as a result of careful and considered evaluation, the recommendations being proposed include leaving in place the Gravity Base Structures (GBS), Brent Alpha jacket footings, the drill cuttings and GBS cell contents.
A range of options have been considered for the 30 pipelines, including: leaving in place pipelines already in stable trenches or under stable rock; complete removal (reverse reel or cutting and lifting); leaving in place with a new covering of rock; and leaving in place after trenching and burying.

Where the Decommissioning Programmes recommend leaving major installations in place in the North Sea, under the OSPAR Decision 98/3, the UK Government must consult with other countries that are signatories to the OSPAR Convention. The OSPAR convention is an agreement between 15 European countries and the EU to protect the marine environment in the North-East Atlantic.

OSPAR recognises that there are difficulties associated with removing major installations, such as concrete Gravity Base Structures and large steel jackets. In these instances, operators may make a case for exemption – or derogation – from the general rule of complete removal from the sea, but they must demonstrate that there are significant reasons why an alternative option is preferable to reuse, recycling or final disposal on land.

Shell and Esso are confident the proposals set out in the DP document are safe, technically achievable, financially and socially responsible, and environmentally sound. These recommendations are the result of 10 years of review and planning, including extensive research involving engineering studies, independent experts’ input, consultations and scientific assessments.

Under current legislation, Shell and Esso will retain ownership of and responsibility for any remaining facilities after decommissioning.
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