what companies are involved? Liftboats ? Any OSV companies starting in on this? This could be another big boost for work. http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/124906/Decommissioning_to_Reach_New_Heights_in_2013
This is why I thought it was an excellent move on Seacor’s part to buy Superior liftboats, those boats will be working for years non stop.
Good for their small boats too, of course…
lots of contractors out there…a few that come to mind are
Tetra
CrossMar
Manson
CalDive
Global Industries
who are the guys with that massive floating A-frame that is at Sabine Pass all winter?
I did a couple of P&A jobs this past year, but only a couple. It wasn’t due to lack of platforms slated for decommissioning, for there are many. The problem was the permit approval process set up by BONER… or is that BOEMRE. Who can keep track? What used to take days, now takes weeks or even months. Permits move at the speed of bureaucracy. 2014 is supposed to be better, as the agency has streamlined the process. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
It is easier and way cheaper to “kill” the well before it gets destroyed by a Cat. 5 hurricane. There is gold in them thar derelicts. Some of the divers working with us told me Katrina literally twisted the conductors under a platform on another site they worked on. It only toppled the 2 rigs we are working on and bent the conductors way down in the mud.
“There is gold in them thar derelicts”, are they not worth scrap prices also, plus the wiring systems as scrap. The article mentions 3billion set aside by uncle sam to clean this stuff up. Seems more people and smaller companies would like a part of this.
Although it seems in theory that this has the potential to be a huge boom for work, reality seems to be different at least so far…
[B]
Oil rig decommissioning regulation fails to produce great surge in marine work[/B]
Jun 15, 2012
David A. Tyler
A 2010 federal regulation that requires oil and gas companies to plug nearly 3,500 non-producing wells and dismantle about 650 unused production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico has not created the anticipated boom for maritime companies that specialize in this work.
“People thought it was going to be a gold rush, but there are too many barges and too many players doing it,” said Tommy Gibilterra, vice president of operations for Bisso Marine, based in Houston.
A lot of people thought there would be a spike in the market, according to Joseph Orgeron, chief technology officer for Montco Offshore Inc., based in Galliano, La. “But no, it didn’t happen.”
On Sept. 15, 2010, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced that wells, platforms or pipelines that are no longer producing or serving exploration or support functions connected with a company’s lease — are to be decommissioned.
Montco Offshore currently gets about two-thirds of its work from decommissionings. Its newest lift boat, Robert, above, underwent sea trials in February. The company expects to hire about 20 people to work as crew.
Oil wells must be plugged and platform structures dismantled within one year after the lease expires, according to the federal regulation, which took effect on Oct. 15, 2010. If any well can no longer be used for operations and cannot produce oil, gas or sulfur in paying quantities, that well must be permanently plugged or temporarily abandoned within three years from Oct. 15, 2010, or within three years of no longer being useful for operations, whichever date is later.
The decommissioning process is very complicated and includes several phases, including obtaining federal permits, creating engineering plans, preparing the platform, well plugging and abandonment (called P&A work), platform removal, materials removal, pipeline and power cable decommissioning and site clearance.
Specialized companies do the plug-and-abandonment phase of decommissioning. Lift boats are sometimes used in this process.
“We do the platform work, and also some pipeline abandonment,” said Gibilterra, “but we don’t do the P&A work on the well itself.”
The federal order has produced steady work, but the platform dismantling in many cases just replaced work that disappeared because of the recession. “It has definitely helped us,” Gibilterra said. “It is work, and we are glad to have it. But it is not an increase in work by any stretch of the imagination.”
Between October 2010 and September 2011, about 721 wells on the idle iron list were temporarily or permanently abandoned, according to Eileen P. Angelico, spokeswoman for the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, which regulates offshore oil wells.
Nonetheless, Bisso is quite active in this type of work. Gibilterra said Bisso removed 50 platforms in 2011. And the company does have work contracted through the end of 2015. Bisso uses flat-bottom barges, derrick barges, crane barges, lift boats, revolving deck barges and stiff-leg barges for the platform work.
Montco Offshore has seen a rise of about 10 percent in this type of work, which now accounts for about 65 percent of its business, according to Orgeron. The company provides lift boats for decommissionings.
There were great expectations that more work would come over the short term, said John A. Witte, Jr., executive vice president at Donjon Marine, based in Hillside, N.J. “Like everyone else, we are sitting and waiting for that to come to pass,” he said. “It’s work that continues to come out on a piecemeal basis.”
Donjon does leg and platform removal, as well as lifting components off the seafloor, he said. The company uses deck barges, tugboats, support craft and barges to carry and remove platforms and components to shore for disposal.
The recession and a slower than expected pace in well decommissioning has meant that the number of jobs for mariners in this sector has not significantly increased. According to Gibilterra, many qualified workers had been employed in new construction or hurricane repairs when the recession hit. “They just kind of rolled over to do this work,” he said.
However, companies that invest in new boats or barges are hiring. In February, Montco was putting its latest lift boat, Robert, through sea trails. Orgeron said it will be the largest lift boat in the gulf.
The company is hiring for this boat, Orgeron said. Because the technology is much more complex, the company will be hiring licensed engineers at salaries approaching those of captains, he said. Montco will also need heavy lift managers, heavy lift riggers and welders. The company will likely hire an additional 20 people for this new lift boat.
I always believed that the recovery of abandoned pipelines to be a bigger potential boom for work than platforms just because all the work will be subsea with divers but who knows if that will ever really begin?
Why just or more so abandoned pipelines?
Thanks for the article
[QUOTE=Doodlebug;102364]Why just or more so abandoned pipelines?
Thanks for the article[/QUOTE]
because they are subsea so not so easy to simply lift onto a barge and send to scrap plus there are so many bloody thousands of miles of abandoned pipe down there.
[QUOTE=c.captain;102184]lots of contractors out there…a few that come to mind are
who are the guys with that massive floating A-frame that is at Sabine Pass all winter?[/QUOTE]
Versabar is the one who has that barge. DP3. It is called the Versabar 10,000. No living accommodations on the barge. You live on the small OSV’s or tugs that work with it.
DSME is building a vessel designed to decommission and install platforms as well as lay pipe. They are building it for Allseas, 382m x117m DP vessel with a lift of up to 48,000t. It is quite large.
[QUOTE=CaptRob1;102394]Versabar is the one who has that barge. DP3. It is called the Versabar 10,000. No living accommodations on the barge. You live on the small OSV’s or tugs that work with it.[/QUOTE]
The VB 10,000 is an interesting concept. The first one was the BOTTOM FEEDER. The basic design for both is the same. The large A frame attached to two deck barges with fully articulated joints. The VB 10,000 is also fitted with DP.
[QUOTE=c.captain;102337]Although it seems in theory that this has the potential to be a huge boom for work, reality seems to be different at least so far…
I always believed that the recovery of abandoned pipelines to be a bigger potential boom for work than platforms just because all the work will be subsea with divers but who knows if that will ever really begin?[/QUOTE]
I think that you will find that most pipelines will be abandoned in place. They will have to be “de-oiled” and buried, though. Depending on the water depth, they won’t have to be buried.
[QUOTE=cmakin;102404]I think that you will find that most pipelines will be abandoned in place. They will have to be “de-oiled” and buried, though. Depending on the water depth, they won’t have to be buried.[/QUOTE]
yeah that’s most likely what will happen but the regulations say that abandoned pipe is supposed to be recovered which would make for thousands of jobs, but money talks and the pipeline owners have the $$$ to get their way in the end.
[QUOTE=cmakin;102404]I think that you will find that most pipelines will be abandoned in place. They will have to be “de-oiled” and buried, though. Depending on the water depth, they won’t have to be buried.[/QUOTE]
The old field just offshore of me has been shut in for years. Several platforms and satellites have been removed. The pipelines are abandoned in place. All of these shallow water pipelines were jetted down after they layed them.
[QUOTE=injunear;102428]The old field just offshore of me has been shut in for years. Several platforms and satellites have been removed. The pipelines are abandoned in place. All of these shallow water pipelines were jetted down after they layed them.[/QUOTE]
I can tell you that a pipeline buried last year can become “unburied” this year. To be honest, I don’t know of any pipelines that have been 100% removed after the platforms/wells, etc. have been removed. In places like Bay Marchand, the bottom is like steel spaghetti. . . . .
Most of the near shore older fields are like that. I remember in the 90’s before DP when we still used the anchor to back down on if no buoy was available. The captain would always ask where all the pipelines were laying in the filed we were working. The company man would always say " hell no skip don’t drop no anchor anywheres around here it’s a mess down there". You know all those places like South Pelto, Bay Marchand, Grand Isle, West Delta etc. are littered with old pipelines. Not to mention all the Deepwater stuff ended up in those coastal lease areas after it was washed up there from Katrina and Rita. There ain’t no tellin what all is under there.
[QUOTE=Fraqrat;102435]Most of the near shore older fields are like that. I remember in the 90’s before DP when we still used the anchor to back down on if no buoy was available. The captain would always ask where all the pipelines were laying in the filed we were working. The company man would always say " hell no skip don’t drop no anchor anywheres around here it’s a mess down there". You know all those places like South Pelto, Bay Marchand, Grand Isle, West Delta etc. are littered with old pipelines. Not to mention all the Deepwater stuff ended up in those coastal lease areas after it was washed up there from Katrina and Rita. There ain’t no tellin what all is under there.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, I know. . . .
[QUOTE=Doodlebug;102174]what companies are involved? Liftboats ? Any OSV companies starting in on this? This could be another big boost for work. http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/124906/Decommissioning_to_Reach_New_Heights_in_2013[/QUOTE]
I am working on a 265ft OSV that has been cutting and pulling up old pipelines for one of the majors since last summer just outside of Belle Pass in Fourchon. We were told this was the first time they had used a vessel like ours. Being able to get in close to the old platforms and using some specially made equipment to pull and cut the pipe has been a first supposedly from an OSV. Still use divers to go down and mark, cut, and jet out any pipe that is buried on the bottom. As far as the amount of pipelines it is amazing how much is down there. Contract is for at least two years from what we have been told.
[QUOTE=studbuzzar;102567]I am working on a 265ft OSV that has been cutting and pulling up old pipelines for one of the majors since last summer just outside of Belle Pass in Fourchon. We were told this was the first time they had used a vessel like ours. Being able to get in close to the old platforms and using some specially made equipment to pull and cut the pipe has been a first supposedly from an OSV. Still use divers to go down and mark, cut, and jet out any pipe that is buried on the bottom. As far as the amount of pipelines it is amazing how much is down there. Contract is for at least two years from what we have been told.[/QUOTE]
I wonder why this is being done? Does this operation pay for itself on scrape value?