UK Clears Decomm Plans for Gas Field

UK authorities have approved a decommissioning plan filed by Ineos for the Cavendish gas and condensate field in the southern North Sea, according to a notice on the department for business, energy and industrial strategy (Beis)'s website.

The Cavendish field lies 125 east of Flamborough. Its unmanned platform is tied back to the Murdoch platform 44 km to the southeast, from where its gas and condensate was previously exported to shore via pipeline. Production ceased in August 2018 when this export route was closed.

Under plans cleared by Beis, the Cavendish platform's 546-metric ton topsides and 508-mt steel jacket will be removed and recycled or disposed of onshore. The pipeline to Murdoch will be partially removed, with some buried sections left in place. Its three wells will be plugged and abandoned.

Decommissioning had been due to start in 2019 but Ineos only submitted its plans in October that year. The work is scheduled to take five years, depending on the availability of contractor vessels and equipment.