In March 2018, Decom North Sea published the Decommissioning
Directory in partnership with Scottish Enterprise and the Oil & Gas
Authority, which captures the capability of almost 300 supply chain
companies who can service the UK/UKCS decommissioning market.
In our
latest blog, we caught up with Decom North Sea’s Interim Chief
Executive, Tom Leeson, about the purpose of this new directory and how
it can assist our clients who are nearing cessation of production and
decommissioning.
What’s the purpose of the directory?
The Decommissioning Directory highlights the current decommissioning supply chain capability. It allows operators and the supply chain to plan for the future, identify potential consortiums and manage supply peaks by categorising supply chain companies by key activity, capability, case history and geography. It is a completely unbiased representation of capability, supplied directly from the service companies.
What does the directory consist of?
The directory is extensive, it captures the capability of almost 300 supply chain companies which can service the UKCS across the 17 newly defined decommissioning supply chain work break down structure (WBS) categories; from planning stages through to site remediation and long-term monitoring.
How current is the information?
Service companies are continually modifying their portfolio to meet the needs and challenges of the current climate and objectives of operators. We’ve taken this into account by accepting additional submissions and updating it on a regular basis to ensure users benefit from a current and accurate source of information.
How can it help the supply chain evolve?
The directory identifies services provided as part of a suppliers’ core business, integrated services or whether they sub-contract the work. It will assist in identifying gaps for potential development or innovation, as well as bring to the fore alternative contracting and commercial arrangements, ensuring the supply chain is ready to embrace the decommissioning opportunities that arise.
How does it benefit the operators?
The directory provides a level of visibility for operators and as mentioned, allows them to benefit from solutions developed through partnerships and consortiums which will ultimately help to address the key objectives of achieving cost certainty, reducing risk and managing their long term liability.
The directory also complements the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) initiated Supply Chain Action Plans (SCAPs), which apply to decommissioning activities as well as field development. Introduced in January 2018, SCAPs will help ensure operators and the supply chain work together to help decrease the cost of decommissioning.
The emphasis is certainly on everyone working together to provide the most mutually beneficial outcome, whether it’s service provider to service provider through consortiums or service providers to operators. As an industry, we have a responsibility to the public, tax payers, the environment and future generations to decommission without detriment.
Decommissioning