bp has successfully completed the removal of North West Hutton, the first of the large, fixed-steel jacket installations to be decommissioned in the North Sea, the removal of the Miller topsides, jacket and associated subsea infrastructure, and the off-stationing of the Schiehallion and Foinaven FPSOs.
The Approved Miller and Don decommissioning programmes are mostly complete, with post-decommissioning activities still to be conducted.
All live and historic bp decommissioning programmes can be accessed below:
North West Hutton
The North West Hutton field is in Block 211/27a of the UKCS and was discovered by Amoco (U.K.) Exploration company in 1975.
The field ceased production in 2002 after successfully extracting 126 million barrels of oil. Between 2002 and 2004, all wells were decommissioned, the topsides were removed in 2008, and the jacket was removed in 2009. The jacket footings remain in place, with OSPAR derogation granted under OSPAR decision 98/3. Subsea infrastructure was decommissioned between 2011 and 2012.
All scopes associated with the approved decommissioning programme have been completed.
Miller
The Miller field ceased production in 2007 and bp has completed the first phase of decommissioning, including well decommissioning, topsides and jacket removals, and removals of the spools and associated infrastructure within the 500-metre zone of the installation.
The pipelines, which were used to export oil and gas from the Miller installation, have been flushed clear of hydrocarbons. The Miller Oil Export line (PL720) is being left in place for potential future use.
A detailed decommissioning programme contains proposals for dealing with the topsides, jacket, drill cuttings pile and subsea infrastructure in close proximity to the platform. This is available to view or download below. The UK Government approved the decommissioning programme in December 2013. All removals works associated with this decommissioning programme have been completed, with post-decommissioning requirements remaining.
The OSPAR consultation phase completed in 2011 and Government approval for derogation was received in early-2013. The rationale for the Miller jacket proposals can be viewed in the Miller decommissioning programme below.
The Miller field is situated 270 kilometres northeast of Aberdeen, in Blocks 16/7b and 16/8b, in the Central North Sea. bp is the field operator and partners are Harbour Energy and Shell.
Miller field wells were decommissioned between 2007 and 2009. In 2016, Petrofac was awarded a duty holder services contract, to support the late-life management of the platform as field operator. The jacket and topsides facilities were removed in 2017/2018, with onshore disposal completed in 2019. Subsea structures, debris and spoolpieces were removed in 2023/24.
bp remains the licence owner for Miller and, along with partners, is progressing the decommissioning for the infield pipelines (PL722, PL1971, PLU1972 and the spool crossing frame and outboard SSIV flange). The current decommissioning programme excludes the export pipeline (PL720) to St Fergus as this is currently under possible reuse considerations for carbon capture and storage by third parties. PL720 continues to be managed under an Interim Pipeline Regime (IPR).
Further information
Name: Phil Brunton
Location: Aberdeen
Email: decomissioning1@bp.com
Don Field Decommissioning Programme
The Don field is located approximately 230 kilometres northeast of the Shetland Islands in the UK Sector of the Northern North Sea and lies in 160m of water. The Don field owners are bp (operator) and Harbour Energy.
Don was a subsea development, comprising five production wells and two water injection wells. The field was discovered in 1976 and oil was first produced in October 1989, exported via pipeline to the nearby Enquest Thistle installation and then to the Sullom Voe terminal on Shetland.
The Don field ceased production in January 2005. Wells have been plugged and abandoned, and the subsea facilities decommissioned between 2005 and 2023, under an approved decommissioning programme.
Preparations are under way for decommissioning of the remaining subsea elements within the Thistle platform 500-metre zone. This will be performed as part of Enquest’s decommissioning activities for the Thistle platform.
Further information
Name: Stephen Christie
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
Email: stephen.christie@uk.bp.com
Schiehallion and Loyal fields
bp has successfully decommissioned specific facilities associated with the Schiehallion and Loyal fields to prepare for a major redevelopment of the fields as part of the Quad204 project.
The fields started producing in 1998, from five drill centres and through the Schiehallion floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel.
After 15 years of operating in harsh conditions and producing nearly 400 million barrels of oil, the original FPSO required replacement to enable continued production from the field.
In addition, technological advances increased understanding of the field and bp believes the greater Schiehallion area holds a further 450 million barrels of oil.
Field production was suspended at the start of 2013 and, in a unique operation in mid-2014, the Schiehallion FPSO was safely disconnected from field before her sale to a new owner. The offshore removal and onshore disposal phase of bp’s Schiehallion and Loyal decommissioning project received regulatory approval in June 2013.
Public consultation on the decommissioning of the Schiehallion and Loyal fields was completed in February 2013.
Further information
Name: Stephen Christie
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
Email: stephen.christie@uk.bp.com
Downloads
Foinaven
The Petrojarl Foinaven FPSO was taken off station in 2022 under an approved decommissioning programme.
The items/facilities covered by the Foinaven FPSO off station decommissioning programme are the removal of the Petrojarl Foinaven FPSO vessel and its associated mooring systems, risers and dynamic umbilicals.
The Foinaven field is situated approximately 190 kilometres west of the Shetland Isles within the Faroes/Shetland Trough.
The decommissioning programme can be viewed and downloaded below.
Further information
Name: Garry Stevenson, bp decommissioning HSE managerEmail: garry.stevenson@uk.bp.com
Andrew Area
The Andrew area includes the Andrew, Arundel, Cyrus, Farragon and Kinnoull fields, which all produce through the Andrew platform in the central North Sea. Production started in 1996.
The Andrew installation is located 230km north-east of Aberdeen in blocks 16/27a and 16/28. bp remains the licence owner for Andrew, Cyrus, Arundel, Kinnoull and Farragon and, along with partners, is progressing the decommissioning projects.
The Andrew area is due to cease production in 2027. bp commenced plug and abandonment activities on the Andrew installation wells in 2025, which will continue through to 2028.
The decommissioning programmes for the Andrew area have been split into two documents. This initial decommissioning programme contains proposals for dealing with the topsides, jacket and drill cuttings pile. The second, to be released later, will detail the decommissioning of the subsea infrastructure near the platform, infield pipelines and the subsea infrastructure at the Cyrus, Kinnoull, Farragon and Arundel fields tied back to Andrew.
The Andrew Topsides and Jacket Decommissioning Programme is available to view or download below.
Further information
Name: Phil Brunton
Location: Aberdeen
Email: decomissioning1@bp.com
Download
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