China’s TSC Group has signed a joint venture agreement with Offshore CC FZE to enter the plug and abandonment (P&A) and decommissioning market.
TSC said on Tuesday that the agreement was signed on August 18 and that the newly created JV company, OIM Pte. Ltd., was incorporated in Singapore. The new JV company will have operations in Singapore as well as Norway and the UK.
OIM derived its name from Offshore Innovations Management founded by Oddgeir Indrestrand who originated the concept of a single jack-up solution capable of operating in the harsh North Sea environment with the capability to combine P&A operations on offshore oil wells and platform decommissioning, and installation if required.
The company stated that the JV’s objective is to provide solutions for a rapidly growing market demanding P&A and decommissioning operations.
TSC emphasized that many of the wells and offshore platforms in the North Sea and other areas worldwide have entered late stages of their lifespan, the needs for P&A and decommissioning services will increase significantly over the next 20-30 years.
As far as the structure of the joint venture is concerned, 70 percent of the stake in the JV will be held by TSC and the other 30 percent by OCC FZE.
The company added that the JV will primarily function as a company which will market, operate and maintain the fit-for-purpose rigs designed by OIM for operations in the North Sea for ‘several major oil companies.’
TSC finished off by stating that this JV expands the company’s business from only drilling rigs to other platforms and services, which will, in turn, cover the entire lifespan of an offshore oilfield development.