Maersk Decom, a 50:50 joint venture between Maersk Drilling and Maersk Supply Services, has won a contract for the complete plugging and abandonment of Tullow Oil’s Banda and Tiof fields located offshore Mauritania.
This is the first project where Maersk Decom will provide an end-to-end plugging and abandonment solution under one single contract, Maersk Decom said in a statement on Thursday.
The solution bundles project management, engineering and planning with the execution of plug and abandonment of seven legacy exploration & appraisal wells, as well as the removal and disposal of subsea equipment. Maersk Decom will provide all personnel, assets and equipment required for the project, including a drilling unit and offshore support vessels.
The Banda and Tiof fields are located 53km and 84km respectively off the coast of Mauritania in 1200m water depth. Part of the project team will be based locally in A.P. Moller – Maersk’s Nouakchott office, while the rest of the onshore team will support from Maersk Decom’s headquarters in Lyngby, Denmark.
Planning and engineering begins immediately. A site survey is planned for the second quarter of the year and offshore execution is expected to start in early 2021.
Lars Banke , Chief Executive Officer of Maersk Decom, said: “By delivering the entire scope under one overarching contract, we can optimize the project every step of the way. We believe bundled projects and campaigns are the way of the future for the industry. As a dedicated decommissioning company, we are proud to have been able to achieve this milestone together with Tullow.”
Mark MacFarlane , Chief Operating Officer of Tullow Oil, said: “This award to Maersk Decom builds on the success of Tullow’s recent decommissioning campaigns in the UK Continental Shelf where Tullow successfully contracted out complete decommissioning and plugging and abandonment scopes to specialist contractors.”