Executive Viewpoint

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Executive Viewpoint

John Lawrie: Decommissioning just got greener

10 March 2011

DecomWorld speaks to Ray Grant, Environmental Director at John Lawrie, about how the metal

reprocessing and environmental services company is cornering the piece small and subsea areas of

the North Sea's decommissioning market, and how its new 'concentrate and contain' solution for

handling NORM will revolutionise hazardous waste treatment.

Interview by Rikki Stancich

As the North Sea oil and gas decommissioning market gathers momentum, John Lawrie Group, the

largest metal recycler and exporter of processed scrap metal in the North and North-east of Scotland,

is not sitting idle. The company has chanelled investment into its facilities' capability for processing

and recycling redundant subsea materials including flexible risers, flowlines, and umbilicals.

No stranger to offshore oil and gas, John Lawrie has already successfully carried out a number of

decommissioning projects. Now, with strategically located SEPA licensed waste treatment facilities

close to quaysides, it is ideally placed to offer a suite of decommissioning services to the oil and gas

market that deliver best-in-class compliance on sustainable waste management.

DecomWorld catches up with John Lawrie's environmental director Ray Grant to learn more about how

operators can benefit from its services.

DecomWorld:The John Lawrie Group has been developing its capability to recycle redundant subsea

materials. To what extent will this address the existing shortage of onshore facilities to handle

recycling these materials?

Ray Grant: The existing shortage of onshore decommissioning facilities isprimarily for jackets and topsides which require very large specialistquayside facilities with deep water berths to receive them. However, thetype of materials we are currently focused on processing are in the subsea

and piece small areas of the decommissioning market.


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These relatively smaller items can be received through most North andNortheast ports, thereby allowing greater flexibility to our clients, as werenot tied to any particular location. This can involve the unreeling and cuttingup of risers, flowlines and umbilicals, and the downsizing and cutting up ofsteel structures which can typically range from around 50 tonnes to 500

tonnes.

Our initial objective is to reduce the items either in size and/or weight at thequayside to enable the cut pieces to be loaded onto our articulated vehiclesand transported to one of our SEPA licenced treatment facilities for next

stage processing, recovery and recycling.

Our facilities throughout Scotland (Aberdeen, Montrose and Evanton nearInvergordon) have the combined capacity to receive and process up to200,000 tonnes per annum, so we have ample capacity to cope with current

and projected demand in the piece small market for the foreseeable future.

DecomWorld:What portion of these materials can be recycled?

Ray Grant: The short answer is: almost everything. As we have developedour skills in the recovery of the various items, we have seen, and continue tosee, steadily increasing recycling percentages being recorded. The key togood recycling lies in the ability to separate out the various componentparts, thereby removing any cross contamination which would otherwise

result in the recovered product being unsuitable for recycling.

A good example of this is in flexible Risers and Flowlines, which are made upof a number of metallic and non metallic layers, where we are nowrecovering and recycling up to 100%. We achieve this by separating out thevarious layers (typically between 6-8) through a largely mechanical process

into their constituent parts.

The recovered metal is then processed on our site by means of a fixed shearand made ready for shipping to steel mills in Europe. Our fixed shear inAberdeen is the largest in the UK, and represents a 3m pound investment.The plastic content, which initially went to landfill, is now passed on tolicenced processors who granulate it into feedstock for new plastic products.

Umbilicals pose a bit more of a challenge as they do not separate out veryeasily. However, by processing these through our fully automatedfragmentiser/shredder at our Montrose site, this enables us to separate and

recover the various metallic content for recycling.


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When it comes to large protection structures or manifolds, these aregenerally of all steel construction and can relatively easily be reduced in size

and recycled 100%.

Concrete mattresses can also be successfully recycled. The concrete can be

crushed using conventional stone crushing equipment and used as sub basematerial, with only the nylon tie rope being land-filled, resulting in >90%

recycling.

DecomWorld:What is the incentive for operators to recycle wherepossible? (Is there any existing or pending legislation in place requiring

operators to recycle subsea materials and topsides?)

Ray Grant: All operators are keen to recycle as much as is practicallypossible and exercise a Duty of Care. Under the Petroleum Act 1998,operators have to submit their decommissioning plans to DECC (Dept ofEnergy & Climate Change) for approval. They have to demonstrate that theyhave carried out a detailed Environmental Impact Assessment, are taking allpossible measures to comply with good waste management practice, andapplied the waste hierarchy of reduce, reuse and recycle, and minimise

landfill.

At the end of the decommissioning programme, they have to complete anEnvironmental Report and forward it to DECC. To assist our clients, weprovide them with our own detailed Environmental Report listing all thevarious items received, the weight of each, how they were processed, the

percentages of the various recovered materials and their ultimate destiny.

Apart from a legislative requirement, all operators have their ownEnvironmental Management Systems in place and are always keen tocontribute towards their own reuse and recycling environmental policies andobjectives, and adopt environmentally acceptable and sustainable solutions,with disposal to landfill as a last resort.

Of course, there is also a financial incentive for operators to recover andrecycle. The value recovered from the recycled materials is passed onto theclient and offsets the costs associated with the handling, transporting,

processing and management of the work. So it definitely pays to recycle.

DecomWorld: At what point does John Lawrie become engaged in the

process does it offer offshore services, or does it handle the kit as it comesonshore?


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Ray Grant: All of our services are onshore and we take over the minute thematerial hits the quayside. However, its important that we get involved at

an early stage in the planning process.

Most clients tend to involve us early as possible in the planning stage,

usually at the same time they are looking to appoint their offshore recoverycontractor. Its important that we have good communication with theoffshore recovery contractor, as well as the client, so we know what will be

expected from us.

For example, the preferred port location; whether the risers or umbilicals willbe on reels and require cutting; the weight and size of heavy structures suchas manifolds or protection structures, which may have to be downsized toenable transportation; and the type of mobile plant and equipment we will

require to have available.

DecomWorld:John Lawrie is also working on providing an alternative -more environmentally sound - solution for processing normally occurring

radioactive material (NORM). Can you provide more details of this?

Ray Grant: We are progressing through a JV company (NORM SolutionsLimited) a new NORM decontamination and disposal facility in Aberdeen,which will be operational later this year. A site has been secured and we areabout to commence with site development work and installation of bespoke

process equipment.

The entire process will be carried out in enclosed controlled conditions withno discharges to atmosphere or any marine environment, including drainagesystems (concentrate and contain as against dilute and disperse). Thisexciting development will provide oil and gas NORM producers with anenvironmentally acceptable and sustainable solution, and a long awaited

alternative service.

DecomWorld:How is John Lawrie positioned to take advantage of thegrowing North Sea decommissioning market?

Ray Grant: John Lawries existing licenced facilities throughout the North

and Northeast of Scotland are well located to service the growingdecommissioning market.

We are strategically located close to harbours with whom we have developedexcellent working relationships over a number of years exporting our

processed scrap, and look to build on our decommissioning capability.


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We have developed the skills and competences to handle and process

decommissioning materials, and have a loyal and experienced team.

We have already invested heavily (>4m in last 3 years) in both fixed andmobile plant and equipment, and are currently planning major upgrades to

our facilities.

Looking to the future, we are currently working with a port operator, whichis currently undergoing significant quayside upgrading and is expected to beoperational from the summer of 2011. This will enable us to receive much

larger structures as demand grows and decommissioning ramps up.

To respond to this article, please write to the editor:Rikki Stancich

Welcome to Decom World

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events, reports, updates and information for the global Decommissioning industry. To learn more about us,

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Executive Viewpoint

SapuraAcergy: Iwaki more than just a toe dip in the decommissioning market

27 October 2010

Decom World speaks to project manager Stig A. Adolfsen, and Tom O'Malley, technical manager for

the Iwaki Platform Decommissioning Project, to learn more about the project and the challenges it

presented for the SapuraAcergy team.

By Rikki Stancich


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Earlier this year SapuraAcergy Sdn Bhd successfully completed the Iwaki Platform Decommissioning

Project, worth an estimated US$60 million, for Nippon Steel Engineering Co. Ltd.

Located in 154 m (505 ft) of water roughly 40km of the east coast of Japan,the Offshore Iwaki gas field - the first and only one ever developed in the

offshore area of Japan's Pacific ocean side - was shut down in 2007.

The eight-legged, 20,735-metric ton (22,856-ton) Iwaki platform is thelargest to be decommissioned in Japan to date. The facility, commissioned in1983, consisted of offshore drilling modules installed on the jacket structureand a pipeline for transporting gas from the field to the Offshore IwakiPetroleum onshore plant in Naraha Cho.

DecomWorld catches up with Stig A. Adolfsen, project manager and TomOMalley, technical manager for the Iwaki Platform Decommissioning Project,to learn more about the project and the challenges it presented for the

SapuraAcergy team.

DecomWorld:Was the project weather sensitive and were any relevant

mitigation strategies identified for future projects?

Stig Adolfsen: The Iwaki field is located on the Pacific Ocean side of theJapanese coastline. The project received years of statistical information onthe weather condition in the field at project award. All this available datawas used to perform weather sensitivity assessment during the engineeringphase to assess any possible exposure to the operations due to the sea-

states.

In anticipation of the weather sensitive operations, the project teams focusduring the preparation phase was to carry out as much non-weathersensitive work during the anticipated weather downtime. In most casesduring the offshore campaign, this planning paid off, allowing most weather

sensitive work to be performed during good weather spells.

However, an unforeseen bi-directional long swell did result in vesselmovements that made operations and control of the lifted modules verychallenging.

DecomWorld:Which cutting equipment was used?

Tom OMalley: All major subsea cutting equipment was designed, built andoperated by Proserv Offshore. The spread provided offshore operations withmultiple tooling options (as well as contingency tools) to perform any of thecuts to complete the work scope. Primary tools for subsea cutting was


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diamond wire cutting tools, however these were complimented with a range

of abrasive water jet cutting tools.

To complement the major subsea cutting equipment, additional smallerdiameter cutting tools was designed and built by TMT (Total Marine

Technology) in Perth Australia.

DecomWorld:How effective was the cutting equipment and would you use

it again?

Tom OMalley: The majority of the tooling selected for the project wasbased on a fly to place theory, which allowed an array of cutting tools tobe placed on the seabed at a suitable time considering weather sensitivity as

well as operational limitations.

Once required to perform a cut, the ROV could hook up to the tool and fly itto its cutting location. This allowed other works to be performed in parallelwith topside removal operations.

All subsea cutting operations were completed using diverless technology off

the critical path. Therefore the spread was effective.

Would we use it again ? There is always room for improvement on anyspread, and by completing our first decommissioning project we have learnt

many lessons in relation with all areas of platform removal.

Should SapuraAcergy get awarded a similar project then further effortswould be made to improve the spread and make it more efficient inperforming their tasks subsea.

DecomWorld:How would you rate the ROV performance?

Tom OMalley: The Sapura3000 is equipped with her own state of the artwork class ROVs the ACV 4 and ACV 5. The ROVs are fully integrated into

the vessel and are operated by dedicated in-house crew.

The Sapura3000 ROV team was involved in tool selection, tool design,

tooling skid design and build and was involved in all tooling integration trialsperformed prior to going offshore.

All subsea cutting operations were performed off the critical path withoutimpact to the topside lifting and jacket removal scope. This may not havebeen achieved if the ROVs used were mobilized from a third party to

perform the work.


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DecomWorld:Were there any particular logistical challenges with bringing

the equipment together for the project?

Stig A.Adolfsen: As Japans offshore industry is relatively small, it was feltthat it may not be possible to source some of the specialist materials /

equipment required from local suppliers in Japan. The project team thereforeneeded to be sure that all the equipment mobilized was fit for purpose and

suitable to complete the work scope, without delay to the operations.

The Sapura3000, which has a significant deck area, was mobilised in JohorBahru, Malaysia, complete with equipment (including contingency and

spares) to perform the entire work scope.

This included:

y200 MT of Fabricated Items

y 70 no. Heavy Lift Slings up to 14 dia.y 75no. Heavy Lift Shackles up to 700T.y 14 no. Subsea Cutting Toolsy 360 m of Diamond Wirey 64 MT of Garnet (Grit)y 1400 m of Wire Ropey 9 no. Compressorsy 1800 m of Air Hosey Air Diving Spread

DecomWorld:Was there any noteworthy creative problem solving required

at any stage during the project?Was it successful?

Stig Adolfsen: The project was tendered on the basis that subsea cuttingoperations could only commence after the topside modules were removed.SapuraAcergy challenged this requirement and performed detailed analysisto demonstrate that the subsea cutting operations on primary legs and

braces could be performed in parallel with topside removal operations.

Another problem was how to make sure the top half of the jacket would bestable after completing all cuts but prior to lifting. Internal slip stoppers were

designed, fabricated, and installed to overcome this problem

This proved very successful and contributed to the success of the project.


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DecomWorld:Were any new approaches or technologies deployed?

Tom OMalley: Significant development and testing work was performed on

the subsea cutting tooling spread, however this is not new technology.

Similarly the de-ballasting spread required a significant amount of work toensure there was little chance of failure during the jacket lifting operation,

however this also was not new technology.

DecomWorld:Were any notable lessons taken from the project?

Stig Adolfsen: The Iwaki Decommissioning project was SapuraAcergys firstadventure into decommissioning activities, therefore we learnt many lessons

throughout the project.

On the engineering side there were several key lessons. Our client, NipponSteel, had completed the module weight and CoG assessments, these wereperformed using as-built data and supported by installation records from theplatforms 28 years of service. The accuracy of these records, complementedby a significant number of site visits during the engineering phase of the

project proved invaluable.

Lesson 2 was the jacket lift. The estimated overall jacket weight was well inexcess of the lift capacity of the Sapura 3000 main crane. In order toachieve the lift, the legs of the jacket needed to be sealed and filled with air

for buoyancy to reduce the lift weight.

As there were many unknowns (actual marine growth weight, anode weight,potential flooded members etc.) it was not possible to engineer the exactjacket weight. Therefore, to prevent the jacket from becoming buoyant, thejacket needed to be lifted in stages, which allowed the jacket actual weightto be established.


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The crane experienced 1050MT during the initial lifting case; therefore1543MT of buoyancy was gained from 78% of the leg length being filled with

air.

The third lesson was the regulatory requirements. The remote location of the

project engendered a key lesson. Performing decommissioning work in Japanrequires a construction license issued from the Japanese authorities.

Ensuring that all licenses and regulatory requirements are in place for theoperations is important. While SapuraAcergy had all requirements in place,

without these licenses, the project would have suffered.

Environmental conditions presented a fourth lesson. From an operationalperspective, the Sapura3000 prior to the project had operated in the SouthChina Sea and India, the environmental conditions of the Pacific Oceanprovided many challenges and resulted in a significant effort offshore to

change the planned operations to suit the conditions.

It would have been difficult to assess the vessel motion prior to arrival in thefield, however, limiting the use of the Big Rig and maximizing the vesselssmall cranes and other lifting & pulling devices allowed the project to becompleted.

DecomWorld:More generally, what areas in platform decommissioning are

crying out for more cost-effective, efficient solutions?

Stig Adolfsen: Had the Iwaki platform been in a less remote location theduration for the Sapura 3000 could have been minimized by utilizing a

smaller vessel for the subsea cutting scope.

Similarly, the topside removal scope could have been performed utilising adifferent methodology, such as bit-by-bit removal, and offloading to junk

barges using smaller cranes.


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