Tullow Awards Maersk Decom Bundled Project

Tullow Oil plc has selected Maersk Decom to plug and abandon its Banda and Tiof fields offshore Mauritania, Maersk Decom reported Thursday.

Maersk Decom – a 50/50 joint venture of Maersk Drilling and Maersk Supply Service – noted the project represents the first instance in which the company will provide end-to-end plugging and abandonment operations under one single contract. The firm stated the contract calls for bundling project management, engineering and planning with plugging and abandoning seven legacy exploration and appraisal wells, along with removing and disposing of subsea equipment.

“By delivering the entire scope under one overarching contract, we can optimize the project every step of the way,” Maersk Decom CEO Lars Banke commented in a written statement emailed to Rigzone. “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.”

The Banda and Tiof fields are located 33 miles (53 kilometers) and 52 miles (84 kilometers), respectively, offshore Mauritania in 3,937 feet (1,200 meters) of water, Maersk Decon stated. The firm added that part of the project team will work out of A.P. Moller-Maersk’s office in Nouakchott, Mauritania, with the remainder based at the JV’s headquarters in Lyngby, Denmark.

“This award to Maersk Decom builds on the success of Tullow’s recent decommissioning campaigns in the U.K. Continental Shelf where Tullow successfully contracted out complete decommissioning and plugging and abandonment scopes to specialist contractors,” remarked Tullow Chief Operating Officer Mark MacFarlane. “We are looking forward to working jointly with Maersk who provided us with the most convincing offer.”

Maersk Decom stated that planning and engineering begin immediately, with a site survey planned for the second quarter of this year and offshore execution set to start in early 2021.

Source: Rigzone