As the great and the good of the decommissioning world descend on St. Andrews this week, the positivity, challenges and opportunity surrounding this lifecycle phase, once defined as final, but now perhaps transitional, are most certainly building momentum.
Since we last gathered with our peers on the Fife coast, it’s been quite a year for the team at JFO. A year during which we’ve been immersed in decommissioning activity, positively contributed to delivering significant time savings on multiple projects, which, in turn have delivered impactful cost and environmental benefits.
I am sure that I was not alone in my expectation that the now embedded drivers of efficiency, regulation and transparency have been joined by the challenge of net zero – highlighted this week by OGUK as the “next big step” for decommissioning.
As challenges go, net zero is a biggy - but not exclusive. It is intrinsically linked to the existing challenges facing decommissioning, and as with those, achievable only by combining what we are so well placed here in NE Scotland to export, experience and innovation. Our experience and honing of skills and solutions for what is the most mature and active decommissioning market in the world, with the most robust regulatory environment, make our businesses ideally placed to both deliver cost leadership for, and to benefit from the $85 bn anticipated to be spent on decommissioning globally over the next decade. (Decommissioning Insight 2019, OGUK)
Not readily associated with largescale industrial cutting equipment, innovation is often viewed through a digital lens, so we are incredibly proud that the technological developments and investment that JFO has undertaken are already making a tangible difference to decommissioning projects globally.
Demonstrating the transferability of our technology, we have also supported the first round of decommissioning for the offshore wind sector, with the cutting and removal of a single metmast monopile in the Southern North Sea. And, with ongoing investment in innovation we have broadened our equipment portfolio and skills set to include tools, methodologies and capabilities that are delivering faster project completion, significantly reducing expensive vessel time, reducing back deck and POB requirement and enhancing project assurance.
Earlier this year we also embarked upon our first funded project with the Oil and Gas Technology Centre’s (OGTC) Decommissioning Solutions Centre where, together with First Subsea, and with Shell as our industry partner, we have been developing an internal cut and lift technology for the removal of complex subsea infrastructure.
I for one am thoroughly expecting another excellent gathering from across the decom supply chain, some in-depth discussion, learning and engagement with our clients. I hope to see you there and wish everyone attending a very successful Offshore Decommissioning Conference 2019.
