Maersk Decom has received a contract to provide complete plugging and abandonment of Tullow Oil’s Banda and Tiof fields offshore Mauritania.
This is the first project where Maersk Decom will provide an end-to-end plugging and abandonment solution under one single contract, the company said.
The solution bundles project management, engineering and planning with the execution of plug and abandonment of seven legacy exploration and 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.
“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,” said Lars Banke, chief executive officer of Maersk Decom.
“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. We are looking forward to working jointly with Maersk who provided us with the most convincing offer,” added Mark MacFarlane, chief operating officer of Tullow Oil.
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 Q2 and offshore execution is expected to begin early 2021.