DECOMMISSIONING ASSET INSPECTION FOR KINSALE ENERGY IN IRELAND
Sector Oil Gas & Petrochemical
Region Europe
Kinsale Energy, previously Marathon Oil Ireland (MOIL), has been operating gas fields off the County Cork coast since 1978. The gas wells in the Kinsale Area have been producing for 40 years and it is anticipated they will reach the end of their productive life by 2020/21, when the gas reserves will have been depleted. At this point, decommissioning activity is expected to begin, which will see the wells permanently plugged and associated facilities, including two offshore platforms and the onshore Inch Terminal, decommissioned.
Multiple difficult to access inspection work scopes were completed on the platforms, such as the underdeck, risers and conductors and splash zone. Platform underdecks are traditionally a difficult area to inspect; access by rope access or scaffolding can be challenging and it can take several weeks to conduct the inspections, incurring high costs and requiring technicians to work at height for extended periods of time.
Ahead of the decommissioning campaign, Kinsale Energy selected Cyberhawk to conduct condition assessments of two platforms, plus an onshore communications tower, using drones.
Kinsale Energy, previously Marathon Oil Ireland (MOIL), has been operating gas fields off the County Cork coast since 1978. The gas wells in the Kinsale Area have been producing for 40 years and it is anticipated they will reach the end of their productive life by 2020/21, when the gas reserves will have been depleted. At this point, decommissioning activity is expected to begin, which will see the wells permanently plugged and associated facilities, including two offshore platforms and the onshore Inch Terminal, decommissioned.