Title:ONLINE SHELL BRENT DECOMM ONLINE_PRORES-_300616_
Duration: 10:33 minutes
Description:
An introduction to decommissioning the Brent Field.
ONLINE SHELL BRENT DECOMM ONLINE_PRORES-_300616_ Transcript
[Background music plays]
Stately instrumental music.
[Text displays]
Decommissioning the Brent Field
[Video footage]
Bird’s eye view of the Brent Delta platformin semi-darkness, the surrounding ocean and skies forming the background.
[Presenter]
About 320 miles from Aberdeenis the Brent Oil and Gas Field. It’s one of several large fields which came on-stream during the global oil crisis of the 1970s.
[Video footage]
Footage of the presenter standing on the beach, addressing the camera, and scenic footage of the ocean alongside.
[Presenter voice-over]
Brent helped keep the lights on in the UK when energy was in short supply. At the field’s peak, it produced enough energy to run half the UK’s homes.
[Video footage]
Archival black and white footage of the Brent operations, including footage of a man standing at a large control panel, as well as panning aerial footage of refineries.
More archival footage, now in colour, of Brent operations including footage of employees working on pipes and other equipment.
[Presenter]
But now, almost all its recoverable oil and gas reserves have been depleted.Its next step is decommissioning.
[Video footage]
Close-up of the presenter addressing the camera, as previously described, before exiting at frame-left.
Wide shot of the ocean with a vessel on the horizon.
[Presenter voice-over]
The Brent Oil and Gas field is made up of 4 platforms – Delta, Charlie, Bravo and Alpha.Between them, they’ve drilled 154 wells.
[CGI animated sequence]
Zoom through clouds to an aerial view of the North Sea.
Pan over the ocean to reveal the four Brent platforms alongside one another, cutting back to the aerial/map view with a yellow block denoting location while text displays distance and location data.
[Text displays]
North Sea
Delta / Charlie / Bravo / Alpha
186KM / 61° 21’46.93” N / 01° 34’47.14” E
[Presenter voice-over]
Three of the platforms have gravity-base structures, giant concrete legs that weigh 300,000 tonnes – about the same as New York’s Empire State Building.
[CGI animated sequence]
Panning bird’s eye view of the Brent Delta platform in the ocean.
Underwater footage panning the length of the concrete legs of the gravity-base structures.
[Presenter voice-over]
The fourth has a steel support or jacket.
[Video footage]
Bird’s eye view of the Brent Delta platform in the ocean.
Underwater footage of the steel support/jacket.
[Presenter voice-over]
From seabed to the top of the platforms, they’re as tall as the Eiffel Tower.
[CGI animated sequence]
Wide view of the four platforms alongside one another in the ocean, base structures visible beneath the surface.
Interview with Duncan Manning
[Title]
Business Opportunity Manager Brent Decommissioning
[Text displays]
Duncan Manning
Business Opportunity Manager Brent Decommissioning
[Duncan]
I think it’s fair to say that these are an engineering marvel. Designed, commissioned, constructed, and put in place in a very short period of time.They were definitely built to last, and built to take the enormous punishments which they’re required to.
[Video footage]
Mid-shot of Duncan Manning standing at quayside.
Footage of the Brent Delta platform, revealing the extensive length of its concrete legs and base structure.
Cut back to mid-shot of Duncan as previously described.
Footage of a vessel rising and dipping in rough seas, the Brent Delta platform visible in the distance.
[Presenter voice-over]
But at the time they were built, little thought was given to how they might eventually be decommissioned.
[Video footage]
Footage of the Brent Delta platform, the legs being pounded by rough seas.
[Duncan]
The focus at the time was about getting oil and gas out of the ground safely and efficiently.Decommissioning wasn’t high on the agenda and indeed it wasn’t necessarily in society’s mind at the time as well.
[Video footage]
A close-up of the rough seas pounding the concrete platform legs.
Mid-shot of Duncan, as previously described.
Archival footage of platform structures being floated out to sea.
[Presenter voice-over]
But since 2006, a team at Shell’s offices in Aberdeen has been trying to find the best way to decommission this remote field.
[Video footage]
Wide external shot of Shell’s office building in Aberdeen, cutting to a closer shot of a set of windows on a particular level of the building.
Footage of several people engaged in discussion, sitting around a large boardroom table.
Interview with Alistair Hope
[Title]
Project Director Brent Decommissioning
[Alistair]
There’s enormous challenges associated with the project.
[Video footage]
Footage of the screen in the meeting room and more footage of the people seated around the large table.
[Text displays]
Alistair Hope
Project Director Brent Decommissioning
[Alistair]
The biggest responsibility you have is doing it safely.
[Video footage]
Close-up of Alistair against a blurred background.
Bird’s eye view of the Brent Delta platform in the ocean.
[Alistair]
I think decommissioning is best thought of as a natural part of the oil and gas lifecycle.And at the end of their life we don’t want to be leaving hazards behind, so it’s part of being a responsible operator.
[Video footage]
Footage of employees wearing safety gear working on equipment and structural components on the platform.
Mid-shot of Alistair against a blurred background.
Footage of employees dressed in safety gear lowering themselves on ropes from the platform, and down the concrete legs.
Mid-shot of Alistair as previously described.
[Presenter voice-over]
Before looking at methods of decommissioning, the team considered whether these platforms might have an alternative use.
[Video footage]
More footage of the meeting taking place around the large table.
[Alistair]
We’ve looked at wind, we’ve looked at carbon capture and storage.The age of the facilities and their remoteness tends to make those all unviable; it’s a very, very hostile environment.
[Video footage]
Panning close-up of a wind turbine in the ocean, more turbines visible in the background.
Aerial view of the topside of the Brent Delta platform.
Footage of a vessel rising and dipping in rough seas.
[Presenter voice-over]
Decommissioning is now underway.Shell has started by permanently sealing the wells.
[Video footage]
Footage of the drilling derrick and other platform structures taken from the topside of the Brent Delta platform.
Mid-view of a man seated at a desk facing a bank of computer screens filled with data and footage.
[Alistair]
Those wells go from the seabed through thousands of feet of rock to the reservoir. We need to seal off the reservoir from the surface…
[Video footage]
Low angle view of the top of the drilling derrick against the background of blue skies, then panning down the drilling cable.
[CGI animated sequence]
A cross-section of the seabed, showing the drill bit descending through the successive layers.
[Alistair]
…so we do that by setting typically 150ft or more of cement plug, so that we’re sure that we have a barrier that is there forever.
[Video footage]
Low angle view of the drilling cable within the derrick.
Mid-shot of Alistair as previously described.
Pull back to bird’s eye view of the Brent Delta platform in the ocean.
[Presenter voice-over]
Part of Brent decommissioning involves an extraordinary, twin-hulled, purpose built vessel. Its task is to lift the 24,000 tonne topside of Brent Delta and sail it to shore. It will be the heaviest lift ever undertaken at sea.
[CGI animated sequence]
Imagery from numerous angles of the Pioneering Spirit, seen initially through clouds of mist
[Alistair]
The Pioneering Spirit itself I think is the largest ship ever by displacement.It’s nearly a million tonnes.
[CGI animated sequence]
Vessels pull alongside the Pioneering Spirit, illustrating its size. Imagery of the Pioneering Spirit is again shown from numerous angles.
[Alistair]
The ship will ballast down…
[Video footage]
Close-up of Alistair, as previously described.
[Alistair]
…so it will sink down in the water, will move into position around the platform very carefully positioning itself using dynamic positioning and sensors on the platform. Then the hydraulic lift system will lift the platform free of the legs.
[CGI animated sequence]
Imagery of the twin-hulled Pioneering Spirit positioning itself around the Brent Delta platform and then the hydraulic lift system lifting the platform of its legs.
[Presenter voice-over]
The topside will be sailed to Hartlepool, in the North East of England, to be dismantled and recycled.
[CGI animated sequence]
Imagery of the Pioneering Spirit moving off with the topside aboard.
Aerial imagery of a second platform vessel moving between the twin hulls of the Pioneering Spirit, cutting to a close-up of the topside engaging with the second platform vessel.
[Alistair]
We think we can recycle at least 97% of the Delta topsides.
[Video footage]
Close-up of Alistair, as previously described.
[Alistair]
Most of it is steel – carbon steel, stainless steel, some exotic alloys – so all of that can be recycled.
[Video footage]
Fast motion aerial footage of a topside being dismantled.
[Presenter voice-over]
Lifting the topside will be a major feat of engineering.But that’s just the start of the decommissioning challenge.
[Video footage]
Close-up rear view shot of a man dressed in safety gear, looking out over the ocean where platform topsides are visible.
Footage from various angles of employees, dressed in safety gear, aboard the oil platform.
[Presenter voice-over]
Shell has to recommend a way to decommission the steel jacket and concrete gravity base structures.
[CGI animated sequence]
Imagery of the four platforms alongside one another in the ocean, Alpha’s steel jacket and the other three base structures visible underwater.
[Text displays]
Alpha Steel Jacket
Gravity Base Structures
[Presenter voice-over]
More than six times heavier than the topsides, it may be unsafe or unviable to remove them.
[Video footage]
Underwater footage panning the length of the concrete legs of the gravity-base structures.
High angle view of the top of the concrete base structures, blue waters below.
[Duncan]
What you’re aiming for is the complete removal of everything but that’s not always possible.There’s no silver bullet to some of the problems we face, and it’s required us to generate new, exciting, novel technology to overcome some of the challenges that we do find.
[Video footage]
Mid-shot of Duncan as previously described.
Footage from various angles of employees, dressed in safety gear, aboard one of the platforms.
Mid-shot of Duncan as previously described.
[Unidentified male speaker]
We've got the anchor hub installed so we're now installing the top of this double-isolation-valve block.
[Video footage]
Footage of two men in an office, one seated at a desk, the other leaning on the desk next to him, both looking at the imagery related to attic oil removal which is displayed on the computer screen in front of them.
[Presenter voice-over]
Shell must also remove oil trapped inside the gravity base structures, behind metre thick reinforced concrete.
[Video footage]
Footage of the attic oil removal proposals and graphics displaying on the previously mentioned computer screen.
[Alistair]
In those bases are storage cells we used for the storage of oil before it was evacuated.
[Video footage]
Close-up of Alistair, as previously described.
[CGI animated sequence]
Imagery of the four platforms alongside one another in the ocean, as previously described. The three base structures are illuminated as the speaker refers to them.
[Presenter voice-over]
The cells contain sediment, water and a thin layer of oil floating on top.
[CGI imagery]
Imagery of storage cells on the sea bed. The tops of the storage cells are illuminated as the speaker refers to the attic oil trapped in the cells.
[Alistair]
We call that attic oil, it’s sort of trapped in the attic of the cells and as a responsible operator we want to remove that oil, but also it’s required by regulation.
[Video footage]
Close-up of Alistair, as previously described.
[Presenter voice-over]
There are also 28 pipelines that need to be removed, dug into trenches, or safely covered. And Shell needs to scientifically assess and deal with piles of rock shards, or “drill cuttings”, left on the seabed when the wells were drilled.
[Video footage]
Aerial view of the top of an underwater vehicle rocking in rough seas alongside the platform, cutting to underwater footage of the vehicle approaching a pipeline on the seabed and more underwater footage from the point of view the inspection vehicle.
[Alistair]
There’s also debris around the field, which we’re duty bound under regulation to recover.This is things like scaffolding that’s been washed off during storms.Our plan would be at the end of the project, to do a sweep of all that debris and recover those items.
[Video footage]
Bird’s eye view of people both standing and seated in an office, looking at a bank of computer screens in front of them.
Underwater footage showing small fish teeming around a discarded piece of equipment or structure lying on the sea bed.
Close-up of Alistair, as previously described.
Close-up of a hand operating a control in front of the bank of screens, cutting to the previous bird’s eye view of the people facing the bank of screens.
Underwater footage of a piece of equipment on the seabed.
[Presenter voice-over]
This will ensure that the field is left in a condition that meets requirements.
[Video footage]
Underwater footage of debris being recovered from the seabed.
[Presenter]
In 1992, 15 countries signed the OSPAR convention.It sets out legislation to protect the marine environment of the North East Atlantic Ocean – stretching from the coast of Greenland, through the North Sea, and right the way down to the straits of Gibraltar. Decommissioning activity has to comply with that legislation.And to ensure that it does, the Department of Energy and Climate Change, enforce strict regulations in the UK on how decommissioning takes place.
[Video footage]
Scenic footage of the ocean and shoreline, cutting to the presenter walking along the beach, addressing the camera before cutting back to scenic footage of waves breaking over the pier.
Interview with James Blackburn
[Title]
HSE Manager Brent Decommissioning
[Text displays]
James Blackburn
HSE Manager Brent Decommissioning
[James]
We have to represent a decommissioning programme which goes through public consultation, through OSPAR consultation and then ultimately to Secretary of State for approval.
[Video footage]
Close-up of James against a blurred background.
[Presenter voice-over]
In order to reach a recommendation for how to decommission the different parts of the Brent Field, Shell is completing a Comparative Assessment process.
[Video footage]
Footage from different angles of the Brent Delta platform and employees working on various parts of it.
[James]
The Comparative assessment is a huge undertaking.Our process actually starts with first determining the decommissioning options and from there going through a lengthy exercise of data gathering, both from science and environment.
[Video footage]
More footage of the topside of the Brent Delta platform.
Close-up of James, as previously described.
Footage of a scientist, wearing white lab coat and safety glasses and working in a laboratory.
[Presenter voice-over]
Scientific and technical data has been gathered into over 300 reports. But before those reports are relied on, they are subjected to the utmost scrutiny.
[Video footage]
More footage of the scientist in the laboratory conducting various tests on different coloured substances.
[Presenter voice-over]
Every few months a group of esteemed academics, meet in London to ensure the data in the reports is accurate. They form the project’s Independent Review Group.
[Video footage]
Close-up of the engraved name at the entrance of The Institution of Mechanical Engineers, cutting to a wide shot of the exterior of the building.
High angle view of a group of men seated at a long, rectangular table and engaged in discussion.
Interview with Professor John Shepherd FRS
[Title]
Ocean and Earth Sciences University of Southampton
[John Shepherd]
Our job is to make sure that this big operation is done right, that the decisions that are made are based on solid evidence that is as reliable as it possibly can be.
[Video footage]
Close-up of Professor Shepherd against a blurred background.
[Text displays]
Professor John Shepherd FRS
Ocean and Earth Sciences University of Southampton
[James]
Well, the IRG process is a thorough process. We submit technical documents to them which they give really critical and robust review. They generate a number of comments, which we then have to formally respond to, before we get to actual acceptance and then formal close-out.
[Video footage]
Close-up of James, as previously described.
Footage of the group of men in discussion, as previously described.
Close-up of James, as previously described.
[John Shepherd]
I really feel very strongly indeed that having truly independent review is a vital part of this process.
[Video footage]
Close-up of Professor Shepherd, as previously described.
[Presenter voice-over]
Once the IRG is satisfied a report is full and accurate, Shell then uses it to help inform its decommissioning recommendations. It compares the different decommissioning options for any piece of infrastructure against five criteria:
[Video footage]
Footage of the group of men in discussion, as previously described. A large white screen against the wall at the other end displays data, graphics and footage which the men appear to consider and discuss.