Onshore Yard Readiness for Upcoming Oil and Gas Offshore Structure Decommissioning Projects in Indonesia

Abstract

More than a thousand fixed oil and gas offshore structures were installed in the Southeast Asia region. Indonesia currently has more than 600 offshore oil and gas platforms, nearly half of which need to be decommissioned within the next few years. While the regulators and operators are developing procedures and regulations for the decommissioning process of the offshore platforms, there is also a need to ensure that onshore facilities are available to receive the decommissioned structures and equipment and subsequently process them safely. At the moment, there is no yard in Indonesia that is well-placed to undertake onshore decommissioning activities. The aim of this study is to develop recommendations for yard owners to assure their yards are ready for the upcoming decommissioning projects. Research data was collected directly from field survey in an offshore fabrication yard, owned by PT. Meitech Eka Bintan, Indonesia. In the current study, research data was analyzed by comparing with decommissioning yard facilities in ABLE Seaton Port, United Kingdom which was used as offshore structure decommissioning yard since 1985. Recommendations include the work required to assure the yard comply with respective guidelines and industry best practices. The research begun with identifying the yard's potential to receive onshore decommissioning work based on current primary facilities which are quay and fabrication area properties. After that, a yard modernization assessment was carried out as to identify the best location for the upgrade on the missing required facilities. The results indicate that the primary facilities of the yard are comparable to ABLE Seaton Port with both having similar depth at quayside, capable of mooring barges and Heavy Lift Vessel (HLV), both having liquid containment system at the fabrication area and the large fabrication area at PT. Meitech Eka Bintan yard is sufficient similar to the area utilized by ABLE Seaton Port for Brent Delta topside decommissioning works. However, since the yard's main business is currently on offshore structure fabrication, hence there is a lack of waste handling facilities such as waste handling workshop and covered waste storage area to fulfill the respective guidelines and regulations. A case study was carried out to identify the onshore decommissioning working area and the location of the waste handling facilities on the yard. This study is expected to assist towards improving the readiness of yards to carry out onshore decommissioning not only in Indonesia but also in Southeast Asia region.