RESL performed decommissioning training, operations peer review and engineering for the Iwaki platform in Japan for Iwaki Petroleum Company Ltd (INPEX subsidiary), Exxon Mobil Inc., JNOC & Nippon Steel Engineering from 2001 to 2010.
The Iwaki platform was a large 20,000 mt fixed steel platform located in deep water in northeastern Japan. RESL was involved in various work over multiple years covering:
(a) Internal Training (2001-2002)
RESL wrote a series of three training books for the “Decommissioning Research Project” and gave a decommissioning training course in Tokyo:
- Book 1: Political, Environmental & Regulatory Policies, Issues, Influences & Repercussions
- Book 2: Review Of Facility Types, Present & Future Decommissioning Technologies, Cost Estimates
- Book 3: Subsea Equipment & Pipeline Review, Technologies & Decommissioning Cost Estimation Methodology
“The team was extremely pleased to have attended the training course conducted by Dr Twomey. It was an eye-opener for all of us. We realised many points went unnoticed, and it highlighted the importance of collaborating and addressing these issues. We wish we had attended the course much earlier, but we will work on reducing the risks for our future operations.”
INPEX
(b) Review and Gathering of Decommissioning Cost Data (2003)
(c) Technical Review North West Hutton Decommissioning (2009)
- Capturing lessons learned from the NW Hutton decommissioning project (largest offshore platform removed to date) and applying the lessons to the upcoming Iwaki project.
(d) Peer Review of Proposed Iwaki Decommissioning Methodology (2009)
The scope of work included a peer review of the following work packages planned as part of the Iwaki decommissioning:
- Proposed method to remove topside facilities and MSF
- Proposed methods to cut jacket at approximately EL-92.5m
- Proposed method to lift and topple jacket adjacent to the original location
- Proposed method to transport and dispose of topside facilities and MSF