Together with Norwegian AF Offshore Decom and British Decom Energy, Dutch offshore contractor Heerema Marine Contractors has founded Fairfield Decom. The company will focus on the dismantling and recycling of oil and gas installations at sea.
Headquartered in Aberdeen, the new platform combines the knowledge of an operator with the expertise of offshore decommissioning contractors. The new company seeks to provide an all-encompassing solution for ageing offshore oil and gas assets, primarily in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS). The UK currently is the largest decommissioning market. The venture is still subject to the approval of the Norwegian Competition Authority.
New Business Model
Fairfield Decom will be able to manage, integrate and then execute end-to-end late life operations and decommissioning activities. Through a new business model, complexity and the number of contractual arrangements are to be reduced, while delivering operational efficiency, cost-effectiveness and predictability. At the same time, Fairfield Decom seeks to contribute to the 35 per cent cost reduction targets set by the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA).
Bengt Hildisch, Managing Director of AF Offshore Decom comments: 'The establishment of Fairfield Decom represents an important step change in the decommissioning business model. It responds to the call from the UK Regulator, the Oil and Gas Authority, to create new business delivery models to reduce complexity to support the next generation of decommissioning.'
Technically Robust and Commercially Creative
Graeme Fergusson, Managing Director of Fairfield Decom comments 'The three companies have unrivalled experience in decommissioning and there is great alignment in terms of our responsible approach to business and our core values. Our operator background means that we understand what the E&P community wants – an integrated solution that is technically robust, commercially creative and that will deliver a safe, cost-effective and environmentally-sound solution.'
Decommissioning Hub with Local Talent
Fairfield Decom will not only access the expertise of the three companies, but will rely heavily upon local talent and the supply chain in Scotland to support its business. Fairfield Decom is determined to be at the forefront of the drive to establish a thriving decommissioning hub in Scotland. This ensures that it will have the potential to access a global decommissioning market estimated to be worth more than $ 80 billion over the next ten years. What is clear is that those companies that are successful in decommissioning in the North Sea will have a competitive advantage in the global market.
Partners in Fairfield Decom
- Heerema has over fifty years of experience in the offshore oil and gas and renewable industries, transporting, installing, and removing all types of offshore facilities. This includes fixed and floating structures in shallow, deep, and ultra-deep waters.
- AF Offshore Decom, a subsidiary of the Norwegian contracting and industrial group AF Gruppen, is a specialised contractor that has been developing and executing solutions for the removal and recycling of offshore installations for the past fifteen years.
- Decom Energy is the first fully outsourced end-to-end, late-life and decommissioning operator in the North Sea with its subsidiary, Fairfield Energy, well-advanced in the decommissioning of the Greater Dunlin Area.
