Article: Decommissioning of deep and ultra-deep water oil and gas pipelines: issues and challenges Journal: International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology (IJOGCT) 2019 Vol.22 No.4 pp.470 - 487 Abstract: When production facilities reach the end of their economic life in the offshore oil and gas industry, field owners must decide whether to replace, extend the life of, or decommission assets. The decommissioning of deep and ultra-deep water oil and gas pipelines has become a serious issue in recent years because it is a complex process and presents challenges to stakeholders. In this paper, we review the current practices of pipeline decommissioning in different regions of the world and then highlight issues and challenges related to such activities in deep and ultra-deep waters. These issues and challenges can be broadly categorised into technical (e.g., selection of appropriate decommissioning procedures for handling hazardous pipelines), financial or economic, health and safety legislation, environmental, and human or organisational issues (such as lack of requisite skills, knowledge and expertise). In order to address the challenges identified in the study, some directions for future research are suggested. [Received: December 7, 2016; Accepted: October 17, 2017] Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: Decommissioning of deep and ultra-deep water oil and gas pipelines: issues and challenges

Authors: Sheik G. Koroma; Isaac Animah; Mahmood Shafiee; Kong-Fah Tee

Addresses: School of Energy and Power, Cranfield University, College Road, Bedfordshire MK43 0AL, UK ' School of Energy and Power, Cranfield University, College Road, Bedfordshire MK43 0AL, UK ' School of Energy and Power, Cranfield University, College Road, Bedfordshire MK43 0AL, UK ' Department of Engineering Science, University of Greenwich, Central Avenue, Chatham Maritime, Kent ME4 4TB, UK

Abstract: When production facilities reach the end of their economic life in the offshore oil and gas industry, field owners must decide whether to replace, extend the life of, or decommission assets. The decommissioning of deep and ultra-deep water oil and gas pipelines has become a serious issue in recent years because it is a complex process and presents challenges to stakeholders. In this paper, we review the current practices of pipeline decommissioning in different regions of the world and then highlight issues and challenges related to such activities in deep and ultra-deep waters. These issues and challenges can be broadly categorised into technical (e.g., selection of appropriate decommissioning procedures for handling hazardous pipelines), financial or economic, health and safety legislation, environmental, and human or organisational issues (such as lack of requisite skills, knowledge and expertise). In order to address the challenges identified in the study, some directions for future research are suggested. [Received: December 7, 2016; Accepted: October 17, 2017]

Keywords: end-of-life; EOL; decommissioning; subsea pipeline; life extension; oil and gas; deep-water installation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJOGCT.2019.103509

International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology, 2019 Vol.22 No.4, pp.470 - 487

Received: 07 Dec 2016
Accepted: 17 Oct 2017
Published online: 08 Nov 2019 *

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Title: Decommissioning of deep and ultra-deep water oil and gas pipelines: issues and challenges

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