Shell/Esso plans disposal of Fulmar loading buoy

Shell U.K. Exploration & Production has invited contractors to bid for decommissioning and disposal of a single anchor leg mooring (SALM) buoy used until recently in U.K. North Sea Fulmar field. The SALM is a 5,000 metric ton cylindrical steel structure used to anchor a storage tanker in the field. The tanker and SALM were removed from Fulmar in 1994, when a newer leased tanker took over oil exports.

March 31, 1997

2 min read

Shell U.K. Exploration & Production has invited contractors to bid for decommissioning and disposal of a single anchor leg mooring (SALM) buoy used until recently in U.K. North Sea Fulmar field.

The SALM is a 5,000 metric ton cylindrical steel structure used to anchor a storage tanker in the field. The tanker and SALM were removed from Fulmar in 1994, when a newer leased tanker took over oil exports.

The SALM is much smaller than the Brent spar loading buoy, which has caused the Shell U.K. Ltd./Esso Exploration & Production U.K. Ltd. joint venture a disposal headache (OGJ, Jan. 20, 1997, p. 24).

A Shell official said the Fulmar SALM is likely to be taken ashore for scrapping, although a contractor may suggest a way of re-using the structure.

Shell/Esso has compiled a draft Best Practicable Environmental Option (BPEO) disposal plan and submitted this to U.K. Department of Trade and Industry for consideration.

The official said the draft BPEO will not be finalized for formal submission to the ministry for approval until contractors' detailed intentions can be incorporated.

Shell/Esso has not yet set a date for submission of bids by contractors and has no firm schedule for disposing of the buoy. Nor will it have a firm idea of disposal costs until contractors' bids are received.

The SALM is currently moored in a fjord near Hjelmeland, northeast of Stavanger. It is 85 m tall and has a draft of 62 m.

The official said the buoy could be lifted from the water relatively easily.

Alternate facilities

Shell/Esso has installed a new 16-km pipeline to export as much as 140,000 b/d of oil from Fulmar and the linked Gannet, Auk, and Clyde fields.

The current tanker storage and loading system in Fulmar will remain in service until the export link to the Norpipe trunkline is commissioned (OGJ, Aug. 19, 1996, p. 56).

The Fulmar storage unit was a converted 210,000 dwt tanker, which was sold last year to Den norske stats oljeselskap AS (Statoil) and Smedvig AS, Stavanger.

Statoil and Smedvig plan to renovate the tanker in the Far East and market it for new field developments.