Aker BP has reported the safe removal of the original accommodation platform at Valhall (QP) in the North Sea as part of the field centre modernisation.
The removal of the 3,800t platform by Allseas’ vessel Pioneering Spirit was the first of the original structures at Valhall to be removed. The single-lift operation took two hours for completion from positioning the vessel around the platform to the lift moment.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Aker BP Valhall asset vice-president Per Mikal Hauge said: “The safe and efficient removal of the QP platform is an important milestone for Valhall and for Aker BP.”
The company noted that the QP topsides removal is the first job for Pioneering Spirit under the frame agreement signed with Allseas in 2017 to provide transport, installation and removal services for the Valhall field. The structure will be transported to and disposed at the Kvaerner disposal yard at Stord, Norway.
Discovered in 1975, the Valhall field became operational in 1982 with the installation of a process/production platform, a drilling platform and an accommodation platform (QP). Recently, a wellhead platform (WP) and injection platform (IP) were installed at the field.
In January 2013, production commenced from the new process/accommodation platform (PH). The remaining IP, WP and PH, and the Flank platforms at the field will produce for many years to come.
Hauge added: “The continuous high activity level at Valhall, with simultaneous drilling operations, plugging and abandonment of old wells, removal of the original three platforms, multiple new wells and a the new Flanke West platform soon to be installed demonstrates our determination to reach the ambition of another billion barrels produced from the area.”
