Energy services company Petrofac has been awarded a contract with Italian oilfield services company Saipem to support the decommissioning of an undisclosed platform in the UK North Sea.

Under the multi-million-pound contract, the two companies will work as an integrated team to prepare and remove the 20,000-tonne topside rig.

Work is planned to be carried out using the Saipem 7000 semi-submersible heavy lifting vessel.

Petrofac said it plans to undertake the three-year project in two phases.

The initial phase will involve the preparations onboard the platform. The second phase will see the use of Saipem 7000 vessel for the actual removal campaign.

The contract scope includes module separation, lift point inspection, lift point installation, riser and caisson severing.

Petrofac’s Asset Solutions business chief operating officer Nick Shorten said: “As our sector pursues cleaner sources of energy, decommissioning is a key enabler for the transition.

“Supporting Saipem and their customer, we look forward to leveraging our knowledge of North Sea operations and service provision, and 20 years of decommissioning experience to deliver a safe and predictable programme that can serve as a case study for the North Sea’s transition.”

Earlier in 2023, Saipem secured two offshore contracts, worth nearly $850m (€850m), for work on separate projects in the Black Sea and offshore UK.

One of the contracts was awarded by EnQuest Heather for the decommissioning of the existing Thistle A Platform.

The platform is situated in a water depth of 162 metres in the UK region of the North Sea, around 510 miles north-east of Aberdeen.

With the potential to include additional subsea facilities, Saipem will be in charge of the engineering, topsides and jacket preparation, removal and disposal.