Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Dundee-based Well-Safe Solutions awards two multi-million pound contracts to convert former drilling rig into decom asset

Well Safe Guardian
Well Safe Guardian

Dundee-based Well-Safe Solutions has awarded two multi-million-pound contracts to convert a former drilling rig to a decommissioning asset

Well-Safe announced in April that it had acquired the Ocean Guardian drilling unit from Diamond Offshore.

The firm, which took a large site at the Port of Dundee towards the end of 2017, said it intended to invest around $100 million to give the unit the plug and abandonment capabilities.

Global Energy Group and Rigfit7seas have been appointed to deliver the ambitious refurbishment of the semi-submersible drilling rig.

Global will provide quayside services and the paintwork scope while Rigfit7seas will provide accommodation upgrade services.

As part of the upgrade, Well-Safe will be installing a dive system and the capability to deploy a subsea intervention lubricator.

Phil Milton, chief executive of Well-Safe Solutions, said: “The award of these contracts, within the timeframes we committed to, will ensure that this bespoke plug and abandonment asset will be available to the industry in 2020.”

Aberdeen-headquartered Well-Safe was launched in August 2017 with the vision to become a tier one wells decommissioning company.

The company expects to add around 90 staff over the next year, of which between 10 and 15 will be based in Dundee.

Mr Milton added: “We believe we are now a key part of helping the industry achieve its 35% decommissioning cost reduction target.

“Joint well plug and abandonment campaigns, using our club approach will not only be more cost efficient, but also help build UK supply chain expertise in decommissioning.”

Global Energy Group, who have been supporting Well-Safe with marine operations and quayside services since April this year, have secured the contract to support the upgrades and life extension works at the Port of Nigg.

Global said around 80 staff would be engaged in the rig conversion until the end of the year.

Rigfit7seas said the contract would involve up to 50 staff.

Brian Knowles, group managing director of Rigfit7seas, said: “As the leading contractor in the market for accommodation upgrade services, this award will see Rigfit7Seas execute another project destined for operation in the North Sea.

“The project award further enhances our already extensive offering in the international marketplace and, at peak, will secure around 50 jobs across our engineering and construction teams for approximately 100 days, starting immediately.”

The latest research indicates more than 33,000 wells worldwide will need to be decommissioned over the next 20 years.

rmclaren@thecourier.co.uk