Decom North Sea, the offshore oil & gas decommissioning forum, has reached the milestone of signing its 100th member – well ahead of membership targets.

Commercial and strategy analysts Douglas-Westwood is the latest organisation from across all sectors of the Oil & Gas industry to join the supply chain body. Other recent members include operators, major contractors, service specialists and technology developers. Among individual companies to have joined recently are Squibb Group Ltd, Offshore Installation Services Ltd (OIS), Simmons & Company International, Maersk Oil UK Ltd, Perenco UK Ltd and BMT Cordah Ltd.

The supply chain body earlier revised its target number by the end of the year from 70 members to 100 and is well on track to reach 200 members by the end of 2011 – the level chief executive Brian Nixon believes will make Decom North Sea genuinely representative of the supply chain.

“It is highly encouraging so many companies are realising Decom North Sea can help them benefit from the £25-30billion worth of decommissioning work forecast for the North Sea over the coming decades,’’ said Mr Nixon.

“We are being approached by potential new members virtually every day and getting applications to join from companies we have not been to see yet. Our focus now is very much on offering a sustained programme of relevant events to ensure we retain existing members as well as attracting new ones.’’

The decommissioning of offshore oil and gas platforms is becoming increasingly important as many UKCS fields are approaching end-of-life. More than 260 will have to be wholly or partially removed from UK waters over the next 30 years.

Andrew Reid, Managing Director and CEO at Douglas-Westwood in Aberdeen, said: “Our UKCS Offshore Decommissioning Report 2010-2040 provides an overview of future prospects, covering all aspects from the plugging and abandonment of subsea wells to onshore deconstruction and recycling. It provides essential information for decision-makers in oil companies and contracting & supply industries, government departments and financial institutions and we are delighted to offer Decom North Sea members a discount on the report.’’

Decom North Sea recently launched a supply chain mapping facility which allows operators and large contractors to access online in-depth profiles of member companies providing specific decommissioning services, their skills, capabilities and track-records.

Mr Nixon said: “This will help suppliers to promote themselves to operators and major sub-contractors that might not be aware of them and might even help avoid the need for the pre-qualification stage.’’

Decom North Sea is being funded initially by the UK government’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Scottish Enterprise.

A programme of events, seminars and share fairs in collaboration with other energy development organisations and government agencies is ongoing, with activity covering the north-east, Highlands and Central Belt in Scotland and the north-east and south-east in England where most of the potential supply chain for the decommissioning market is based.

Tags: Decom North Sea