Shell in the United Kingdom has hired Norway-based construction outfit AF Gruppen to decommission six platforms in the Indefatigable gas field in the British sector of the North Sea.

AF Decom Offshore UK Ltd will do the decommissioning work for 200 million kroner ($28.7 million) over three years starting in February 2009.

The contract includes the recycling of 13,000 tonnes of steel and equipment.

“The agreement strengthens our strategic target of delivering environmental services and it is a recognition of our competence in dismantling and recycling offshore steel structures internationally," company boss Pål Egil Rønn was quoted as saying.

The Indefatigable gas field lies 75 kilometres offshore in the Southern North Sea and was discovered in 1966 by Amoco. Two blocks are owned by Shell and two by Perenco.

The Shell-Esso block comprises 26 wells, six platforms and five pipelines. The fixed steel platforms are known as Juliet-D, Juliet-P, Kilo, Lima, Mike and November. The Juliet group has two bridge-linked platforms whilst the others are single platforms.

Glycol dehydration facilities on the Juliet and Kilo platforms were decommissioned but were left in place. The last time the platform wells were visited by drilling rigs were in 1992, 1988 and 1992 for Juliet, Kilo and Lima respectively.

Offshore removal and onshore disposal activities were once set to end by 2010.

Tags: AF Gruppen, Royal Dutch Shell plc