Aquaterra and James Fisher form offshore decommissioning alliance
Partnership bundles engineering, well access and subsea execution into one framework
Aquaterra Energy and James Fisher have joined forces on integrated offshore decommissioning, bringing engineering, well access and subsea execution together in a single delivery framework meant to reduce the handoffs that slow well abandonment and infrastructure removal.
Under the arrangement, Aquaterra handles front-end engineering, planning and well access, while James Fisher's energy division supplies subsea operations and offshore execution support. The model is global, with an initial focus on the North Sea, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, and will be delivered project by project, using cross-trained personnel to trim offshore headcount and risk.
Matt Marcantonio, head of engineering at Aquaterra Energy, said aligning the two firms' expertise from the outset would allow more efficient scopes, prevent downstream redesign and ultimately reduce offshore duration.
The tie-up is aimed at a swelling pipeline of work. North Sea Transition Authority data shows 153 wells on the UK Continental Shelf are past their decommissioning consent deadlines, with around £44bn ($59bn) of decommissioning spend still to come in the basin. Globally, more than 2,500 offshore structures are expected to need decommissioning by 2040. Both companies are already in talks with operators.
