3398 Guidance on United Kingdom continental shelf (UKCS) subsea pipeline decommissioning including comparative assessment (CA) and interim pipeline regime (IPR)

Overview:

This publication is focused on UKCS requirements, and as such it refers to the United Kingdom (UK) legislation and regulatory framework. It should enable operating companies to develop and justify a decommissioning programme (DP) for their subsea pipelines on a case-by-case basis.

It covers a broad range of subsea pipeline decommissioning issues, including:

• description of subsea pipeline systems and processes to inform stakeholders (background);
• the legislative and regulatory environment for subsea pipeline system decommissioning;
• decommissioning programme (DP), building on BEIS, HSE and OGA guidance;
• decommissioning options, including description of the PLUG Screening tool;
• CA approaches;
• risk assessment for IPR, and
• features of subsea infrastructure, including installation methods.

The intended users of this technical publication are:

• operating company personnel, such as pipeline engineers and technical authorities, and
• stakeholders in decommissioning outcomes.