As the year draws to a close, Esso Australia will remember 2025 as a year of several milestones achieved in terms of decommissioning.
Tackling Australia’s largest decommissioning project, the company has completed nearly US$3bn of initial works across offshore operations. This included the permanent sealing of more than 200 wells in Bass Strait, and processing over 10,000 tonnes of steel and concrete for recycling or disposal at Barry Beach Marine Terminal.
The company started out with abandonment activities in the Bream B platform, which was an unstaffed facility. As part of the first phase of a series of high-level decommissioning campaigns, the platform's topsides that formed concrete gravity structures, were removed. The Valaris 107 jack-up rig was deployed to commence plug and abandonment activities across 21 platform-based wells at Bream B. While these activities begun as early as 2024, this year saw the second stage of the plug and abandonment scope.
Other areas of work included end-of-life activities on open water exploration wells and comparatively older wells before moving on to Halibut, which is nearly 60-year old. This work followed extensive inspections on underwater platforms as well as on structural platform above water, including flare booms. Extra-solid steel piled jackets supporting the Halibut platform that needs removal will be around 70-m long, roughly implying the height of a 20-storey building on land.
Work on the Haliburt platform will be followed by decommissioning activities on Esso's first platform, Marlin One.
Other activities completed this year includes abandoning as many as 222 platforms while restoring the original caprocks.
Once Barry Beach work was opened to shareholders for feedback, the company had to rethink its approach and avoid expansion of the port at Barry Beach so as to ensure minimal impact on the Ramsar wetland and onshore environment. Barry Beach is now being equipped with hardstand to accomodate the structures when they arrive.
These activities form a part of solid groundwork by Esso Australia, which will prepare the company before the world’s largest construction vessel, the Allseas Pioneering Spirit, arrives, and will travel from the Netherlands to start removal of 12 retired offshore facilities in 2027.
