Shell has announced its plans to decommission the North Sea Brent oil and gas field.

A public consultation will begin on Feb. 16 to find the best way to take down the 23,500-ton Brent Delta platform, which has been in operation since the 1970s.

This engineering project will involve removing the topside of the platform in one piece by a heavy lift vessel and bringing it to Teesside, UK, for disassembly.

“The Brent field has been a prolific national asset for many years, creating and sustaining thousands of jobs and contributing billions of pounds to the UK government,” says Alistair Hope, Brent Decommissioning project director at Shell.

Work has already been underway to strengthen the Brent Delta platform so that it can withstand the lift without breaking. Shell says doing so would reduce environmental impact and keep costs down. More than 97% of the material will be reused or recycled by company Able UK.

In the second phases of decommissioning, Brent Delta’s legs, topsides and the legs of three other platforms along with 140 wells and 28 pipelines will be removed.

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