January delivers a new year, fresh starts and a change in job descriptions for one Gulf of Mexico (GoM) spar. At the time of its installation on Garden Banks (GB) Block 876 in 2004, the Red Hawk spar was the world’s first cell spar production platform. With its decommissioning 10 years later, the platform celebrated another first with its reefing at Eugene Island Block 384 when it joined the ranks of the Rigs-to-Reef program as its first spar.

The Rigs-to-Reef policy allows obsolete, nonproductive offshore oil and gas platforms to be converted to artificial reefs to support marine habitats, according to the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE). BSEE’s role in the program is to ensure that when an operator is no longer producing oil or gas from a well, the well is correctly decommissioned. Operators work with state agencies to receive permits to add platform structures to designated artificial reefs.

The decommissioning of Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s Red Hawk spar was successfully carried out by the Acteon subsidiary Intermoor in October. According to the company, the project represents its first work in ballasting and deballasting.

The Red Hawk spar is the deepest floating production platform to date to be decommissioned in the GoM. Work was split between the original spar site at GB 876 at a depth of 1,585 m (5,200 ft) and the reefing site at a depth of 131 m (430 ft), according to a press release.

The company developed the engineering procedures and performed the work to disconnect the mooring lines from the floating facility. It also ballasted the hull prior to and during the topsides removal and deballasted it to prepare the hull for towing. Ballasting and deballasting were performed from a nearby derrick barge. The spar was then towed to the reefing site, where it was flooded and laid on the seabed in a controlled manner. After recovery of the mooring lines, the company assisted with the as-laid survey of the reefing site.

“Through thorough engineering and efficient offshore operations InterMoor enabled Anadarko to facilitate the safe and efficient removal of the platform. Multiple departments were involved—project management, project engineering, advanced analysis group, subsea group, operations and shore base,” Dusan Curic, project manager at InterMoor, said. “We also managed multiple subcontractors throughout the project.”

One subcontractor on the project was McDermott International. The company’s Derrick Barge 50 assisted in the decommissioning. The barge is a dynamically positioned heavy lift vessel that removed mooring lines for the Red Hawk and provided accommodation and decommissioning support services, according to McDermott.

Dominic Savarino, McDermott’s vice president and general manager, Americas, cited the project as “yet another example of our efforts to improve asset utilization beyond the requirements of our existing backlog.”

As the renaissance continues in the GoM, we’re sure to see more aging platforms receive extensions on their usefulness by providing support for marine life to flourish.

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