First offshore decommissioning contract to be published

As the offshore decommissioning market is set to expand rapidly in the coming years, it was felt that a standard agreement for offshore decommissioning services was needed by the industry. The contract – DISMANTLECON – was approved at the Committee’s meeting in Athens on 14 May and will be released at the end of June along with guidance note.

The use of the contract is not limited to one particular type of facility or operation but can be used for removal of any offshore field architecture in the oil and gas sector. This includes pipelines, mattresses, manifolds, jackets, topsides, platforms and monopile structures, and for structures used in the renewables sector. The contract is not intended to cover disposal of the facility or Plug & Abandonment (P&A) work.

“DISMANTLECON is a simple template contract that can be amended and adapted to meet the needs of contract partners. It is designed to be scalable and can therefore be used for small to medium sized projects as well as for larger and more complex ones,” said Grant Hunter, BIMCO’s Head of Contracts and Clauses.

The contract has been written by a group of key stakeholders including marine service providers, marine contractors, P&I and legal experts. The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) and the International Salvage Union (ISU) were also represented, and guidance on insurance has been provided by a leading insurance broking and risk management company. Lastly, valuable input has been provided by a representative of an oil major co-opted on to the subcommittee.