Global energy transition specialists Well-Safe Solutions have received a further contract extension from Italian energy major Eni Energy Netherlands BV to decommission selected subsea and platform wells across Eni’s portfolio in the Dutch sector of the North Sea.
Eni have recently exercised another 90-day option for the Well-Safe Protector jack-up asset under a newly agreed contract amendment. This work is to be executed in direct continuation with the previously declared option which commenced in November 2024.
Upon the completion of this latest option with Eni, the Well-Safe Protector will move directly onto the Spirit Energy contract announced by Well-Safe Solutions in November 2024.
These multi-operator commitments will see the Well-Safe Protector committed until at least August 2025, with further longer-term options agreed with Eni as part of the newly signed contract amendment.
This amendment offers increased flexibility to Eni, who have the option to green light an additional 120 days of work to decommission platform wells immediately after the Spirit Energy work, along with two further options at 180 days each.
If these options are exercised, they have the potential to keep the Well-Safe Protector committed until Q4 2026 outside the UK Continental Shelf.
With the Well-Safe Protector operational in the North Sea continuously since August 2023, it has already decommissioned 25 wells across Dutch and UK waters to date for Eni, Ithaca Energy and Neptune Energy.
Phil Milton, Chief Executive Officer at Well-Safe Solutions, said: “Well decommissioning continues to account for a considerable amount of the North Sea’s overall decommissioning activity – with a 50% increase in well decommissioning forecast by OEUK last year.[1]
“Operators around the world are looking for specialist well decommissioning providers with a market-leading track record of delivering safe, efficient well decommissioning operations.
“Since the Well-Safe Protector first mobilised in August 2023, it has delivered top-quartile operational uptime – ensuring the learnings from continual well decommissioning activity are reinvested into future work scopes.
“Effective well decommissioning cannot exist without cooperation, and we are looking forward to deepening the partnership we currently enjoy with Eni as we build the foundations of a long-term well decommissioning campaign at this key moment in the North Sea’s development towards a low-carbon future.”
This latest contract announcement continues a period of growth for the business founded in Aberdeen in 2017.
In November 2024, Well-Safe Solutions announced two new contracts totalling $25m USD for approximately 170 days of firm work in the North Sea, using the Well-Safe Protector jack-up and Well-Safe Defender semi-submersible, for Spirit Energy and an additional global operator.
[1] Offshore Energies UK, Decommissioning Report 2024, p.11.
