Petrofac, a leading provider of services to the global energy industry, has been awarded a multi-million-pound deal with Italy’s Saipem to support the decommissioning of a platform in the UK sector of the North Sea.

Under the terms of the contract, the companies will cooperate to prepare and remove the 20,000-ton topside using the Saipem 7000, one of the largest semi-submersible heavy lifting vessels in the world, as Petrofac stated in a press release.

Petrofac will execute the three-year project over two phases; first the preparations onboard the platform, then on the Saipem 7000 for the actual removal campaign.

The scope of Petrofac’s contract includes module separation, lift point inspection, lift point installation, riser and caisson severing.

“As our sector pursues cleaner sources of energy, decommissioning is a key enabler for the transition. Supporting Saipem and their customer, we look forward to leveraging our knowledge of North Sea operations and service provision, and 20 years of decommissioning experience to deliver a safe and predictable program that can serve as a case study for the North Sea’s transition,” said Nick Shorten the Chief Operating Officer of Petrofac’s Asset Solutions business.