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Jalili S, Leontidis G, Cauvin SR, Gormley K, Stone M, Neilson R. Bottom-up formulations for the multi-criteria decision analysis of oil and gas pipeline decommissioning in the North Sea: Brent field case study. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2024; 365:121491. [PMID: 38924886 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.121491] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2024] [Revised: 06/04/2024] [Accepted: 06/13/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024]
Abstract
Many Oil and Gas (O&G) fields in the North Sea have produced their economically recoverable reserves and have entered the decommissioning phase or are close to cessation of production. The subsequent O&G decommissioning process involves a range of stakeholders with specific interests and priorities. This range of inputs to the process highlights the necessity for the development of multi-criteria decision frameworks to help guide the decision-making process. This study presents bottom-up formulations for the economic, environmental, and safety risk criteria to support the multi-criteria decision analysis within the Comparative Assessment (CA) of O&G pipeline decommissioning projects in the North Sea. The approach adapts current guidelines in the O&G industry and considers a range of parameters to provide estimations for the costs, energy usage, greenhouse gas emissions, and safety risks. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed bottom-up formulations, the longest oil export pipeline in the Brent field, PL001/N0501 is selected as a case study. The numerical results revealed the consistency of the results obtained from the proposed approach with those reported in the technical documents by industry. In most cases, the formulations provide estimates with less than 10% differences for the costs, energy usage, emissions, and safety risks. Based on the proposed multi-criteria formulations, the study also presents the use of an immersive decision-making environment within a marine simulator system to help inform the decision-making process by stakeholders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shahin Jalili
- The National Decommissioning Centre, University of Aberdeen, Newburgh, AB41 6AA, United Kingdom; Interdisciplinary Centre for Data and AI & Department of Computing Science, University of Aberdeen, AB24 3FX, Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
| | - Georgios Leontidis
- Interdisciplinary Centre for Data and AI & Department of Computing Science, University of Aberdeen, AB24 3FX, Aberdeen, United Kingdom
| | - Samuel R Cauvin
- The National Decommissioning Centre, University of Aberdeen, Newburgh, AB41 6AA, United Kingdom
| | - Kate Gormley
- The National Decommissioning Centre, University of Aberdeen, Newburgh, AB41 6AA, United Kingdom; School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen, AB24 2TZ, United Kingdom
| | - Malcolm Stone
- The National Decommissioning Centre, University of Aberdeen, Newburgh, AB41 6AA, United Kingdom
| | - Richard Neilson
- The National Decommissioning Centre, University of Aberdeen, Newburgh, AB41 6AA, United Kingdom
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Knights AM, Lemasson AJ, Firth LB, Bond T, Claisse J, Coolen JWP, Copping A, Dannheim J, De Dominicis M, Degraer S, Elliott M, Fernandes PG, Fowler AM, Frost M, Henry LA, Hicks N, Hyder K, Jagerroos S, Jones DOB, Love M, Lynam CP, Macreadie PI, Marlow J, Mavraki N, McLean D, Montagna PA, Paterson DM, Perrow M, Porter J, Russell DJF, Bull AS, Schratzberger M, Shipley B, van Elden S, Vanaverbeke J, Want A, Watson SCL, Wilding TA, Somerfield P. Developing expert scientific consensus on the environmental and societal effects of marine artificial structures prior to decommissioning. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2024; 352:119897. [PMID: 38184869 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119897] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2023] [Revised: 12/19/2023] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 01/09/2024]
Abstract
Thousands of artificial ('human-made') structures are present in the marine environment, many at or approaching end-of-life and requiring urgent decisions regarding their decommissioning. No consensus has been reached on which decommissioning option(s) result in optimal environmental and societal outcomes, in part, owing to a paucity of evidence from real-world decommissioning case studies. To address this significant challenge, we asked a worldwide panel of scientists to provide their expert opinion. They were asked to identify and characterise the ecosystem effects of artificial structures in the sea, their causes and consequences, and to identify which, if any, should be retained following decommissioning. Experts considered that most of the pressures driving ecological and societal effects from marine artificial structures (MAS) were of medium severity, occur frequently, and are dependent on spatial scale with local-scale effects of greater magnitude than regional effects. The duration of many effects following decommissioning were considered to be relatively short, in the order of days. Overall, environmental effects of structures were considered marginally undesirable, while societal effects marginally desirable. Experts therefore indicated that any decision to leave MAS in place at end-of-life to be more beneficial to society than the natural environment. However, some individual environmental effects were considered desirable and worthy of retention, especially in certain geographic locations, where structures can support improved trophic linkages, increases in tourism, habitat provision, and population size, and provide stability in population dynamics. The expert analysis consensus that the effects of MAS are both negative and positive for the environment and society, gives no strong support for policy change whether removal or retention is favoured until further empirical evidence is available to justify change to the status quo. The combination of desirable and undesirable effects associated with MAS present a significant challenge for policy- and decision-makers in their justification to implement decommissioning options. Decisions may need to be decided on a case-by-case basis accounting for the trade-off in costs and benefits at a local level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antony M Knights
- University of Plymouth, School of Biological and Marine Sciences, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA, UK.
| | - Anaëlle J Lemasson
- University of Plymouth, School of Biological and Marine Sciences, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA, UK
| | - Louise B Firth
- University of Plymouth, School of Biological and Marine Sciences, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA, UK
| | - Todd Bond
- The UWA Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, 6009, Australia; School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, 6009, Australia
| | - Jeremy Claisse
- Department of Biological Sciences, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA, 91768, USA; Vantuna Research Group, Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA, 90041, USA
| | - Joop W P Coolen
- Wageningen Marine Research, Ankerpark 27, 1781 AG, Den Helder, Netherlands
| | - Andrea Copping
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, US Department of Energy, Seattle, USA
| | - Jennifer Dannheim
- Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Am Handelshafen 12, 27570, Bremerhaven, Germany
| | - Michela De Dominicis
- National Oceanography Centre, Joseph Proudman Building, 6 Brownlow Street, Liverpool, L3 5DA, UK
| | - Steven Degraer
- Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Operational Directory Natural Environment, Marine Ecology and Management, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Michael Elliott
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of Hull, HU6 7RX, UK; International Estuarine & Coastal Specialists (IECS) Ltd., Leven, HU17 5LQ, UK
| | - Paul G Fernandes
- Heriot-Watt University, The Lyell Centre, Research Avenue South, Edinburgh, EH14 4AP, UK
| | - Ashley M Fowler
- New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, Sydney Institute of Marine Science, Mosman, NSW, 2088, Australia
| | - Matt Frost
- Plymouth Marine Laboratory, The Hoe Plymouth, Prospect Place, Devon, PL13DH, UK
| | - Lea-Anne Henry
- School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, King's Buildings Campus, James Hutton Road, EH9 3FE, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Natalie Hicks
- School of Life Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, Essex, UK
| | - Kieran Hyder
- Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), Lowestoft, UK; School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
| | - Sylvia Jagerroos
- King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955, Saudi Arabia
| | - Daniel O B Jones
- National Oceanography Centre, European Way, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, UK
| | - Milton Love
- Marine Science Institute, University of California Santa Barbara, USA
| | - Christopher P Lynam
- Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), Lowestoft, UK
| | - Peter I Macreadie
- Deakin University, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Burwood, Australia
| | - Joseph Marlow
- Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), Oban, UK
| | - Ninon Mavraki
- Wageningen Marine Research, Ankerpark 27, 1781 AG, Den Helder, Netherlands
| | - Dianne McLean
- The UWA Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, 6009, Australia; Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), Perth, Australia
| | - Paul A Montagna
- Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, TX, USA
| | - David M Paterson
- School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 8LB, UK
| | - Martin Perrow
- Department of Geography, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Joanne Porter
- International Centre Island Technology, Heriot-Watt University, Orkney Campus, Stromness, Orkney, UK
| | | | | | | | - Brooke Shipley
- Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Coastal Fisheries - Artificial Reef Program, USA
| | - Sean van Elden
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, 6009, Australia
| | - Jan Vanaverbeke
- Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Operational Directory Natural Environment, Marine Ecology and Management, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Andrew Want
- Energy and Environment Institute, University of Hull, HU6 7RX, UK
| | - Stephen C L Watson
- Plymouth Marine Laboratory, The Hoe Plymouth, Prospect Place, Devon, PL13DH, UK
| | | | - Paul Somerfield
- Plymouth Marine Laboratory, The Hoe Plymouth, Prospect Place, Devon, PL13DH, UK
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