Tapti decommissioning to take 2 years

It would take at least two years to fully decommission the Tapti offshore gas field, according to a top official.

“Tapti is now dry and is in decommissioning [phase],” said Nitin Prasad, chairman, Shell Companies in India. “Last week, we signed an agreement that resolves all the final issues.”

In 2017, the firm started preparing to decommission the Tapti field. A total of 38 wells, five platforms and four pipelines are to be closed.

While estimating that it would take two years to decommission it, he said Shell had carried out decommissioning work in the North Sea, Mexico and other parts of the world and it had experience in executing such work. “This is an offshore decommissioning, it is not easy. We worked with our partners and the government to identify a way and approach to do this, with the best standards,” he added.

Highlighting that Tapti would be the country’s first offshore field to be decommissioned, he said: “We have already been doing the first couple of plugging wells. Some of the assets, we have already transferred over to ONGC. But, now we will begin the real decommissioning work. That is a really good sign.” Recalling Tapti’s history, Mr. Prasad said it had a very long run and Shell India significantly improved the production.

Panna, Mukta (both oil fields) and Tapti are located offshore to the south of Gulf of Khambhat, off the west coast of India in the Arabian Sea. It is being operated by Shell India. On its move to exit Panna and Mukta oil fields, which account for 7% of the country’s oil and gas production, he said: “They are great fields. Because they are in late life, they can be better operated by somebody else in a different way... That’s why we made a decision not to extend the production-sharing contracts.”

When the production sharing contract ends for Panna and Mukta, the unincorporated joint venture with ONGC and Reliance would come to an end. Shell would hand over the asset to the next operator, he said.

Retail plans

Mr. Prasad said the firm had planned to open more than 1,000 retail outlets in the next 10 years. “We have significantly accelerated our plans. It takes 2-2.5 years to get a licence. There are challenges, we have identified and raised them with the State governments.”

Earlier, Mr. Prasad unveiled fourth generation ‘flat-pack’ all-terrain truck ‘The Ox’ for reaching remote areas. Such vehicles can be assembled in less than 12 hours. The Ox truck is the result of a global partnership between Shell, Gordon Murray Design and the Global Vehicle Trust. It is designed to carry a 1,900-kg payload.