Brent Delta decommissioning

Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 25 January 2017 at 11:23:31 UTC
Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 18 April 2017 at 11:33:21 UTC
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Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 05 May 2017 at 11:21:21 UTC
Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 04 June 2017 at 11:21:21 UTC
Author(s): Sentinel Vision team, VisioTerra, France - svp@visioterra.fr
Keyword(s): ocean monitoring, urban, oil rig, platform, spill, torching, Scotland, England, United Kingdom, Norway, North Sea
Fig. 1 - Sentinel-1 (22.04.2017 & 01.05.2017) - vv polarization - Shortest path between Brent offshore oilfield & Seaton port near Hartlepool.
2D view
Fig. 2 - Sentinel-2 (28.04.2017) - 4,3,2 natural colour - Oil rigs in the North Sea.
2D animation
By zooming in, oil spills and torching can be seen coming from several of these platforms.

According to Shell regarding the Brent oil field located offshore in North Sea: "After 40 years of operations, almost all the economically recoverable reserves of oil and gas have been produced, and in line with UK legislation, the Brent Field will now be decommissioned. The decision to decommission Brent is a natural step in the life cycle of the field."

Facilities located around the Brent field - source: UK government
Fig. 3 - Sentinel-2 (18.04.2017) - Brent Bravo, Charlie & Delta (top, circled) 10 days before the operations.
2D animation 2D view
Brent Delta in operation - source: Alamy Stock Photo for The Guardian

48 wells, of which 40 development wells were drilled from Delta over the period 1977 to 2007 according to the official decommissioning report
Fig. 4 - Sentinel-2 (28.04.2017) - Pioneering Spirit vessel shown while it was removing and loading Brent Delta’s topsides.
2D view
Shell described the decommissioning as the succession for the following steps:
  • plugging and making safe the 154 wells across the Brent Field;
  • removing to shore, and recycling the platform’s topsides;
  • recovering oil and gas debris from the seabed across the Brent Field;
  • removing the oil –known as ‘attic oil’ – trapped at the top of some of the subsea storage cells;


Scale of Brent Delta (299m) compared to the Shard (310m), Eiffel Tower (324m) & Empire State Building (443m) - source: The Guardian
Fig. 5 - Sentinel-2 (04.06.2017) - 4,3,2 - Only 3 legs remain over the sea after Brent Delta decommissioning.
2D view
Fig. 6 - Sentinel-1 (22.04.2017) - Brent Bravo, Charlie & Delta (top, circled) 6 days before the operations.
2D animation 2D view
Fig. 7 - Sentinel-1 (28.04.2017) - Pioneering Spirit vessel shown while it was removing and loading Brent Delta’s topsides.
2D view
offshoreenergytoday described the operation: "Allseas-owned dynamically positioned single-lift installation/decommissioning and pipelay vessel Pioneering Spirit has removed Shell’s 24,000 t Brent Delta platform topsides from the UK North Sea setting what the company claimed was the world record in lifting."

Pioneering Spirit, shown as it transports Brent Delta platform
Fig. 8 - Sentinel-1 (04.05.2017) - Little remains visible of what was a 300m high structure from seabed to top.
2D view
Fig. 9 - Sentinel-2 (25.01.2017) - Brent Delta's final destination, Seaton port.
3D animation 3D view
Fig. 10 - Sentinel-1 (01.05.2017) - Pioneering Spirit (north, circled) approaching Seaton port; dock 6 was empty then.
3D view
Fig. 11 - Sentinel-1 (03.05.2017) - Radar image acquired the day after Brent Delta reached Quay 6 where it will be decommissioned.
3D view
Fig. 12 - Sentinel-2 (05.05.2017) - Optical image acquired three days after Brent Delta reached Quay 6 at Able Seaton Port.
3D view
The Brent Delta platform at the newly-constructed Quay 6 at Able Seaton Port - source: Hartlepool Mail
The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Space Agency or the European Union.
Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2025, processed by VisioTerra.
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