John Lawrie Group has become one of the latest companies to join the oil and gas offshore decommissioningforum Decom North Sea.

No stranger to the offshore oil and gas industry, John Lawrie Group has already successfully carried out a number of decommissioning projects over the past few years. Having previously identified the market’s potential need for its services, the Aberdeen-based metal reprocessing, steel trading and environmental services company has joined the decommissioning forum as a way of further increasing its exposure in the sector. It follows an announcement from the company in March which said that it had been developing its capability to recycle redundant subsea materials including flexible risers, flowlines and umbilicals.

Established in 2009 following industry consultation, Decom North Sea aims to maximise the new business opportunities presented by offshore decommissioning. The Aberdeen-based industry forum will also tackle the main areas of weakness and the bottlenecks which are inhibiting the UK decommissioning supply chain’s capability.

The North Sea decommissioning industry has been estimated to be worth £25-£30billion over the next 30 years. The process will involve the removal from the North Sea of 600 offshore oil and gas installations – of which 470 are in UK waters – and 10,000km of pipelines. Over 90% of offshore structures will be completely removed from their marine sites and brought to shore for re-use, recycling or other disposal.

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Ray Grant, John Lawrie Group environmental director, said: “Decommissioning the oil and gas industry’s assets and infrastructure which have been installed in the North Sea over the past 40 years will provide many opportunities for service companies. It is set to be a lucrative industry, but one that must also be seen to be sensitive to the environment.

“By becoming a member of Decom North Sea we aim to raise our profile in the sector and learn from operators and other service companies as to how we can best address some of their recycling needs. The development of our riser recycling service illustrates how John Lawrie Group is innovating to meet the decommissioning needs of the oil and gas industry in a sustainable and environmentally acceptable manner.”

John Lawrie Group is the leading reprocessor and exporter of scrap metal in the north and north-east of Scotland, and has recycling facilities in Aberdeen, Montrose and Evanton, in Ross-shire