History
The Brent oil field was discovered in 1971, 116 miles north-east of Lerwick, Shetland Islands, in the middle of the North Sea. The field was operated by Shell and named after the brent goose, with production commencing in November 1976. Four large oil platforms were constructed to serve the field, standing in 140m of water - Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta. At the field's peak in 1982 it was producing half a million barrels of oil a day, with enough oil extracted each year to supply over 12 million homes with energy. In the mid 90s Shell began to shift the field from an oil instillation to one predominantly focused on gas.
Brent Alpha was confusingly the last of the four platforms to be installed, in 1976 and is certainly the odd one out of the four. It is supported by a lattice structure, rather then the three or four large legs which hold up the other platforms, with it's flare stack jutting out to the side, in contrast to the other rigs whose stacks rose up to the sky, high above their drilling derricks. In June 2020 the topside of Brent Alpha was cut free from it's supports and transported by the huge lifting vessel 'Pioneering Spirit' to Able's Seaton Port to be cut up for scrap over the course of twelve months, following the fate of it's sister rigs - Delta and Bravo, in 2017 and 2019.
The Explore
Thanks to @Ojay and @slayaaaa for helping with the access for this one.
I'd been eager to climb about on an oil rig since I saw the great report by @AndyK of Brent Delta, but missed the opportunity for Bravo last year. For my first trip out of the county since lockdown began I was keen to tick off many of the sites which won't be around for much longer, and this was high on the list. I managed to convince Prettyvacant to make the long journey up to Hartlepool to see the rig and am very glad we were able to make it. Unfortunately we were a little late to see the place in pristine condition, the flare stack had been lopped off just days after the structure arrived and the accommodation block was already quite a mess. We picked a perfect night for it though, with no rain and virtually no wind. I did miss out a few areas though as I managed to doze off for one and a half hours after sitting down on a steel staircase so it was already fairy light by the time we left.
The site from about one and a half miles away, showing (left to right) Venator Chemical Plant, Brent Alpha and Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station
The docks from the railway bridge, showing the mountain of scrap the previous rig
The derrick from the helipad
Drilling derrick
Venator Chemical Plant
The accommodation block was situated below the helipad
Medical room
Recreation room/ gym
Kitchen
Locker room. I was pretty shocked how much perfectly good stuff has been left inside and is destined for the skip
Central control room
Boilers
A large generator, enclosed in a sound-proof box. I think I missed the main engine room
The gas turbines as it was getting light. I can't imagine the steel staircase was that comfy, I think I was just pretty exhausted by that point
Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station with the blast furnace and gas holders of Redcar Steelworks to the right
Exterior of the derrick and drilling area
Drilling area, showing the 'doghouse' where drilling operations were controlled, on the left
Interior of the 'doghouse'
Thanks for looking
The Brent oil field was discovered in 1971, 116 miles north-east of Lerwick, Shetland Islands, in the middle of the North Sea. The field was operated by Shell and named after the brent goose, with production commencing in November 1976. Four large oil platforms were constructed to serve the field, standing in 140m of water - Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta. At the field's peak in 1982 it was producing half a million barrels of oil a day, with enough oil extracted each year to supply over 12 million homes with energy. In the mid 90s Shell began to shift the field from an oil instillation to one predominantly focused on gas.
Brent Alpha was confusingly the last of the four platforms to be installed, in 1976 and is certainly the odd one out of the four. It is supported by a lattice structure, rather then the three or four large legs which hold up the other platforms, with it's flare stack jutting out to the side, in contrast to the other rigs whose stacks rose up to the sky, high above their drilling derricks. In June 2020 the topside of Brent Alpha was cut free from it's supports and transported by the huge lifting vessel 'Pioneering Spirit' to Able's Seaton Port to be cut up for scrap over the course of twelve months, following the fate of it's sister rigs - Delta and Bravo, in 2017 and 2019.
The Explore
Thanks to @Ojay and @slayaaaa for helping with the access for this one.
I'd been eager to climb about on an oil rig since I saw the great report by @AndyK of Brent Delta, but missed the opportunity for Bravo last year. For my first trip out of the county since lockdown began I was keen to tick off many of the sites which won't be around for much longer, and this was high on the list. I managed to convince Prettyvacant to make the long journey up to Hartlepool to see the rig and am very glad we were able to make it. Unfortunately we were a little late to see the place in pristine condition, the flare stack had been lopped off just days after the structure arrived and the accommodation block was already quite a mess. We picked a perfect night for it though, with no rain and virtually no wind. I did miss out a few areas though as I managed to doze off for one and a half hours after sitting down on a steel staircase so it was already fairy light by the time we left.
The site from about one and a half miles away, showing (left to right) Venator Chemical Plant, Brent Alpha and Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station
The docks from the railway bridge, showing the mountain of scrap the previous rig
The derrick from the helipad
Drilling derrick
Venator Chemical Plant
The accommodation block was situated below the helipad
Medical room
Recreation room/ gym
Kitchen
Locker room. I was pretty shocked how much perfectly good stuff has been left inside and is destined for the skip
Central control room
Boilers
A large generator, enclosed in a sound-proof box. I think I missed the main engine room
The gas turbines as it was getting light. I can't imagine the steel staircase was that comfy, I think I was just pretty exhausted by that point
Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station with the blast furnace and gas holders of Redcar Steelworks to the right
Exterior of the derrick and drilling area
Drilling area, showing the 'doghouse' where drilling operations were controlled, on the left
Interior of the 'doghouse'
Thanks for looking
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