History of the Stable Offshore Energy Project
The Stable Offshore Energy Project (SOEP) was Canada’s first offshore natural gas project, owned by ExxonMobil.
A series of natural gas fields were discovered near Stable Island, Nova Scotia from 1979. With the high costs involved in developing the fields in an area known for extreme weather and the low natural gas prices of the time, it wasn’t until 1995 that recovering the gas was seen as economically viable. The central Thebaud complex was first to be installed in August 1999 and a pipeline connecting it to the mainland gas plant 140 miles away was completed the following month. There are five fields, developed in two stages and each containing a gas platform. The first lot, known as tier 1, were Thebaud, Venture, and North Triumph. The tier 2 fields began production a few years later and were called Alma, and South Venture. The SOEP produced fourteen million cubic meters of natural gas per day until 2018.
The Thebaud hub was comprised of three platforms, constructed in close proximity and linked by bridges. Thebaud contained the processing equipment for the fields, along with accommodation for approximately forty workers and systems for the remote control and monitoring for the other platforms. Satellite platforms were installed at the other fields, feeding the gas they extracted to Thebaud, which in turn pumped it to the mainland. These unmanned wellhead platforms were equipped with a helipad, emergency accommodation, and minimal processing facilities.
Gas production at the SOEP was shut down in December 2018 and decommissioning began to seal the wells and remove the platform structures. Able UK was given the contract to remove and recycle the platforms at their site in Hartlepool, with the first structures arriving by barge in the second quarter of 2020.
Map of the Stable Island Offshore Project. (https://soep.com)
The three platforms of the Thebaud complex. The structure to the right of the centre platform is a movable jack-up rig. The tall flare stack was removed at sea. (https://www.cnsopb.ns.ca)
The Explore
I visited on two occasions, the first with @slayaaaa and @m9, while Prettyvacant got some sleep and then a couple of nights later with PV.
When I first visited Hartlepool in early August to see Brent Alpha, I noticed another large structure at the end of the dock. I thought it was a drillship, but I realised it was actually the two main topsides of the Thebaud complex on a barge after PV returned to the site at the end of the month.
At the end of September we had another large trip up north where spent quite a bit of time in Teesside, predominantly for the Terylene plant at Wilton. On the night we were due to head into the sprawling mass of Wilton we had a just enough time to head to Able for a bit of climbing around on the rigs. The site is certainly looking busy now with a total of 6 offshore platforms on the site: Brent Alpha, 3 rigs which formed the Thebaud group, North Triumph, and Alma. We spent the bulk of the time on the platform which contained the processing section of Thebaud and only had a quick run around the structure containing the accommodation block and helipad. It was bloody windy night, though at least it remained dry.
When Prettyvacant and I returned we spent over six hours on site but still only managed to have a reasonable look around the three Thebaud platforms and then a dash around Brent Alpha, missing out on North Triumph and Alma. The strong wind of the previous nights had completely disappeared which was a relief, though the temperature has dropped considerably. With sunrise much later then in early August I was expecting the demolition workers to arrive a little later than before. It was already approaching 05:30 as we boarded Alpha and we intended to leave by 06:00 just to be safe. Although we were pushing our luck, I was determined to climb the drilling derrick as I hadn’t noticed the tube enclosing the ladder to the summit on my first visit. Getting to the drilling area took longer then expected as its not really very clear what level and route to take from the start point. The climb up wasn’t too bad, though it felt very high up and exposed once I reached the top at about 06:05. The view was certainly impressive, there’s not a lot of places it’s possible to look down on a nuclear power station and the colours of dawn over Redcar Steel Works was spectacular, while much of Teesside was still in darkness. Unfortunately, the view was somewhat spoiled as demolition workers were descending on the site en-masse. I quickly realised that standing 80m or so above ground on a massive oil rig about to be swarmed by demolition workers isn’t really a good idea, especially when the only means of getting to the ground is via an exposed 15m staircase. Once I had taken a few shots I rushed back down to the ground and met back up with PV. Irritatingly some bloke had parked his bulldozer in between Alpha and our exit, facing the rig. Our only option was to dart around him, close to the fence and hope he wasn’t paying much attention. He must have been taking a nap or distracted by his phone as we made it around three sides of him and out of the site without incident. It was a relieve to make it out after a successful night and we were blessed with a cracking sunrise.
Looking a lot more impressive then on my first visit. On the left is Brent Alpha, with Alma in front, centre right is the two main platforms of Thebaud, with the third, and North Triumph hidden behind the steel lattice supporting structures.
Starting off with Thebaud H-84 which contained the majority of the processing equipment.
Although there was enough light on the rigs exterior to get lots of photos, it was quite a challenge to photograph the masses pipework which form the bulk of the structure.
The large exhaust pipe had been cut down with this section laying on the deck.
The bright lights of the Venator chemical plant.
The site seen from the top of the crane operators cab.
On my second visit I swapped to my 50mm prime lens.
Another view of the Venator works.
One of the cool looking lifeboats, able to fit 21 people. I really want one of these!
Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station.
And another of Venator, showing the Billingham chemical works in the distance.
Here's one of me.
The Stable Offshore Energy Project (SOEP) was Canada’s first offshore natural gas project, owned by ExxonMobil.
A series of natural gas fields were discovered near Stable Island, Nova Scotia from 1979. With the high costs involved in developing the fields in an area known for extreme weather and the low natural gas prices of the time, it wasn’t until 1995 that recovering the gas was seen as economically viable. The central Thebaud complex was first to be installed in August 1999 and a pipeline connecting it to the mainland gas plant 140 miles away was completed the following month. There are five fields, developed in two stages and each containing a gas platform. The first lot, known as tier 1, were Thebaud, Venture, and North Triumph. The tier 2 fields began production a few years later and were called Alma, and South Venture. The SOEP produced fourteen million cubic meters of natural gas per day until 2018.
The Thebaud hub was comprised of three platforms, constructed in close proximity and linked by bridges. Thebaud contained the processing equipment for the fields, along with accommodation for approximately forty workers and systems for the remote control and monitoring for the other platforms. Satellite platforms were installed at the other fields, feeding the gas they extracted to Thebaud, which in turn pumped it to the mainland. These unmanned wellhead platforms were equipped with a helipad, emergency accommodation, and minimal processing facilities.
Gas production at the SOEP was shut down in December 2018 and decommissioning began to seal the wells and remove the platform structures. Able UK was given the contract to remove and recycle the platforms at their site in Hartlepool, with the first structures arriving by barge in the second quarter of 2020.
Map of the Stable Island Offshore Project. (https://soep.com)
The three platforms of the Thebaud complex. The structure to the right of the centre platform is a movable jack-up rig. The tall flare stack was removed at sea. (https://www.cnsopb.ns.ca)
The Explore
I visited on two occasions, the first with @slayaaaa and @m9, while Prettyvacant got some sleep and then a couple of nights later with PV.
When I first visited Hartlepool in early August to see Brent Alpha, I noticed another large structure at the end of the dock. I thought it was a drillship, but I realised it was actually the two main topsides of the Thebaud complex on a barge after PV returned to the site at the end of the month.
At the end of September we had another large trip up north where spent quite a bit of time in Teesside, predominantly for the Terylene plant at Wilton. On the night we were due to head into the sprawling mass of Wilton we had a just enough time to head to Able for a bit of climbing around on the rigs. The site is certainly looking busy now with a total of 6 offshore platforms on the site: Brent Alpha, 3 rigs which formed the Thebaud group, North Triumph, and Alma. We spent the bulk of the time on the platform which contained the processing section of Thebaud and only had a quick run around the structure containing the accommodation block and helipad. It was bloody windy night, though at least it remained dry.
When Prettyvacant and I returned we spent over six hours on site but still only managed to have a reasonable look around the three Thebaud platforms and then a dash around Brent Alpha, missing out on North Triumph and Alma. The strong wind of the previous nights had completely disappeared which was a relief, though the temperature has dropped considerably. With sunrise much later then in early August I was expecting the demolition workers to arrive a little later than before. It was already approaching 05:30 as we boarded Alpha and we intended to leave by 06:00 just to be safe. Although we were pushing our luck, I was determined to climb the drilling derrick as I hadn’t noticed the tube enclosing the ladder to the summit on my first visit. Getting to the drilling area took longer then expected as its not really very clear what level and route to take from the start point. The climb up wasn’t too bad, though it felt very high up and exposed once I reached the top at about 06:05. The view was certainly impressive, there’s not a lot of places it’s possible to look down on a nuclear power station and the colours of dawn over Redcar Steel Works was spectacular, while much of Teesside was still in darkness. Unfortunately, the view was somewhat spoiled as demolition workers were descending on the site en-masse. I quickly realised that standing 80m or so above ground on a massive oil rig about to be swarmed by demolition workers isn’t really a good idea, especially when the only means of getting to the ground is via an exposed 15m staircase. Once I had taken a few shots I rushed back down to the ground and met back up with PV. Irritatingly some bloke had parked his bulldozer in between Alpha and our exit, facing the rig. Our only option was to dart around him, close to the fence and hope he wasn’t paying much attention. He must have been taking a nap or distracted by his phone as we made it around three sides of him and out of the site without incident. It was a relieve to make it out after a successful night and we were blessed with a cracking sunrise.
Looking a lot more impressive then on my first visit. On the left is Brent Alpha, with Alma in front, centre right is the two main platforms of Thebaud, with the third, and North Triumph hidden behind the steel lattice supporting structures.
Starting off with Thebaud H-84 which contained the majority of the processing equipment.
Although there was enough light on the rigs exterior to get lots of photos, it was quite a challenge to photograph the masses pipework which form the bulk of the structure.
The large exhaust pipe had been cut down with this section laying on the deck.
The bright lights of the Venator chemical plant.
The site seen from the top of the crane operators cab.
On my second visit I swapped to my 50mm prime lens.
Another view of the Venator works.
One of the cool looking lifeboats, able to fit 21 people. I really want one of these!
Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station.
And another of Venator, showing the Billingham chemical works in the distance.
Here's one of me.
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