Giant oil rig leaves Aberdeen after three months

Huge structure heads off to work on North Sea decommissioning project for BP

By Ryan Duff and Allister Thomas

May 26 2023, 11:10 am

The Noble Innovator jack-up oil rig leaves Aberdeen. Image: Kami Thomson /DC Thomson

A towering oil rig that has been part of the Aberdeen skyline for the past three months has left the Granite City.

The Noble Innovator jack-up, standing more than 650ft high, dwarfed high-rise buildings and even the Northfield tower when it arrived in the city in February.

It quickly the talk of the town, generating both awe and complaints.

Next stop BP decom project

It is now heading for work with energy giant BP on a contract to decommission old North Sea oil and gas wells.

Maintenance work was carried out on the rig while it was berthed at the new South Harbour.

At the time of its arrival, Port of Aberdeen said it would boost the north-east economy to the tune of many millions of pounds.

oil rig aberdeen — Noble Innovator leaving Aberdeen. Image: Ryan Duff/ DC Thomson

Despite Aberdeen being a major hub for oil and gas activity, the rig is the first to dock in the city’s port.

It was only made possible due to the South Harbour expansion, a £400 million-plus project which has paved the way for visits by bigger vessels from rigs to cruise ships.

Port of Aberdeen CEO Bob Sanguinetti is looking forward to seeing more big rigs coming in. Image: Kami Thomson / DC Thomson

A week before Noble Innovator’s arrival, Port of Aberdeen chief executive Bob Sanguinetti outlined hopes for the area to host many more oil and gas vessels in order to capitalise on fresh North Sea investment.

He said floating production, storage and offloading vessels – a type of ship used for developing oil and gas fields – may also appear at the port, alongside ships to support the coming offshore wind boom.

Welcoming Noble Innovator in February, Port of Aberdeen chief commercial officer Roddy James said it was “probably one of the largest we’ll see height-wise”.

However, he added: “We can have other vessels that are longer or deeper.”

Trade body Offshore Energies UK described Noble Innovator and other rigs like it as “masterpieces of modern engineering” saying they helped to underpin the UK’s decommissioning capabilities and “home-grown energy”.