Shell to dismantle Brent platform

Taking down a legacy platform in the North Sea is part of the natural stage of maturation in the Brent oil and gas field, Royal Dutch Shell said Tuesday.

Shell said the process for decommissioning the Delta platform -- one of four installations at the field -- begins with a 30-day public consultation period beginning Feb. 16. The Brent basin in the North Sea is one of the most mature in the world and its crude oil blends make up the global benchmark price for oil.

The Dutch oil major said the Brent field accounted for about 10 percent of the oil and gas produced in the British waters of the North Sea since operations began in 1976.

Alistair Hope, decommissioning director for Shell, said the new phase in itself should create thousands of jobs and bring substantial revenue to the British government.

"The engineering and planning skills which led to the discovery and subsequent successful production of oil and gas over four decades are essential during decommissioning, which is the natural next stage of the field's life," he said in a statement.

Shell recommends removing the 23,000-ton top section of the Delta platform in one piece by engineering company Able U.K., which will reuse or recycle the materials.

Oil production from the North Sea has been in decline since the late 1990s. Government data show a decline of 7 percent from 2013, though the rate is slowing.

The British government last year said it was moving forward with recommendations from retired businessman Ian Wood, who led a panel tasked with finding ways to breathe new life into North Sea reserve basins.

Wood's panel found there may be an additional 4 billion barrels of oil equivalent available for recovery in the North Sea.