Shell’s nerve centre of North Sea oil and gas pipeline operations celebrates thirtieth anniversary

Shell’s Greg Guidry, Executive Vice-President Upstream Europe (centre, back) is pictured with Fiona Cooper, UKDCC Northern North Sea Operator; Rob Whelan, Head of the UKDCC (left) and John Gallagher,Technical Vice-President Upstream Europe (right).

On the eve of Offshore Europe 2009 - Monday 7 September 2009 - Shell’s unique nerve centre for UK offshore operations celebrated its thirtieth anniversary.

The centre, known as the UKDCC (UK Dispatching and Co-ordination Centre), is at the heart of Shell’s office complex on the outskirts of Aberdeen.

It is equipped with sophisticated technology needed to manage and support the operations which maintain the flow of oil and gas with optimum safety through one of the world’s most challenging offshore systems.

To mark the anniversary the centre hosted an open day and exhibition for Shell staff and former UKDCC employees, showcasing the growth in the work of the centre and changes in technology.

The UKDCC grew out of the Aberdeen Operations Co-ordination Centre (AOCC)
which was set up by Shell and Esso to operate The Brent System, a pipeline system delivering oil from various platforms via the Cormorant Alpha platform to the Sullom Voe Terminal on Shetland, on behalf of the Brent system operators.

Recently the operatorship of this section of what is now a vast pipeline system traversing the North Sea was taken over by the Abu Dhabi national energy group TAQA.

Today’s UKDCC is unique both in terms of the scale of the operations with which it is concerned and because it combines responsibilities associated with these operations with a front-line role in co-ordinating emergency response.

In addition to watching over the UKCS operations of 36 pipelines, 52 offshore platforms and 8 onshore gas plants, involving 16 different operators, 18 shippers and over 30 different contract agreements, the UKDCC is the first point of contact for emergency response when an incident occurs related to Shell operated platforms, gas plants or pipelines.

The growth of responsibilities of the current UKDCC has mirrored the evolution of the oil and gas industry in the North Sea with the centre now dealing with average daily gas volumes of 70 million cubic metres, average daily oil volumes of 9,000 million cubic meters and average daily NGL volumes of 10,000 tonnes.

The UKDCC is manned by an eagle-eyed team of 18 who work round-the-clock in 12 hour shifts to keep watch on the vital pipeline network and carry out the many varied associated duties. The tight-knit team operates in five shifts, each made up of a Supervisor, Northern North Sea Operator and Southern North Sea operator.