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Second platform leaves iconic Brent oil field in North Sea

Allseas Pioneering Spirit removes Brent BravoAllseas
Pioneering Spirit removed Brent Bravo

Oil giant Shell has removed a second platform from its iconic Brent field in the North Sea.

Brent Bravo, 115 miles (185km) north-east of Lerwick in Shetland, produced its first oil in 1976.

A huge lifting vessel, the Pioneering Spirit, was used to remove the topside overnight.

The first major decommissioning project in the North Sea was completed in 2017 with the removal of sister platform Brent Delta from its legs.

Brent Bravo is now being taken to Hartlepool for recycling.

Shell Brent BravoShell
Brent Bravo produced its first oil in 1976

The concrete legs of the structure have been left in position for now.

At its peak in 1982, the four platforms in the field were producing more than half a million barrels of oil a day.

Scores of platforms are forecast to be completely or partially removed over the next decade in the waters off the UK and Norway.