Oil & Gas UK Decommissioning Insight 2014

The Southern North Sea and Irish Sea

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The number of wells scheduled for P&A in the SNS and IS areas has increased by almost 90 compared to the 2013 report. This increase is spread across the decade, although 60 more wells are forecast between 2015 and 2019. The rise is due to the inclusion of additional oil and gas projects and higher forecasts from existing projects. The large number of wells forecast to undergo P&A in 2020 and 2021 is due to eight projects scheduling P&A at the same time, and it is expected that this activity will smooth out when forecasts are revisited. Activity in 2014 is lower than the forecast made for the year in the 2013 report as a number of projects have spread out their activity. Well P&A expenditure increases in line with activity in the near term, tailing off towards the end of the decade. The higher expenditure between 2015 and 2018 is due to the greater number of subsea wells. The peak in wells seen in 2020 and 2021 is due to an increase in platform wells, which are less expensive.

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Figure 7: Number of Wells Forecast to be Plugged and Abandoned by Type and Total Annual Expenditure in the Southern North Sea and Irish Sea from 2014 to 2023

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Increased Uncertainty in Forecasts

90

800

6

80

700

70

600

60

7

500

50

400

40

300

30 Number of Wells

200

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Forecast Expenditure (£ Million)

100

10

0

0

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

Platform

Subsea Development

Subsea E&A

Total Well P&A Expenditure

Source: Oil & Gas UK

Number of Wells 2014 to 2023 Total Expenditure 2014 to 2023

Proportion of Platform Wells

417

£1.7 billion

80%

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