Decommissioning Insight 2017

DECOMMISSIONING INSIGHT 2017

It should be remembered that decommissioning on the UKCS is just getting under way. Our experience as a sector in decommissioning will in time become a valuable part of the UK oil and gas industry’s international reputation. We will be judged by how effectively we manage late-life assets and how successfully we deliver our decommissioning programmes. If we continue to build on current achievements, the UK will in time earn its place as a global leader in late-life asset management and decommissioning. Our competencies in this field have already been recognised in the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy as a key opportunity for our economy and we have clear aspirations to make decommissioning a part of a Sector Deal over the next few months. Looking at the wider North Sea picture, 23 fields are preparing for decommissioning on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate’s outlook for the next five years shows that expenditure will rise to £800 million by 2021. In The Netherlands, decommissioning between now and 2025 is forecast to take place on 106 fields totalling between £650-800 million. We face an exciting future; what we do now to build a decommissioning capability in the UK will reap rewards for years to come. The provision of an increasingly open and broad perspective on decommissioning activity will arm the industry with the information it requires to become more efficient and competitive. There is a very real opportunity for the UK’s decommissioning sector to become a champion of decommissioning excellence within the global arena. Together we can achieve this, and this Decommissioning Insight with its wealth of market intelligence is one key way to prepare for achieving that outcome.

Michael Tholen, Upstream Policy Director, Oil & Gas UK

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