10 / 60
ACTIVITY SURVEY
2016
page 10
• Production is expected to rise to around 1.74 million boepd by 2018, provided new fields come on-stream as
planned and currently approved brownfield investment is sustained.
• The impact of new start-ups is so great that over 40 per cent of total production in 2018 is expected to come
from fields that have started production or seen significant redevelopment since the start of 2013.
• In spite of this wave of new start-ups, production is likely to halve between 2015 and 2025 if fresh investment
opportunities are not realised.
Decommissioning
• In 2015, 21 fields ceased production in part due to the worsening market outlook.
• A further 80 fields are expected to cease production by the end of the decade.
• Just over £1 billion was spent on decommissioning activity in 2015, similar to 2014.
• Decommissioning expenditure is expected to be around £1.5 billion in 2016, rising to over £2 billion by 2017 and
could match capital expenditure by the end of the decade.
• Through to 2055, total decommissioning spend on sanctioned assets is forecast to be in the region of £50 billion.