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DECOMMISSIONING INSIGHT REPORT
2016
22
Central and Northern North Sea and West of Shetland
•
Facilities ‘making safe’ activities are planned on 26 platforms and 2 FPSOs, equating to 383 topside modules
over the next decade.
•
The forecast for topside preparation is slightly higher, with 406 modules on 29 platforms and 1 FPSO.
•
The overall activity in these regions is higher than that forecast in the 2015 report due to 24 new projects and
more detailed schedules for existing projects as their programmes have been developed and refined.
•
Four platform removal projects have been postponed to outside the survey timeframe, although this has been
offset by two of the new projects that have four large platforms for removal.
•
Close to 30 topside modules are forecast for ‘making safe’ and topside preparation in 2016, with ‘making safe’
activity peaking at 77 modules in 2018 and topside preparation peaking at 68 modules in 2021.
•
Just under 2,000 kilometres of pipeline are forecast for ‘making safe’ in these regions over the next decade, with
activity varying over the ten-year period, particularly in the second half of the survey timeframe (2021 to 2025).
•
Forecast activity is lower than reported in 2015 as some projects with significant levels of activity have been
postponed. Although decommissioning on some projects has been brought forward, any associated pipeline
activity lies outside the survey timeframe, leading to a net decrease in activity from the 2,350 kilometres
forecast in 2015.
•
Seven projects currently plan to carry out pipeline ‘making safe’ in 2023 causing a peak of 753 kilometres. For fields
with significant lengths of pipeline to be decommissioned, ‘making safe’ may be carried out over a number of years.
Figure 10: Forecast Number of Topside Modules for ‘Making Safe’ and Topside Preparation
in the Central and Northern North Sea and West of Shetland
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Number of Topside Modules
Making Safe
Topside Preparation
Source: Oil & Gas UK
Increased Uncertainty
in Forecasts