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Historical Variation in Cost Forecasts
The average and range of cost forecasts for platform well P&A in the SNS and Irish Sea have remained relatively
stable over the last five surveys.
For suspended subsea E&A and subsea development wells, average forecast costs have increased consistently
over the last four years, as some operators revise their forecasts upwards based on experience gained in well P&A.
A number of wells with lower costs that were previously included in the survey are deferred and move out of the
timeframe, increasing the average for both types of subsea well. In the SNS and Irish Sea, recent reductions in rig
rates driven by the current low oil price have not yet been detected in these expenditure forecasts.
As in the CNS and NNS/WofS regions, the average and range of expenditure forecasts for platform well P&A are
lower than for the subsea wells.
Figure 10: Historical Variation in Well Plugging and Abandonment Cost Forecasts
in the Southern North Sea and Irish Sea
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Platform
Subsea E&A
Subsea Development
Estimated Cost per Well (£ Million - 2015 Money)
Average Forecast Cost Platform Well
Average Forecast Cost Suspended Subsea E&A Well
Average Forecast Cost Subsea Development Well
Range in Cost Forecasts
Source: Oil & Gas UK
*Data cannot be split out for subsea E&A and development wells for 2011
*
*
Well P&A
2014 Average
2015 Average
Platform wells
£2.7million
£3million
Subsea E&A wells
£5million
£8.8million
Subsea development wells
£7.6million
£9.6million
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2
3
4
5
6
7
8
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