Decommissioning Insight 2016 - Oil & Gas UK

DECOMMISSIONING INSIGHT REPORT 2016

Central North Sea

• Of the 644 wells forecast for P&A in this region over the next decade, the number of platforms wells has decreased to 241 from 292 estimated in 2015, while the number of subsea wells has increased by 71 to 403. This leads to an overall increase of 20 wells compared with the 2015 survey. Sixty-three per cent of wells for P&A in this region are subsea, a higher proportion than the 53 per cent forecast in 2015. • The increase in subsea well activity comes from 21 new projects in this region included in the survey, 19 of which are subsea projects ranging from subsea tie-backs to single suspended exploration and appraisal (E&A) wells as operators take advantage of current low rig rates to carry out this activity during the downturn. • The net decrease in platform wells is due to activity already completed, combined with field-life extension projects that have postponed decommissioning on some platforms to outside the survey timeframe. • An additional floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) decommissioning project has also been included for the first time, brought forward due to the low oil price.

• Twenty wells are planned for P&A in 2016, rising to an average of 77 wells per year from 2017 to 2021.

• Activity is forecast to peak at 116 wells in 2024 as 16 different projects plan to carry out activity in the same year.

• The scheduling of P&A activity for the majority of projects has changed since the 2015 report as activity has either been brought forward for some projects or postponed for other projects, highlighting how plans can change as project scopes are refined.

Figure 3: Number of Wells Forecast to be Plugged and Abandoned in the Central North Sea

140

Platform Subsea Development Suspended Subsea E&A Wells

Increased Uncertainty in Forecasts

120

100

80

60

Number of Wells

40

20

0

2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

Source: Oil & Gas UK

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