Decommissioning Insight 2015

DECOMMISSIONING INSIGHT 2015

As seen in Figure 7, activity in the CNS is forecast to peak in 2021 and remain high thereafter. By contrast, activity in the NNS/WofS regions is forecast to be higher in the near-term, dropping off towards the end of the timeframe. The proportion of platform wells in the CNS is much lower than all the other regions of the UKCS. Forecast expenditure, however, does not closely correlate with these levels of activity, but is influenced by the type of wells. Years with a greater proportion of subsea wells typically have higher expenditure as these wells are relatively more expensive to plug and abandon. Furthermore, the complexity of the wells to be plugged and abandoned in a year can also influence expenditure. Figure 7: Number of Wells Forecast to be Plugged and Abandoned by Type and Annual Expenditure Central North Sea

600

140

Increased Uncertainty in Forecasts

120

500

100

400

80

300

60

Number of Wells

200

40

100

20

Forecast Expenditure (£ Million - 2015 Money)

0

0

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

Platform Subsea Development

Subsea E&A

Total Well P&A Expenditure

Source: Oil & Gas UK

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