Non-specialist readers, suppliers, trainees, local businesses · 9 min read
North Sea decommissioning in plain English
Image: Vantage Subsea image library / Offshore imagery
A simple guide to installations, wells, pipelines, removals, reuse, port handling and why decommissioning matters to the UK marine economy. With real numbers.
The scale of the work
- OEUK forecasts £19.7bn in decommissioning expenditure over the next 10 years.
- Approximately 2,100 North Sea wells will be decommissioned — around 200 per year.
- Average well decommissioning cost: £7.8 million.
- In 2021, 10% of UKCS oil and gas expenditure went to decommissioning. This rose to 14% in 2022 and is set to reach 19% by 2031.
What decommissioning means
- Offshore decommissioning is the process of safely taking late-life oil and gas infrastructure out of service.
- Work can include wells, topsides, jackets, subsea infrastructure, pipelines, onshore terminals, waste handling and environmental documentation.
- The work is highly regulated and often planned years ahead through formal decommissioning programmes.
- Over 75% of spend will be in central and northern North Sea — benefiting ports and communities from Teesside to Aberdeen.
Terms worth knowing
- Topsides: the upper working part of an offshore platform.
- Jacket: the steel support structure beneath many fixed offshore platforms.
- Plug and abandonment (P&A): the process of making wells permanently safe.
- Comparative assessment: evaluation of options for dealing with infrastructure such as pipelines or subsea equipment.
- Heavy-lift vessel: a vessel designed to remove large offshore structures in single lifts.