Business Gas and Electricity News

More than 200 North Sea rigs to close by 2025

30 November 2017

More than 200 oil and gas platforms and close to 2,500 wells across the North Sea are scheduled to be decommissioned by 2025.

That’s according to new information published by Oil & Gas UK and Decom North Sea.

The groups say this will take place on 349 fields across the region, including six on the Danish Continental Shelf, 23 on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, 106 on the Dutch Continental Shelf and 214 on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS).

Nearly 7,800 kilometres of pipeline is also forecast to be dismantled.

Between now and 2025, £17 billion is forecast to be spent on decommissioning on the UKCS, with annual expenditure expected to remain consistent at up to £2 billion per year.

This is compared to the predicted £800 million cost of closing down both the Norwegian Continental Shelf and the Dutch Continental Shelf.

Around 46% of the total UKCS decommissioning spend over the period will be concentrated in the central North Sea, totalling nearly £7.9 billion.

The largest category of expenditure is well plugging and abandonment, making up 49% of the total cost at £8.3 billion.

Oil & Gas UK’s Upstream Policy Director, Mike Tholen, said: “With industry driving efficiency improvements which have led to a 16% increase in UKCS production following a decade of decline, the sector is successfully controlling the cost of well plugging and abandonment.”

Original article published on energylivenews.com