Decommissioning Insight 2018

Well decommissioning increasingly dominates drilling activity — The relatively low number of new fields gaining approval on the UKCS during the downturn has contributed towards a reduction in development drilling activity. Only 71 development wells were drilled on the UKCS in 2017, with total drilling activity falling by 50 per cent throughout the downturn (see Figure 4). During the downturn there has been an increase in well decommissioning activity, with the total number of wells decommissioned in 2017 rising above the number of new wells drilled for the first time. This trend is expected to continue in the coming years unless there is a significant increase in development drilling and exploration and appraisal activity. Much is being done by the drilling community in conjunction with Oil & Gas UK and the OGA to improve well delivery and success will increase overall activity, add to production through existing assets and indeed slow down the pace of decommissioning

1

2

3

4

Figure 4: UKCS Wells Activity

300

Exploration Appraisal

Development

Decommissioned

5

250

200

6

150

7

100

Number of Wells per Year

8

50

0

9

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Source: OGA

10

11

15