Decommissioning Insight 2019

6. North Sea Activity

In Summary The North Sea is endowed with a thriving oil and gas industry which has benefitted the surrounding nations and their economies for many years — and will for many more to come. Where the North Sea E&P industry leads, others globally follow, building on the capabilities developed in this region, leveraging on the skills and capabilities developed by the UK, the Netherlands, Norway and Denmark which have enabled the region to prosper. In this regard, OGUK continues to work closely with national industry associations — notably Oil Gas Denmark, the Netherlands Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Association (NOGEPA), and Norwegian Oil and Gas Association (NOROG) — to explore synergies and learn from each other. The North Sea already presents a very significant decommissioning opportunity. With 2,624 wells, over 1.2 million tonnes of topsides to be removed, and almost 675,000 tonnes of substructures to be decommissioned over the next decade, there is a considerable quantity of work to carry out. It is essential that the nations around the North Sea continue to work together to develop a cost-effective way to carry out this work but also reap the full extent of the global opportunity that success in this regional market offers. That success depends on developing the right commercial models, a focus on improving technology, drawing upon academia for new talent and to work on much-needed solutions, and continued practice and physical experience in decommissioning regional infrastructure.

Figure 14: The North Sea Basin

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