Decommissioning Insight 2019

DECOMMISSIONING INSIGHT 2019

Southern North Sea and Irish Sea

Figure 25: Well Decommissioning Activity in the Southern North Sea and Irish Sea 2019, to 2028

Suspended Subsea E&A Wells

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 Subsea Development Platform Number of Fields With Decommissioning Activity

30

25

20

15

10

5

Number of Wells to be Decommissioned

Number of fields With well Decommissioning Activity

0

Source: OGUK, OGA

Well Type

Sub-Totals

Percentage

Platform Well Subsea Well

434

84% 12%

59

Suspended Exploration and Appraisal Well

22

4%

TOTAL

515

100%

Like the northern North Sea, the southern North Sea and Irish Sea region has also seen a rise in activity in comparison with last year’s Decommissioning Insight , although to a lesser extent. This year’s data show that these regions expect 515 wells to be decommissioned over the next decade, compared with 475 last year. A similar work profile is expected as in previous years, with around 84 per cent of the workload being platform wells. This year’s dataset shows a gradually reducing scope, reaching a low point in 2023, when 12 wells are slated for decommissioning, and then an increase at the tail end of the period, when almost 100 wells are forecast to be decommissioned. The number of fields with activity has a similar profile, with peaks at the start (up to 25 fields) and end (20 fields) of the period and a low point in the middle (four fields).

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