OGUK Decom Insight Report 2021

6. Decommissioning and the Energy Transition

Decommissioning across the energy sectors – While some elements of offshore oil and gas infrastructure may re-purposed for new industries, all offshore infrastructure will eventually be decommissioned. Sharing and learning across sectors like offshore wind, nuclear, CCUS and hydrogen will increase efficiency where technologies, expertise and experience can be transferable. Decommissioning: a pathway to the UK climate objectives - Approximately 23 installations are due to cease production between 2021 and 2025. Of those assets due to come offline, four were commissioned before 1990. Natural decline of production from aging fields and assets and decommissioning older energy intensive installations during this period is anticipated in total to remove 0.3 million tonnes per year of CO 2 emissions. 4 With emission considerations also now playing a part in contract wins, opportunities for reducing emissions during decommissioning could be better understood by having readily available data on the emission intensities of decommissioning activities. Continuing to strive for cost effective decommissioning will also release capital that can be invested in ensuring the UK maintains its domestic oil and gas supply and in emission reduction projects such as CCUS, hydrogen and geothermal. North Sea Transition Deal – The NSTD is a transformational partnership between the UK government and the UK oil and gas industry which will harness the expertise of the industry to meet the country’s urgent climate ambitions of net zero emissions by 2050. The deal has clear outcomes for industry to achieve by 2030. One of the key performance indicators for the deal is for 50% UK content over the lifecycle of all related new energy projects, as well as oil and gas decommissioning, including 30% locally provided technology. This will be supported by the appointed industry Supply Chain Champion, Sian Lloyd Rees, who will work with government and the industry to help the thousands of companies that support the UK oil and gas sector as they adapt to deliver the cleaner energy technologies that will increasingly power the UK. 5 4 OGUK Energy Transition Outlook 2021 5 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/north-sea-transition-deal

In early 2021, the UK oil and gas industry reached the flagship North Sea Transition Deal (NSTD) with the UK Government. The UK’s offshore decommissioning sector will play a fundamental role in supporting the nation's drive towards net zero carbon emissions. Success in this area will add to the UK’s growing exportability in decommissioning. A dedicated group of operators and supply chain organisations within OGUK’s membership is aiming to ensure that the key role played by decommissioning in supporting the energy transition is understood, with focus on the following areas: The circular economy – Figure 15 shows the total mass of topsides, substructures and subsea infrastructure coming onshore for re-use, recycling, or disposal over the next 10 years. Almost 1.2 million tonnes of infrastructure associated with platform topsides, substructures and subsea structures will come ashore for dismantling over the next decade. This figure is greater when including the waste associated with well decommissioning, pipelines and mattresses with lengths of pipelines and numbers of mattresses reported. Specific weights are not provided within the Asset Stewardship Survey. It should be recognised that the materials brought onshore from oil and gas infrastructure, like steel and other valuable metals, could be re-used again in the oil and gas industry, or in other industries, reducing the emissions-intensive creation of alloys from raw materials. The onshore dismantling industry is learning fast, progressing well and the amount of material being re-used and recycled from our industry is increasing. Prolonging lifetime through re-purposing infrastructure – Opportunities also exist for a few installations to re-purpose elements of offshore oil and gas installations, like platforms, pipelines, or wells to support carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS), hydrogen, geothermal and offshore wind.

DECOMMISSIONING INSIGHT 2021

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