Oil & Gas UK Decommissioning Insight 2014
The Southern North Sea and Irish Sea
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The number of wells scheduled for P&A in the SNS and IS areas has increased by almost 90 compared to the 2013 report. This increase is spread across the decade, although 60 more wells are forecast between 2015 and 2019. The rise is due to the inclusion of additional oil and gas projects and higher forecasts from existing projects. The large number of wells forecast to undergo P&A in 2020 and 2021 is due to eight projects scheduling P&A at the same time, and it is expected that this activity will smooth out when forecasts are revisited. Activity in 2014 is lower than the forecast made for the year in the 2013 report as a number of projects have spread out their activity. Well P&A expenditure increases in line with activity in the near term, tailing off towards the end of the decade. The higher expenditure between 2015 and 2018 is due to the greater number of subsea wells. The peak in wells seen in 2020 and 2021 is due to an increase in platform wells, which are less expensive.
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Figure 7: Number of Wells Forecast to be Plugged and Abandoned by Type and Total Annual Expenditure in the Southern North Sea and Irish Sea from 2014 to 2023
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Increased Uncertainty in Forecasts
90
800
6
80
700
70
600
60
7
500
50
400
40
300
30 Number of Wells
200
20
Forecast Expenditure (£ Million)
100
10
0
0
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Platform
Subsea Development
Subsea E&A
Total Well P&A Expenditure
Source: Oil & Gas UK
Number of Wells 2014 to 2023 Total Expenditure 2014 to 2023
Proportion of Platform Wells
417
£1.7 billion
80%
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