Market Trends of UK Offshore Oil And Gas Decommissioning Industry
Increasing Decommissioning Projects to Drive the Market
- The Petroleum Act of 1998 says how offshore oil and gas infrastructure and pipelines on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS) should be taken down.The Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning (OPRED), which is part of the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, is in charge of ensuring that the Petroleum Act of 1998's provisions are followed.
- In September 2022, Spirit Energy hired marine consultancy ABL to assist in the decommissioning of three offshore rigs in the United Kingdom's seas. As part of the contract with Spirit Energy Production, ABL's Aberdeen branch will provide MWS and maritime consultancy services for the UK operator's decommissioning portfolio in the southern North Sea and the Irish Sea. The three oil and gas platforms will be put into storage as part of the project, which will last until 2025. The topside and jackets for the Audrey A, Audrey B, and Ensign platforms will need to be removed as part of the restoration. Many projects are in preparation for decommissioning and may aid the growth of the market.
- In February 2022, the operator DNO North Sea and the partner Tullow Oil SK, an oil and gas firm with headquarters in the UK, which are the owners of the Ketch and Schooner gas fields, will have 20 platform wells and one subsea well. The firms considered several technical and business alternatives before deciding to decommission the fields since they were unable to discover a workable way to extend their economic life. The cost of decommissioning has been estimated at USD 33 million.Facilities such as these may incentivize the decommissioning of the rigs due to the end of the rig's economic life, which may aid the growth of the market.
- Natural gas production in the country decreased by 16.9%, to 3.16 billion cubic feet per day in 2021 from 3.81 billion cubic feet per day in 2020. The output may decline further in the forecast period, which could incentivize the market players to decommission the rigs in case they are not able to produce enough below the cost price and thereby boost the United Kingdom offshore oil and gas decommissioning market.
- In the next few years, the United Kingdom's offshore oil and gas decommissioning market is likely to be driven by a growing number of decommissioning projects.
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Deepwater and Ultra-Deep Water Segment to Witness Growth
- For the decommissioning and removal of a deepwater platform, the removal design process needs to pay close attention to the methodology, engineering, and procedures. All of these are likely to be more complicated than for smaller shallow water platforms.This requires higher expertise and better equipment to complete the project.
- Many of the platforms in deeper water are reaching the end of their useful lives in areas such as the North Sea, and decommissioning is expected to become necessary. The process of decommissioning these larger and deeper water platforms is expected to be more complex and require more detailed and engineered solutions to plan and execute such operations safely and effectively. An increasing number of rigs to decommission is expected to aid the market.
- The main parts of the decommissioning process are plugging and abandoning the wells, which also cost the most.The wellbore must be cleaned out and plugs carefully installed in the well. This must be done correctly to prevent any environmental issues from leaving the underwater well open. In deep and ultra-deep water, it accounts for even higher costs for decommissioning. Increasing efforts to modernize the ecological effects in this area are expected to aid the market's growth.
- According to the IEA, nearly all United Kingdom petroleum and natural gas production comes from offshore fields. The rig count in the United Kingdom region was estimated by Baker Hughes Company to be around 10 units in December 2022. The companies in the region may choose to decommission the rigs if the production costs increase or the crude oil prices go below the extraction costs.
- Hence, the deep water and ultra-seep water segments are expected to witness growth in the forecast period due to an increase in investments and advancements in technology.
