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New Energy World
New Energy World embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low carbon technologies.
Decommissioning of oil and gas infrastructure to snowball
29/3/2023
6 min read
Transition towards a greener energy path will leave numerous stranded fossil fuel assets worldwide. As a result, decommissioning of oil and gas structures will be ramped up at a faster rate than simply dealing with mature assets. Nnamdi Anyadike looks at the scale of decommissioning prospects in a number of regions.
There are many challenges ahead for decommissioning ageing and stranded oil and gas structures in the energy transition, as companies are legally obligated to decommission in a way that minimises the environmental impact and risks, keeping them as low as reasonably practicable.
Aside from safe removal there are a number of other decommissioning options. These include partial removal, leaving structures in place, toppling, relocation or, in the case of Australia, transforming the structures into an ‘artificial reef’. But bottlenecks can be created in the decommissioning process by the growth in renewable energies. The tricky task is to synchronise the growth in renewables with the decommissioning of oil and gas structures.
UK North Sea
Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) estimates that £20bn will be spent on decommissioning over 2,000 oil and gas wells over the next decade in the UK North Sea. Well decommissioning will be at a rate of around 200 per year, at an average cost of £7.8mn per well. OEUK claims that decommissioning in the UK is ‘expanding fast’ and predicts a surge in activity over the next three or so years.