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Spirit P&A project shows new NSTA decomm charter in practice
26/8/2026
News
A £40mn Spirit Energy campaign to plug three Southern North Sea wells has become an early showcase for a new industry charter that is claimed could save the oil and gas industry around £200mn on the cost of removing the UK’s remaining subsea wellheads.
Spirit Energy has completed a £40mn campaign to decommission three subsea wells in the UK Southern North Sea, in a project the company says demonstrates the collaborative, cost-cutting approach being championed across the basin following the launch of a new decommissioning charter by the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA).
The operator plugged and abandoned (P&A) the Seven Seas and Grove G5 production wells and the Grove Deep exploration well between April and July this year, removing more than 234 tonnes of subsea infrastructure. All of the recovered material is due to be reused or recycled in UK yards.
The Spirit Energy campaign offers an early template for the NSTA’s new well decommissioning charter that aims to drive down costs, ease a growing abandonment backlog and stimulate the supply chain. Signed by the regulator and 17 operators, including Spirit Energy, last month, the signatories* have pledged to share data, expertise, resources and vessels, and to work collaboratively on a smoother approach to wellhead removals.
Industry estimates suggest that using vessels rather than rigs for the final stage – lifting the wellhead from the seabed – could cut the total bill for the UK’s remaining subsea wellhead removals by around 30%, or roughly £200mn, reports the NSTA. Rigs would continue to handle the earlier, more complex job of plugging wells with cement, while a new workgroup will define a framework for vessel-based wellhead severance activities.
The urgency is clear from the NSTA’s latest UKCS decommissioning cost and performance update. Operators worked on 257 wells in 2025 and progressed 114 to final abandonment, up from 238 wells and 103 abandonments in 2024. Even so, a backlog of 500 inactive wells awaits final abandonment, with more than 1,000 further wells due over the next five years, according to the NSTA. The update notes that the industry spent a record £2.6bn on decommissioning in 2025, up from £2.4bn in 2024, as platform and infrastructure removals and well decommissioning activity on the UKCS increased.
Pauline Innes, NSTA Supply Chain and Decommissioning Director, said the new charter ‘has the potential to be a win-win-win for operators, suppliers and taxpayers’. She added: ‘By collaborating, we can tackle the backlog, lower the cost of well decommissioning, protect the marine environment, and stimulate the offshore service sector.’
Mark Wilson, Offshore Energies UK’s Energy Operations Director, added that the industry’s commitment to the charter shows ‘a shared determination to work collaboratively and responsibly with the NSTA and partners to address inactive wells safely, efficiently and drive down costs’. He continued: ‘By sharing data, providing expertise and engaging the supply chain early, operators can improve visibility, planning and outcomes across the sector while maintaining legal, regulatory and operational standards.’
*Signatories: Adura, Apache, BP, CNOOC International, Dana Petroleum, Eni, EnQuest, Harbour Energy, Ineos Energy Europe, Ithaca Energy, Neo Next+, NSTA, Perenco, Serica Energy, Shell, Spirit Energy, Taqa UK.
The video below shows Spirit Energy’s Seven Seas and Grove decommissioning campaign.
Please note the video is third-party content from Spirit Energy.
