North Sea work about to accelerate

Although decommissioning—in common with death and taxes—is inevitable, so far there have been many fewer decommissioning projects in the North Sea than had been forecast. New technology, the emergence of firms specialising in tail-end production and high oil prices have all helped to defer shut-down day for many fields. But decommissioning work is expected to accelerate in the next few years, Martin Quinlan writes

SO FAR, about 30 structures have been removed from the North Sea—20 from UK waters and 10 from Norwegian waters. Most have been relatively small steel platforms in the southern North Sea, at water-depths of under 50 metres. The main large structures to have been removed were the Brent Spar, the Maureen steel gravity-platform and the Hutton tension-leg platform (TLP). According to forecasts by the UK's Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), decommissioning work will build up rapidly over the next few years. Five installations are due for removal from UK waters next year and five in 2006—but in the following year about 18 structures are forecast to be decommissioned. The 2007 total will inclu