A new report from Industry body Oil and Gas UK (OGUK) estimates that the total overall cost of the industry’s decommissioning bill for all future projects had fallen by 23 per cent from £59.7bn in 2017 compared with £46bn this year.
This has been largely achieved through improved efficiency and cost reduction, although the report said the overall target was to reduce the cost by 35 per cent by 2022.
It also found the UK was increasingly exporting its decommissioning expertise, with regulation and guidance exported to other countries such as Australia, which has based much of its own decommissioning strategy on the UK’s experience.
“We’re focusing on greener ways to decommission and identify circular economy opportunities,” it reads. “That means re-purposing offshore infrastructure for hydrogen and carbon capture and storage projects, encouraging industries to re-use components and promoting creative solutions for recycling decommissioned materials.”
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