Dangers in decommissioning in the oil and gas industry

Decommissioning is a significant phase in the lifecycle of every rig – and one that requires particularly careful management to maintain the hard-won high standards in health and safety that prevail in the oil and gas industry.

This poses challenges for offshore business in the region, but also presents considerable opportunities. There are 600 oil and gas platforms in the North Sea, of which 470 are scheduled to be decommissioned over the next 30 years. The UK will be the largest global decommissioning market over the next decade, with approximately 880,000 tonnes of topside forecast for removal.

Oil & Gas UK estimates that over £15 billion will be spent on decommissioning around the UK in that time – with the result that decommissioning now accounts for 10% of the overall expenditure of the UK industry.

Decommissioning provides a great opportunity to leverage the existing knowledge base within oil and gas, and this should extend to the hard-earned health and safety culture seen within the industry, with self-regulation increasingly becoming the norm.