The sixth annual North Sea Decommissioning Conference closed in Aberdeen yesterday after two well-attended days.
Speaking at the event, Alistair Birnie, chief executive of Subsea UK, said: “The UK decommissioning market is difficult to consistently predict. The supply chain needs therefore to look at decommissioning as a global opportunity.
“The uncertainty around timing and volume of work is inhibiting contractors from participating in this market. This perceived high risk may lead to a lack of investment in capability or capacity. So those with a flexible, mobile offering will be able to secure investment and win work.
“The subsea industry is well-positioned to work in this way as it already looks at demand and capacity from a global perspective.
“Subsea UK estimates around 30% of the decommissioning market by revenue will be subsea contractor focused. With total market size estimates ranging from £15billion to around £23billion, we need to get closer to the real costs, and subsea can play a big role in getting unnecessary and inefficient costs stripped out.
“Looking at subsea infrastructure there is a growing dilemma and it is about timing. The oil and gas industry is aiming to arrest the decline in production on the one hand but looking at decommissioning on the other.
“The problem lies in the fact that the necessary infrastructure required for future subsea production may be scrapped if we plan for a scenario that sees production declining more rapidly. This means we lose a massive opportunity in future subsea production if we do not think this through carefully.”
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