Decommissioning-focused industry body Decom North Sea (DNS) has officially announced the appointment of a new leadership team.
Following a period of interim leadership, Sam Long has been confirmed as the organisation’s chief executive officer, while former board chairman Callum Falconer joins him in the role of operations director.
Mr Long draws on a more than 20-year career with companies including Wood, Petrofac, Baker Hughes and Aker Solutions, and a decades-long focus on decommissioning, well abandonment, late life asset management and decarbonising the upstream oil and gas industry.
Mr Falconer, who has been involved with DNS since its launch as both member and non-executive director, has a track record reaching back to the early days of North Sea decommissioning.
Since that time, he has helped lead and inform the sector’s approach to the dismantling of assets from a variety of perspectives, including as decommissioning manager of operator Marathon Oil and as CEO of the Dundeecom partnership.
Supported by the organisation’s board of directors and executive team, the newly-formed leadership duo is poised to implement a strategy of growth and diversification, reflecting the evolving global energy landscape, and in particular the role of late life and decommissioning in the journey towards net zero and beyond.
Formed more than a decade ago, the 230-strong DNS membership includes representatives from operators, major contractors, services specialists and technology developers.
Mr Long spoke of his ambition for the organisation’s future, noting: “Our growth and ambitions have to be in line with the needs of our membership, as they also diversify in scope and geography.
“Our fundamental commitment to the sustainability of the decommissioning sector remains firm, and the relevance of late life and decommissioning to a successful, efficient energy transition cannot be understated, particularly in terms of the decom sector’s future security.”
UK industry is expected to spend around £16.6 billion on decommissioning over the next decade as activity rebounds in the wake of the pandemic, according to Offshore Energies UK’s most recent Decommissioning Insight report.
Added Mr Falconer: “The Scottish Government has well-documented ambitions to position Scotland as a Global Energy Hub, not least via a commitment to the North Sea Transition Deal. The stages of transition itself are clear – from oil and gas, to decommissioning, renewables, CCUS and hydrogen. Our role is to facilitate the successful creation of a best-in-class, future-proofed and truly exportable decommissioning sector against this context.”
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