After weathering the storm that was the price collapse of 2014, the oil industry has again been hit in recent months by two new blows almost simultaneously: oversupply (caused by the failure of negotiations between Saudi Arabia and Russia to agree on production cuts and the aggressive response of the former); and a demand shock (reflecting the economic impact of the Covid-19 lockdown).
Whilst the emergent OPEC+ deal initially stabilised the price to some extent, the lack of storage forced the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) into negative territory for the first time in history and ongoing concern over the economic outlook has forced all benchmarks lower.
Optimists will point to the fact that the WTI event was a localised phenomenon and that a negative price actually indicates market expectations of a future positive value (otherwise producers would simply shut up shop rather than paying buyers).
Pessimists will contend that even if demand returns, it is bound to be at lower levels – perhaps even for years – as a consequence of a global recession (even depression) meaning that some production capacity will be lost.
The immediate effects on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) are already apparent: some fields shut down for maintenance will not reopen; new projects are delayed; drilling rigs are laid up; there have been numerous announcements of reductions in capital and operating expenditure.
All of this could easily be read as evidence of the hastened demise of what is a mature basin and, as such, as the precursor of a significant uptick in decommissioning activity.
But whilst the simple operation of the market will be important in the months and years ahead, it will not be determinative.
Even in the context of the UK’s ambitious push towards net zero carbon emissions, there will be a continuing, albeit tapering, requirement for oil and gas. There are a number of reasons why it would make sense to source as much of that requirement from domestic reserves, including energy security, balance of payments, and employment.
Equally, there are good reasons to encourage oil and gas companies to play a key role in energy transition, especially if, for example, the future energy mix requires natural gas for blue hydrogen production, to say nothing of the future role of carbon sequestration to support the continuation of a variety of energy and heavy industrial purposes.
There will undoubtedly, therefore, be an increase in decommissioning activity, but this will be in the context of the UK’s Maximising Economic Recovery Strategy, as well as of increased interest in reusing infrastructure for hydrogen, geothermal and other purposes.
This will bring with it new challenges, and the need for industry professionals, now more than ever, who can understand, interpret and work within the legal framework of the oil and gas sector, both locally and globally.
With one of the largest and most able teams of energy faculty of any European law school, the University of Aberdeen continues to support the sector with professional, legal learning that is relevant to its evolution and adaptive to its challenges.
Over the summer, we will be running Decommissioning of Offshore Installations: Regulatory Aspects, through the University’s On-demand Learning site
on.abdn.ac.uk/law/
. Taught fully online, this short course not only provides a detailed understanding of international and domestic legal and regulatory decommissioning arrangements, but discusses these in the context of surrounding issues, environmental, economic and political. Open to both lawyers and other decommissioning professionals, this course has a limited number of fully funded places for eligible* Scottish-domiciled employees wishing to upskill in this rapidly evolving field.
Professor John Paterson is an expert in Energy Law at the University of Aberdeen.
*Criteria apply. Funded places will be allocated to eligible candidates on a first come first served basis. Please email Grainne Ferrigan to register interest at g.ferrigan@abdn.ac.uk
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