Well decommissioning

Under the licence conditions (model clauses), the licensee must seek permission from NSTA to commence, suspend, or recommence the drilling of any well or to carry out completion or recompletion works, suspend or abandon any well. The plugging of any well shall be carried out in an efficient and workmanlike manner.

Pursuant to the Offshore Safety Directive 2015 (OSD regulations), no person may conduct an offshore petroleum operation who is not an operator in respect of that operation i.e. appointed in accordance with the OSD regulations. For more detail on the OSD, please refer to the NSTA’s Offshore Safety Directive guidance.

Licensees must apply for consent to suspend, abandon and conduct other activities on a well and notify the NSTA of these through the Well Operations and Notifications System.

The NSTA expects wells to abandoned in a timely manner in accordance with our Wells Consents Guidance. The guidance states if the NSTA considers it may be appropriate to consent to an initial suspension, it will generally consent to an initial suspension period of two years. On a case-by-case basis, depending on circumstances at that time, the NSTA may consider consenting to a request to suspend a well for a period longer than 2 years subject to, among other things, submission of a satisfactory detailed well abandonment strategy and plan. In such instances, the period of any such suspensions will be determined by the NSTA and will generally not exceed 5 years.

The NSTA Decommissioning Strategy has highlighted the need for Commercial Transformation to deliver cost efficient decommissioning and support a sustainable UKCS supply chain. The NSTA views aggregation of wells into large decommissioning campaigns as a key mechanism to deliver commercial transformation and increase cost efficiencies, helping to meet our target whilst reducing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with well decommissioning.

Further information on wells can be found under the wells section of the NSTA website.