UK oil industry sees multibillion pound prospect from decommissioning

The possibilities put forward by decommissioning oil industry infrastructure total tens of billions of pounds, according to Paul Dymond, operations director for Oil & Gas UK.

He explains that, in the decades to come, 470 installations across the UK are likely to be subject to decommissioning as they reach the end of their usable lives.

For firms within the oil industry able to carry out the decommissioning and dismantling work required, the coming decade is expected to produce contracts worth in excess of £10 billion.

A further £16 billion or more is predicted to be spent on decommissioning works during the two decades that follow.

"Each decommissioning project is a complex process with considerable technical, economic, environmental, health and safety issues which the industry has to address and manage properly," says Mr Dymond.

Ahead of its upcoming Offshore Decommissioning Conference 2010, the industry organisation is asking delegates whether they are fully aware of both the challenges and the opportunities that are presented by infrastructure as it ceases operations.