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Barriers to plug and abandonment in the North Sea
4/2/2026
8 min read
Feature
Plug and abandonment (P&A) is emerging as one of the biggest operational and policy challenges facing the North Sea as the basin transitions from late-life production to large-scale decommissioning. Between 2023 and 2032, operators are forecast to spend £27bn on decommissioning across the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS), with well P&A accounting for roughly half of that expenditure. Charlie Bush reports.
Despite years of planning, progress on P&A continues to lag behind forecasts. Costs are escalating, whilst confidence in delivery remains uneven. The barriers extend well beyond regulation. They include supply chain constraints, rig availability, subsurface uncertainty, skills shortages and the growing economic conflict between decommissioning and newer priorities such as carbon capture and storage (CCS).
Planning versus delivery
According to Alastair Bisset, Head of Decommissioning at the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), industry performance on well abandonment remains below what is required to address both the existing backlog and future demand. In 2024, operators carried out decommissioning to some extent on 223 wells. However, only 103 progressed to final abandonment status.
This falls well short of the level needed. The NSTA estimates that around 300 wells must be fully decommissioned each year to clear more than 500 inactive wells that have already missed their P&A deadlines, as well as more than 1,000 additional wells expected to become inactive by 2030. While some operators are meeting their obligations, many have deferred activity and fallen behind.