Visiongain has launched a new energy report Offshore Oil & Gas Decommissioning Market Report: Capex Forecasts & Analysis by Type (Well Plugging and Abandonment, Jacket and Topsides Removal and Others), Including Forecasts by Major Regions and Countries, Plus Profiles of Leading Companies in the Oil & Gas Decommissioning Market.

Decommissioning of ageing offshore oil and gas projects has increased substantially over the past few years.
Moreover, over 600 projects along the Gulf of Mexico, the North Sea and Asia Pacific are likely to be disposed of over the next five to six years. This, in turn, is projected to drive the global offshore oil and gas decommissioning market over the forecast period. Increasing stringent decommissioning regulation are projected to play a crucial role to promote the growth in this market over the next 10 years. Offshore decommissioning is highly complex and potentially has a vast environmental impact. It is also a global industry, and therefore understanding regulations worldwide are essential for companies operating within the market. Crucially, the development of regulation in the offshore decommissioning market has the ability to impact the rate at which the market grows and also how much-decommissioning processes are going to cost.

With such established global offshore oil and gas fields, decommissioning becomes increasingly pertinent.
As global offshore oil and gas fields mature, ageing structures must be removed. With the average lifetime of an offshore oil and gas field in the region of 25 to 40 years, this leaves many global structures in need of decommissioning. The cost involved in the decommissioning varies from project to project and coast to coast. The majority of costs are associated with the jacket, topside and subsea structure removal phases and well P&A. Decommissioning projects are highly complex, lengthy and expensive; the process involves many different stages and can take more than a decade to complete. With such environmental, economic and social pressures, the offshore decommissioning market is set to drastically increase, creating substantial business opportunities along the way.

Among the regions, the North Sea region is estimated to account for 48.65% of the world offshore oil and gas decommissioning market in 2020
Among the regions, the North Sea region is estimated to account for 48.65% of the world offshore oil and gas decommissioning market in 2020 while the Gulf of Mexico and North America region is projected to be a second largest region for the decommissioning of offshore oil and gas platforms. The Gulf of Mexico is anticipated to experience a large number of oil and gas platforms being decommissioned over the next 10 years. The North Sea region is projected to be the largest region, and it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.5% over the period of 2020 to 2025 and 2.95% over the period of 2025 to 2030.

To date, close to 100 structures have been decommissioned in the Asia-Pacific region.
There are in excess of 1,700 offshore structures in the Asia-Pacific region. Of this total, a substantial share has been installed since 2000 - more than 400 new structures. Despite this recent increase in the amount of installed offshore platforms, the offshore oil and gas market did, in fact, initiate in the 1800’s for Southeast Asia, with significant development seen from the 1960’s onwards. Even if the Asia-Pacific market is not as large as the Gulf of Mexico or the North Sea offshore oil and gas markets, the region is still a significant producer of oil and gas. Despite a surge in installation activity of late, there are still a large proportion of structures that are approaching the end of their producing lives and will require decommissioning. Estimates suggest that up to 500 installations are due for decommissioning, whilst up to 700 are approaching or exceeding 25 years since installation. Although the region remains relatively immature, the potential for the Asia-Pacific offshore decommissioning market is vast.

An important driver to consider within the Asia-Pacific offshore decommissioning market is that of decommissioning conditions. As stated, the majority of structures within the Asia-Pacific region are in shallow waters, are relatively lighter structures than found in the North Sea, for example, and will therefore not have the same complexities as experienced elsewhere in the world. These factors, in collaboration with cheaper labour, will mean that the costs of decommissioning in the Asia-Pacific region are lower per unit than the North Sea or Gulf or Mexico, as examples. Although access to funding may still be a short-term barrier to growth, these conditions should help drive the market in the long term.

Competition in the Global Market
There are hundreds of companies who either possess offshore oil and gas assets that will need to be decommissioned over the next decade, or who provide consultancy, engineering and other services to the decommissioning industry. Therefore, the following list of companies is by no means exhaustive. Companies have been broken down into three groups: oil and gas companies with offshore assets; decommissioning contractors; and decommissioning consultancies.

Notes for Editors
If you are interested in a more detailed overview of this report, please send an e-mail to sara.peerun@visiongain.com or call her on +44 (0) 207 336 6100.

About Visiongain
Visiongain is one of the fastest growing and most innovative independent media companies in Europe. Based in London, UK, Visiongain produces a host of business-to-business reports focusing on the automotive, aviation, chemicals, cyber, defence, energy, food & drink, materials, packaging, pharmaceutical and utilities sectors.

Visiongain publishes reports produced by analysts who are qualified experts in their field. Visiongain has firmly established itself as the first port of call for the business professional who needs independent, high-quality, original material to rely and depend on.