Decommissioning in the North Sea. A report of a workshop held to discuss the decommissioning of oil and gas platforms in the North Sea

The UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) has been producing large amounts of oil and gas since the 1970s. Production peaked around 2000 but has since gone into decline. Virtually all of the infrastructure put in place in the North Sea will require decommissioning over the next 30 years in a safe and responsible manner, a task that must be carried out in one of the harshest maritime environments. This represents an enormous engineering challenge. In March 2012 the Royal Academy of Engineering brought together representatives of the oil and gas industry along with relevant stakeholders from government and academia to discuss the issues relating to this task. The following is a summary of the meeting.