Decommissioning

Leading the sharing of international experience and good practice, advocating for risk-based decommissioning policy and guidance

Decommissioning

Leading the sharing of international experience and good practice, advocating for risk-based decommissioning policy and guidance

In the 1970s, the building of huge offshore facilities inspired awe. Now, decommissioning these facilities is a feat just as remarkable. It includes onshore and offshore wells and facilities- pipelines, concrete gravity based structures, steel piled jackets, subsea infrastructures, and Floating production storage and offloading vessels (FPSO).

Globally, it represents a massive committment. An estimated USD 42 billion is expected to be spent on decommissioning up to 2024 alone.

  • In the North Sea, spending on decommissioning is expected to overtake capital expenditure towards the end of the 2020s.
  • In Southeast Asia, it is predicted that more than 200 offshore fields would stop producing by 2030 with total decommissioning costs estimated to range from USD $30 billion to as much as $100 billion.
  • In Australia, more than USD $40.5 billion of necessary decommissioning work needs to be carried out on its offshore oil and gas infrastructure, over half of which must be started within the next ten years.

Representing the industry, globally

Regional seas conventions in which IOGP participates

IOGP has observer statuses to represent the industry at many regional and international organisations including Regional Seas Conventions – OSPAR (Oslo-Paris convention for the NE Atlantic), Barcelona (Mediterranean), Abidjan conventions – IMO, London Convention/Protocol and others.

It serves as an expert advisor at several forums, including at International Regulators Forum (IRF), International Offshore Petroleum Environment Regulators Forum (IOPER) and EU Offshore Authorities Group (EUOAG).

Together with other observer organisations and Contracting Parties, IOGP participates in the review of Decommissioning policies, guidance, and regulations at these forums.

Regulations

Decommissioning regulations clarifying approval processes and stakeholder engagement has been developing globally, and IOGP has compiled current decommissioning regulations in:

Other publications

We have published good practices on:

All publications by the IOGP Decommissioning Committee can be downloaded from the IOGP Publications Library. In 2022, we published a white paper on Asset Retirement Obligations (restricted to members) which discusses existing ARO practices and lessons learnt from IOGP Member Companies.

Based on its members’ experiences with decommissioning regimes around the world, IOGP advocates that:

  • Decommissioning policies and requirements need to be clear, stable and predictable to allow preparation of credible decommissioning plans and for estimating decommissioning costs.
  • The decision-making process for decommissioning planning and approvals must be clearly defined and efficient
  • Regulations must allow flexibility to adopt the most appropriate decommissioning approach depending on local and project specificities ensuring safe, environmentally sustainable and economically efficient decommissioning.

We support decommissioning training and capacity building. We have contributed to IMO’s London Convention and London Protocol’s Science Day in 2021, conducted a decommissioning training and capacity building for UNEP and support global Decommissioning Conferences. We collaborate with other organisation such as Energy Institute’s on ‘Embedding circularity in Construction and Decommissioning of projects,’ and with the International Atomic Energy Agency’s on ‘Decommissioning of NORM (Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials) related facilities.’

Related content

Decommissioning Committee appoints two new co-chairs

Effective from 1 October, John Gillies, ExxonMobil, and Joe Leask, bp, will be the new co-chairs of IOGP’s Decommissioning Committee.

FPSO Decommissioning Expert group appoints Co-chairs

FPSO Decommissioning Expert group appoints Eduardo Stein Soares Dutra and Marcelo Dourado as Co-Chairs.

Navigating international offshore decommissioning regulations

This Report aims to provide a comprehensive review of the national legislation and guidelines pertaining to offshore P&A activities for 35 hydrocarbon-producing countries.

Decommissioning workshop held on Comparative Assessment processes

In September 2022, the IOGP Decommissioning Committee held a workshop on Comparative Assessment (CA) to agree upon guiding principles for a genuine CA, discuss the perception of bias, and explore developments and good practices in the five common criteria of comparative assessments.

RSS Recent publications

  • Steel piled jacket decommissioning benchmarking 2024
    In 2024, a number of IOGP Member Companies provided historical data on steel jacket decommissioning case studies for the first time. This data includes offshore execution durations and project-specific details, such as the year of removal, vessel type, and jacket configurations. Data details are only available to participating IOGP Member Companies, enabling them to benchmark execution […]
  • Global FPSO decommissioning insights 2023
    There is an urgent need to assess the current global yard capacity against the number of expected floating units that will need to be decommissioned within the next two decades to ensure availability of suitable dismantling and recycling facilities. This Report details the number and location of FPSO units and other floating units that may […]
  • Guideline for comparative assessment in decommissioning
    This document is a guideline on how to conduct a successful comparative assessment (CA). A comparative assessment evaluates different decommissioning options in a structured way that provides the asset owner or operator with the information needed to make a robust decommissioning recommendation and plan for the regulator to approve. The CA helps to ensure that […]
  • IOGP FPSO Decommissioning Guiding Principles
    FPSOs are widely used in the oil and gas industry. As these ships reach the end of their operational lives, they must be decommissioned in a way that minimizes the impact to health, human safety, and the environment. This document outlines the guiding principles to enable FPSO owners to ensure the safe and responsible decommissioning, […]
  • Habitat retention using decommissioned offshore structures
    The International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP) shares the global ambition to address biodiversity loss in the framework of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. When offshore oil and gas structures come to the end of their useful life, owners, operators, regulatory authorities, in consultation with other stakeholders, decide on the best option […]
  • Guidelines for upstream pre-project decommissioning estimates
    This Report provides guidance on the development and maintenance of pre-project technical cost estimates for upstream oil and gas industry asset decommissioning, with particular emphasis on estimates for asset retirement obligations. The post Guidelines for upstream pre-project decommissioning estimates appeared first on IOGP Publications library.
  • Overview of International Offshore Decommissioning Regulations – Volume 2: Wells Plugging & Abandonment
    This volume reviews national legislation/guidelines relevant to offshore P&A for 32 countries. Countries have been grouped by sea areas, broadly based on the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and associated Regional Seas Programme.   The post Overview of International Offshore Decommissioning Regulations – Volume 2: Wells Plugging & Abandonment appeared first on IOGP Publications library.
  • Decommissioning workshop on comparative assessment processes
    In September 2022, the IOGP Decommissioning Committee held a workshop on CA to discuss the perception of bias, agree upon guiding principles for a genuine CA, and explore developments and good practices in the five common criteria of CA. This document presents a high-level summary and interpretation of what was discussed. The post Decommissioning workshop […]
  • Habitat retention strategies for decommissioned offshore jacket structures/Estratégias para retenção de habitat associados a plataformas fixas de O&G descomissionadas
    This is a Portuguese translation of IOGP Report 650 – Habitat retention structures for decommissioned offshore jacket structures. Este documento é um guia prático destinado a auxiliar os decisores do descomissionamento na concepção e implementação de um programa para reter o valioso habitat proporcionado pelas plataformas fixas de petróleo e gás através de opções de […]
  • Habitat retention strategies for decommissioned offshore jacket structures
    Learn about decommissioning strategies for offshore oil and gas platforms The post Habitat retention strategies for decommissioned offshore jacket structures appeared first on IOGP Publications library.
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