Largest North Sea O&G Infrastructure Failing To Seal Old Wells, Missing Deadlines By 10+ Years

The North Sea’s biggest oil and gas infrastructure company is risking fires and environmental disasters, experts have warned, as documents reveal it is failing to plug its ageing oil wells in time and is missing decommissioning deadlines by up to a decade.

Last year, the fossil fuel firm Perenco faced controversy after an oil spill from its Poole Harbour operations polluted the Dorset site, which is internationally recognised for its ecological importance. The RSPB reported oiled birds in the water at the largest natural harbour in Europe, which is one of the most heavily protected areas in the UK. Perenco promised it would never happen again and committed to pay for the damage caused.

Documents released to the climate website Source Material after a freedom of information request reveal the Anglo-French oil group repeatedly missed government deadlines to decommission its oil wells for up to a decade. The company owns 363 offshore wells in the North Sea, and plugging the ageing infrastructure will cost up to £8m for each. Critics have raised concerns that the company has a financial incentive to delay cleaning up the assets that are at the end of their lives. Unplugged wells can leak dangerous chemicals into the water and atmosphere, risking pollution and fires.

The documents show 17 wells where Perenco has either requested a late extension to a decommissioning deadline or missed it. In two of these cases, the deadline was missed by more than a decade. One Perenco well, north of the Anglia field, was set for shutdown in 2011 but had still not been fully decommissioned by July 2022. Another, near the Indefatigable field, was due to be abandoned by 2009 but was still not fully sealed and dismantled when the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), the government body that regulates decommissioning of wells, set a new deadline 11 years later. As of now, it remains unfinished.

EDIT

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jun/28/north-sea-oil-and-gas-firm-perenco-failing-to-seal-old-wells-documents-show