一个行业组织 11 月 22 日表示，英国北海石油和天然气生产商将在未来十年内花费约 200 亿英镑（240 亿美元）拆除老化盆地中的 2000 多个未使用的油井和设施。

英国海上能源公司（OEUK）在一份报告中警告称，随着越来越多的油田停止生产，堵井和拆除平台（即所谓的退役）的成本负担将在未来三到四年内急剧上升。

这一不断增长的法案与英国财政部长杰里米·亨特上周决定将北海生产商的暴利税从25%提高到35%不谋而合，使该行业的总税收达到75%，位居世界最高之列。

OEUK 估计，未来十年将有约 2,100 口北海油井退役，平均每口井成本为 780 万英镑，总计 197 亿英镑。

退役支出在企业预算中的比例预计将从 2022 年的 14% 上升到 2031 年的 19%。

超过 75% 的退役总支出将发生在北海中部和北部。

北海是 20 世纪 70 年代以来的主要深水生产中心，其石油和天然气产量自 1990 年代达到约 440 万桶油当量/天的峰值以来一直在稳步下降。

退役成本可以抵消一些税收，但不能抵消最新的暴利税。

OEUK还警告说，越来越多的石油和天然气工人转向该地区快速增长的海上风电行业，可能会造成退役技术工人的短缺。

OEUK 退役经理 Ricky Thomson 在一份声明中表示，“英国的退役行业正在滚雪球般增长，并将在未来几年继续增长。”

“但这既带来了挑战，也带来了机遇。可再生能源的增长以及对退役服务和专业知识的需求将为资源带来越来越大的压力。”

（1 美元 = 0.8469 英镑）

British North Sea oil and gas producers will spend around 20 billion pounds (US$24 billion) on dismantling over 2,000 unused wells and facilities in the aging basin over the next decade, an industry group said on Nov. 22.

The cost burden for plugging wells and removing platforms, in what is known as decommissioning, is set to rise sharply over the next three to four years as more fields stop production, Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) warned in a report.

The growing bill coincides with British finance minister Jeremy Hunt’s decision last week to increase a windfall tax on North Sea producers to 35% from 25%, bringing total taxes on the sector to 75%, among the highest in the world.

OEUK estimates around 2,100 North Sea wells will be decommissioned over the next decade at an average cost of 7.8 million pounds per well, for a total of 19.7 billion pounds.

The proportion of spending on decommissioning in companies’ budgets is set to rise from 14% in 2022 to 19% by 2031.

Over 75% of total decommissioning spend will be within the central and northern North Sea.

Oil and gas production in the North Sea, a major deepwater production hub since the 1970s, has been in steady decline since peaking at around 4.4 million boe/d in the 1990s.

Decommissioning costs can be offset against some taxes, but not against the latest windfall tax.

OEUK also warned the growing number of oil and gas workers turning to the fast-growing offshore wind industry in the region could create shortages of skilled workers for decommissioning.

“The U.K.’s decommissioning sector is snowballing and will continue growing for years to come,” OEUK Decommissioning Manager Ricky Thomson said in a statement.

"But this poses a challenge as well as an opportunity. The growth of renewables and demand for decommissioning services and expertise will create increasing pressure for resources."

(US$1 = 0.8469 pounds)