The North Sea Transition Authority is investigating operators for blowing plug and abandonment (P&A) deadlines among operators on the U.K. Continental Shelf, which have caused forecast expenses to rise by billions of dollars.
Operators expect to spend about £24 billion (US$31.1 billion) on decommissioning between 2023 and 2032, a £3 billion (US$3.89 billion) increase compared to the same period last year, according to a July 16 NTSA report.
Repeated delays to P&A work, competition for rigs from overseas and cost pressures are pushing up the estimated bill for decommissioning on the UKCS, the authority said.