Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of the decommissioning of oil platforms on the economy in north east of Scotland.

With increasing numbers of offshore oil and gas fields reaching the end of their economic life, forecasts from industry estimate that the annual expenditure for decommissioning over the next 5 years will be in the region of £1.7 to £2 billion. While decommissioning is a major cost for industry, and the taxpayer, it offers significant opportunities for the supply chain that will deliver the constituent elements of decommissioning activity. This encompasses a wide range of activities, covering a broad range of skills and expertise.

With recent estimates from industry suggesting that decommissioning will represent around 11 per cent of total expenditure on oil and gas for 2017, decommissioning is already benefitting the north east of Scotland and the rest of the UK’s economy. Whilst we don’t have specific figures around the economic impact of the increase in decommissioning of offshore oil and gas installations, we expect to see an increasing proportion of the offshore oil and gas industry focussing on decommissioning activities in the coming years.