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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent progress has been made on supporting decommissioning in the North Sea oil and gas industry.

The oil and gas industry has decommissioned around 12% of the installations and pipelines in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) to date. The volume of decommissioning activity is expected to increase over the coming years. The Government is committed to supporting the development of a world leading oil and gas decommissioning industry to take advantage of this opportunity.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is working with the Oil and Gas Authority to help build capacity in the supply chain by giving greater visibility of forthcoming programmes so they can prepare accordingly for the opportunity that decommissioning activity will present.

The Government supported the establishment of the Oil and Gas Technology Centre (OGTC) as part of the Aberdeen City Region Deal. The OGTC is now working with industry to develop new ways in which technology can help in the decommissioning process.