Delivering decommissioning certainty in the UK North Sea

The UK North Sea is entering a defining period. More offshore assets are reaching late life, and the pace of decommissioning activity is accelerating quickly – with forecasts suggesting that decommissioning costs may overtake capital investment as early as 2028.

At the same time, operators are under intense pressure to reduce cost, meet evolving regulatory expectations, and demonstrate long-term environmental responsibility. Decommissioning is no longer something that sits quietly at the end of an asset’s lifecycle. It is now one of the most complex and consequential phases an operator will face.

Ageing wells, legacy subsea infrastructure, and topsides facilities all bring challenges that cannot be managed through fragmented delivery or short-term thinking. Decommissioning must be integrated within an asset’s late life management plan. What the industry increasingly needs is certainty. Certainty of cost. Of compliance. Certainty that the final outcome will stand up to regulators, stakeholders, and time itself.

That is why the acquisition of Exceed in 2025 is such an important step for Kent’s decommissioning capability. By combining Exceed’s regulator approved well operator capability with Kent’s facilities, structural, process, safety, and environmental engineering expertise, we can now offer operators a more complete model: one team taking accountability across the entire decommissioning work breakdown structure. Fewer interfaces mean faster decisions, safer execution, and more predictable outcomes.

Importantly, this is proven delivery, not aspiration. Exceed has safely abandoned more than 150 wells across all rig and vessel types. Kent has supported clients in the removal of over 200,000 tonnes of offshore infrastructure, with a further 600,000 tonnes currently in planning.

These are the realities of the work now facing the North Sea and something that we see first hand in our work opportunities pipeline, with a strong focus on pivoting from operations to decommissioning support. Late life delivery offshore demands specialist capability.

Expertise that we possess in our decommissioning center of excellence in Aberdeen, which is positioned perfectly to tap into the world class supply chain we have here in the Granite City and shire.

The industry has seen too many examples of overpromised integration that fails in practice. What operators need are teams with robust governance, proven methodologies, and the technical breadth to solve complex end of life challenges safely and efficiently.

Cost remains one of the defining pressures in decommissioning. But the objective cannot simply be cost reduction in isolation. The challenge is to deliver the lowest technically compliant cost, ensuring that efficiency never compromises safety, compliance, or long-term integrity. Integrated delivery is central to achieving this.

Stronger planning, aligned execution, and fewer interfaces reduce offshore surprises and enable operators to take sustainable cost out of the system. Early engagement is also critical. Robust master planning, often years ahead of cessation of production, creates the foundation for safer campaigns, clearer regulatory pathways, and better commercial outcomes.

Decommissioning also carries responsibilities that extend far beyond project completion. Wells, seabed integrity, and environmental performance create liabilities that exist for decades. A challenge that stretches far into the future, but something that must be addressed in the delivery of today’s decommissioning projects. Compliance cannot be bolted on late. It must be embedded from day one, with every stage designed to minimise long term exposure and deliver outcomes that stand the test of time.

Kent’s teams have long contributed to industry guidance, most recently through active engagement with OPRED consultations, and this continues as part of our strengthened late life capability.

Operators need partners who understand not only what regulations require today, but how expectations are evolving. Offshore decommissioning programmes are multiyear commitments. Operators need delivery partners with the stability, continuity, and scale to sustain execution without disruption.

Kent is privately owned and financially robust, with the capacity to deliver at portfolio scale across the North Sea and beyond. The decommissioning challenge is also an opportunity to demonstrate responsible stewardship, technical excellence, and long-term integrity.

With Exceed now part of Kent, we are strengthening our ability to deliver complete accountability across the late life journey. Because how we close matters. And the future of offshore energy will be shaped by how well we deliver at the end.