Where late life strategies break down

Most inefficiencies in decommissioning are not created during this strategic phase. They are created in the years before it begins.

Late life operations and decommissioning are often treated separately. First the asset is operated. Then, once production stops, the decommissioning programme begins.

It’s a logical sequence. But it is not always an efficient one. In reality, the transition from operation to decommissioning does not begin when production ends. It begins much earlier, while the asset is still running. Every decision made in the final years of operation shapes what follows.

How equipment is maintained. How systems are configured. How wells are managed. These decisions directly influence the complexity, cost and duration of the decommissioning programme, yet in many cases, they are made without full visibility of their downstream impact. This is where the disconnect begins.

When late life operations and decommissioning are treated as separate activities, planning tends to follow the same structure. Operational decisions are optimised for current performance. Decommissioning planning happens later, once the asset has already moved through its final producing phase.

By that point, many of the most important decisions have already been made and the consequences are often only visible when execution begins. This becomes particularly clear during well isolation and abandonment activity. These programmes are typically among the most complex and costly elements of decommissioning, involving tightly scheduled offshore campaigns and specialist equipment.

Small inefficiencies at this stage can have a disproportionate impact. If equipment has not been prepared in a way that supports efficient abandonment, additional work may be required. If assumptions made during planning do not align with the reality of the asset, time is lost resolving issues offshore.

When vessels, rigs or specialist spreads are mobilised, that time translates directly into cost. What appears to be a technical challenge is often a sequencing issue. The work has been structured as a series of phases, when in reality it behaves as a continuous process.

This can also create misalignment in how decisions are made. Operational priorities are focused on maintaining safe production. Decommissioning priorities are focused on preparing the asset for efficient shutdown and removal.

When these priorities are separated, decisions that make sense in one context can create inefficiencies in another. The result is not failure, it is friction.

And friction in offshore execution is rarely neutral. It slows progress, increases cost and introduces avoidable complexity. The alternative is not simply closer coordination; it relies on a different way of structuring the work.

In practice, this often means the same organisation or an integrated delivery model remains involved from late life operations through to decommissioning, maintaining continuity in how the asset is understood and managed.

When late life operations and decommissioning planning are treated as part of the same continuous process, decisions can be made with both present and future requirements in mind. Equipment can be managed in a way that supports eventual removal. Wells can be prepared with abandonment in view. Activities can be sequenced to reduce rework and minimise offshore intervention. Managed this way, the focus shifts from managing phases to managing outcomes.

This does not require a fundamental change in technical capability. The expertise already exists within the industry. What changes is how and when that expertise is applied.

Instead of being introduced after production ends, decommissioning considerations are brought forward into the final years of operation, shaping decisions as they are made. Over time, this reduces uncertainty, limits inefficiencies and creates a more controlled transition into the final phase of the asset.

For operators, the implication is straightforward. The efficiency of a decommissioning programme is not determined when it begins. It is determined in the years leading up to it. And the transition to that final phase does not start when production stops. It starts while the asset is still operating.