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Sustained low oil prices are accelerating decommissioning plans in the UKCS. (Image credit: MR1805)

Maersk to decommission Janice field

Denmark’s Maersk Oil is to apply to the UK Oil and Gas Authority to shut down its Janice field in the second half of 2016.

Janice, in the central North Sea, began operating in 1999 with recoverable reserves of 7 million barrels. It is now producing only 7,000 barrels a day.

“Ongoing challenges in the market and Maersk Oil’s cost transformation process” have meant that the field is no longer economical, the company said in a statement.

Eric Smith, Associate Director, Tulane University Energy Institute

Professor Eric Smith, Associate Director of the New Orleans-based Tulane Energy Institute and a long-time observer of the US oil and gas industry puts forward the specific regulatory changes that need to be made, from bringing current practices under the regulatory regime, to the creation of a financial support system and the institutionalization of activity.
According to Smith, these requirements would ensure that the US government provides greater assistance to the decommissioning industry at large.