Economic and Fiscal Aspects of Decommissioning Offshore Structures

The subject of field decommissioning has many dimensions. In this chapter the economic and fiscal aspects relating to the situation in the UKCS are examined. The specific issues analysed are (1) economic criteria for optimising the timing of decommissioning of individual fields including mothballing aspects, (2) the likely timing and aggregate expenditures on decommissioning activities in the UKCS, (3) the operation of the system of tax reliefs for the expenditures involved, and (4) decommissioning aspects of the re-use of facilities.