Decom North Sea (DNS), the organisation that represents the North Sea’s oil & gas decommissioning industry, has welcomed changes in the Budget that will boost the sector leading to new jobs and investment in new equipment.

With annual decommissioning expenditure in the North Sea forecast to top £1billion within a few years and a total of around £35billion due to be spent over the next 20 to 30 years, DNS had called for the Budget to provide long-term certainty. The forum has around 200 members drawn from across the full spectrum of the industry including operators and contractors.

The Government announced it will introduce a package of oil and gas measures to secure billions of pounds of additional investment in the UK Continental Shelf, which includes a contractual approach to offer long term certainty on decommissioning relief.

DNS Chief Executive Brian Nixon said: “The announcement has provided a set level of relief for operators which will assist the whole industry - and particularly the smaller breed of operators working in the North Sea - and will encourage more asset sales with prospective buyers now being assured of Government support when the assets reach the decommissioning phase.

Tags: Decom North Sea