North Sea

Dugong could become a new North Sea production hub says offshore explorer Neptune Energy upon its latest discovery.

The Hydrogen Offshore Production project identifies an alternative to decommissioning by providing reuse options for offshore infrastructure. It aims to prove the feasibility of decentralized hydrogen generation, storage, and distribution to provide a bulk hydrogen solution.

Most crude exports coming out of the North Sea since March have been destined for Asia, where floating storage levels remain high.

Despite the global downturn, the long-term transition to net zero presents a major opportunity to create new multibillion industries based around the North Sea. Cross-sector collaboration and major state/private sector intervention, together with strong leadership, will be key.

An independent study pegged the cost of the project at about $2.6 billion, 80% of which Norway’s government planned to fund. The ministry said there is uncertainty about Northern Lights’ benefits and that it could prove to be unprofitable.

Even before the global pandemic impacted markets, decommissioning work in the North Sea region was expected to increase. Global decommissioning projects could reach $42 billion by 2024.

Neptune must pay Energean a break-up fee of $5 million for cancelling what was to be a $250 million deal.

North Sea system now on track for completion in Q2 2021.

Dutch companies are among the latest to explore the transformation of seawater into sustainable energy.

Despite streams of data being available on platforms about the condition of topside and drilling equipment, most experts agree that only a small fraction of such data is used. Whether for a fleet or single platform, AI can transform an offshore enterprise.