With investor confidence taking a hit in the aftermath of political and fiscal woes, hydrocarbon exploration in a slump, and supply chain costs likely to rise, a postponement of plug and abandonment (P&A) assignments could hike the UK’s decommissioning bill by $5.5 billion, according to the research conducted by Westwood Global Energy, an energy market research and consultancy firm.

Westwood’s analysis looks into the extent of financial and logistical hurdles for the North Sea decommissioning segment, predicting that $26 billion could be poured into decommissioning over the next decade, with well plug and abandonment operations alone accounting for around 50% of the cost.