Killing off electric vehicles, US shale producers, or Iran’s and Russia’s economies, were all put forward as the real reason behind OPEC’s public explanation that keeping the taps open and so depressing prices is about protecting market share.

But regardless of what’s behind it, one consequence has been big cuts in North Sea oil exploration and the accelerated decommissioning of related infrastructure. Shell’s recent announcement that it is to begin decommissioning the Brent Delta platform, weighing 23,500 tonnes and standing higher than the Eiffel Tower (pdf), is one example of this.

While this is obviously bad news for Aberdeen and other centres of the extraction economy, decommissioning also brings opportunities, and Shell’s chairman has been talking up the potential for the UK to be a world leader in the sector. Although oil and gas is not usually a sector associated with positive environmental stories, decommissioning is a chance to buck the trend.

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Source: Jonny Hazell, The Gurdian, 23 Feb 2015