The Well Decommissioning for CO₂ Storage Guidelines, issued by OEUK, have been updated to reflect recent developments and expanded industry experience. As there have been substantial changes the document is being renamed to reflect this: Well Decommissioning and Legacy Well Assessment for CO₂ Storage – Issue 2
This document provides industry recommendations and emerging good practice for well decommissioning for CO₂ storage, based on recent North Sea and international experience.
These guidelines supplement the OEUK Well Decommissioning Guideline Issue 7 and support well operators and engineers in maintaining the integrity of future CO₂ storage sites. They also support CO₂ storage operators in assessing the integrity of inherited legacy wells.
Key updates include:
- Expanded scope
Explicit coverage of legacy well assessment across the licence area, wider storage complex, and any wells within the hydraulic unit that may experience pressure increase — including those outside the CO₂ plume. This supports alignment with the NSTA definition of “no significant risk of leak from the complex.”
- Strengthened containment principle
Reinforces the “restore caprock / intra-zonal isolation” principle, clarifying that barriers must prevent CO₂ migration outside the storage complex, not just to seabed or surface.
- Entire new content on legacy wells
Introduction of a dedicated section on Legacy Well Assessment (Section 5). Hence the new title of the document: Well Decommissioning and Legacy Well Assessment for CO₂ Storage
We thank the following organisations for their contribution to this update, in particular the dedicated task group:
Adura, Astrimar, Blade Energy Partners, bp, CNRL, Drax, Elemental Energy, ENI, Harbour Energy, Heriot-Watt University, Offshore Energies UK, Perenco, Shell, Spirit Energy, Storegga, and Wellsafe Solutions.
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