EnQuest has criticised the approach taken by the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) after being fined £16.5million over delays to decommissioning some North Sea wells.
The regulator said the company had “pursued a conscious strategy to defer the costs of meeting its plugging and abandonment obligations” across four fields.
However, EnQuest strongly defended its approach, arguing that safety considerations had driven its decision-making.
The company said the wells in question were younger and of a “low integrity risk” compared with others in its portfolio, which it had prioritised “to minimise risk to human life and the environment”.
In a statement, the firm said: "Safety is EnQuest's principal operating focus for decommissioning. This means prioritising work on the basis of asset integrity to minimise risk to human life and the environment. As a result, our scheduling can differ from the date-driven and more mechanistic approach taken by the NSTA's sanctions team.
"The wells that are the subject of NSTA sanction are within fields that ceased production from 2020 onwards. This means they are among the younger suspended well stock in what is otherwise a mature basin with multiple decommissioning priorities.
The statement added: "The Group has also been clear in its communications with the NSTA that forcing additional decommissioning activity into an already full multi-asset programme, purely to comply with the NSTA's mandated timeline, would compromise the safe completion of P&A work, which, based on asset integrity, was of higher priority.
"EnQuest has presented to NSTA a clear and credible plan for the decommissioning of the sanction wells, and to deliver this, the Group signed a multi-year rig contract with Well-Safe Solutions in 2025. This contract secures vital supply chain resources in the North Sea well into the next decade.
"The NSTA has, however, decided not to take EnQuest up on its offers to discuss the sanction and our associated representations, and has instead moved directly to its decision. EnQuest is considering all options with regard to formally appealing the sanction and the fine."
Amjad Bseisu, CEO of EnQuest, added: "This decision by the NSTA is not aligned with EnQuest's proven track record and the recognition achieved as a leading North Sea decommissioning operator.
"At a critical time for the UK energy sector, we believe it is essential that the regulator supports industry efforts to safeguard energy security, protect jobs and sustain economic prosperity, rather than penalising a clear leader in decommissioning execution that is prioritising safety and an integrity-based approach, above all else."
The NSTA said timely decommissioning was “essential to protect the wider environment, prevent extra costs to the taxpayer and support jobs in the supply chain”.