The Middle East has spent decades building energy infrastructure at exceptional scale. As assets mature, Qatar, the UAE and other markets across the region now have a major opportunity to shape how the next generation of decommissioning is delivered.
Much of the infrastructure is already there, including ports, quaysides and established energy supply chains. The opportunity is to develop the specialist capability around them so complex decommissioning material can be safely received, processed, recovered and ultimately reused, recycled or disposed of.
For hubs such as Doha and Abu Dhabi, that means going beyond quayside and laydown space. Decommissioning programmes can bring ashore thousands of tonnes of steel and equipment alongside hazardous waste, produced water and NORM-contaminated materials, requiring specialist handling, treatment, traceability and clear accountability across the onshore supply chain.
In his article in Oil Review Middle East, Lee Vettese looks at what the region can learn from mature decommissioning markets such as the North Sea, where port capacity, waste routes, specialist expertise and regulatory practices have developed over decades. His argument is not that the Middle East should replicate that model, but that it can use those lessons to build capability earlier and around its own infrastructure, regulation and commercial priorities.
That includes developing local expertise in areas such as materials management, lifting assurance, environmental management, radiological supervision and dismantling, while bringing ports, operators and specialist partners together around a more integrated delivery model.
With decommissioning activity set to become an increasingly important part of the Middle East energy landscape, the decisions being made now could shape the region’s capability for decades.