Multimillion-dollar fine for EnQuest over 33 idle wells as UK cracks down on decom inactivity

April 9, 2026, by Melisa Cavcic

Great Britain’s regulator, North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), has hit London Stock Exchange-listed energy player EnQuest with a penalty over decommissioning failures related to 33 inactive wells.

The North Sea Transition Authority has fined the North Sea licensee, EnQuest Heather, a collective total of £16.5 million (over $22.11 million) for failing to decommission inactive wells; thus, the cumulative fine is for protracted non-compliance on 33 wells under four separate licenses on Alma, Galia, Broom, and Dons fields, with the penalty for each breach being £500,000.

These fields ceased production between summer 2020 and spring 2021. As a result, the 33 wells, which are the subject of the fines, have been awaiting decommissioning ever since. The NSTA explains that decommissioning is the final step of the process and is only required when a well, or other piece of infrastructure, has no further use.

The UK regulator claims that timely decommissioning is essential to protect the wider environment, prevent extra costs to the taxpayer, and support jobs in the supply chain. The NSTA has repeatedly warned operators that delaying this work could increase the cost to the Exchequer and therefore the public, because the costs are tax-deductible, potentially resulting in significant tax refunds.

In addition, safe decommissioning is important as the government believes it is essential for the long-term protection of the marine environment. The latest action is said to follow a lengthy engagement with the company and an investigation that revealed it pursued a conscious strategy to defer the costs of meeting its plugging and abandonment obligations – at a time when the wells had reached the end of their useful life.

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Stuart Payne, NSTA’s Chief Executive, commented: “Safe and timely decommissioning is an essential part of doing business in the North Sea. Delivering on commitments and obligations also helps to provide the reliable, steady flow of activity that our world-class supply chain has stated time and again is vital to its survival.

“Delays to decommissioning, and any reduction in supply chain capacity risks adding additional costs for the UK taxpayer. The NSTA is focused on supporting energy security and works with operators on ensuring economic recovery. It is now, more than ever, important to ensure that the North Sea is operating efficiently and clear regulation demonstrates stability and encourages investment, which can help boost production.”

According to the British regulator, this included requesting various deadline extensions, which were then missed, with a clear pattern of reneging on their own decommissioning plans. The NSTA expects industry to spend around £27 billion ($36.17 billion) between 2023 and 2032, more than half of the total £44 billion ($58.94 billion) the North Sea decommissioning is estimated to cost in the 2025 UK Decommissioning Cost and Performance Update.

The well plugging and abandonment (P&A) represents almost 50% of that spend, and there are currently around 500 wells at or beyond the deadline, with more than 1,000 more expected to be due for decommissioning between 2026 and 2030.

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In response to NSTA’s sanctions, EnQuest said that it had won Offshore Energies UK’s prestigious Excellence in Decommissioning Award in both 2022 and 2025. The company carried out several decommissioning works in the period encompassing these awards, as it removed four major infrastructure hubs and plugged and abandoned 84 wells, representing 47% of all wells decommissioned in the central and northern UK North Sea.

Amjad Bseisu, CEO of EnQuest, highlighted: “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 firm claims to have completed the work at costs approximately 15% below the NSTA’s latest benchmark average, ensured the deployment of a wide range of personnel and service equipment vital to the UK North Sea, and developed innovative in-house technologies, workflows, and techniques that are now benefiting decommissioning management across the North Sea.

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The UK player emphasized: “EnQuest is therefore disappointed by the NSTA’s decision to issue a sanction fine of £16.5 million for non-compliance in relation to the timing of plugging and abandonment (‘P&A’) of 33 relatively young and inactive wells across its North Sea asset portfolio.

“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 company underlines that the wells, which are the subject of NSTA sanction, are within fields that ceased production from 2020 onwards, meaning they are among the younger suspended well stock in what is otherwise a mature basin with multiple decommissioning priorities.

In light of this, the firm elaborates that these wells ranked as low integrity risk versus other wells in its portfolio, while the majority of the 84 decommissioned wells were around 40 years old.

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While emphasizing that forcing additional decommissioning activity into an already full multi-asset program would compromise the safe completion of P&A work, the North Sea operator added: “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.”