North Sea Roundup: BP Awards Subsea Decom Contract While Vår Energi Greenlights FPSO Tie-Back Expansion

## North Sea Roundup: Decommissioning and New Development Highlight Contrasting Fortunes The North Sea remains a hive of activity this week, with two notable announcements underscoring the dual nature of the basin's evolution — responsible decommissioning of ageing infrastructure alongside fresh investment in new production capacity. ### BP Taps DeepOcean for West of Shetland Subsea Decom Work Norwegian ocean services specialist DeepOcean has been awarded a contract by BP to carry out the decommissioning and recycling of subsea equipment at a UK field located West of Shetland, according to Offshore Energy. The scope of work relates to a site previously served by a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel, marking another step in BP's ongoing rationalisation of its UK North Sea asset portfolio. The appointment of DeepOcean reflects the growing demand for specialist subsea decommissioning expertise as the North Sea's mature fields reach end-of-life. West of Shetland represents one of the UK's more technically challenging operating environments, and the recycling component of the contract aligns with broader industry efforts to improve the sustainability credentials of decommissioning programmes. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. ### Vår Energi and Kistos Sanction Seven-Well FPSO Tie-Back In a contrasting development, Norwegian operator Vår Energi and its partner Kistos Energy have reached a final investment decision (FID) on a multi-well tie-back project in the Norwegian North Sea, Offshore Energy reports. The development, which will connect seven additional wells to an existing FPSO, is targeted for delivery in 2027 and is expected to meaningfully augment oil production off the Norwegian coast. The FID represents a vote of confidence in the long-term viability of Norwegian Continental Shelf assets, with FPSO tie-back solutions increasingly favoured as a cost-effective means of unlocking incremental reserves without the capital outlay of standalone infrastructure. Kistos Energy's involvement highlights the continued appetite among independent operators to participate in North Sea growth projects. ### Broader Context Together, these announcements illustrate the North Sea's transitional character — a basin simultaneously winding down legacy assets and investing in new production. For service companies such as DeepOcean, the decommissioning pipeline represents a substantial and growing market, while FID approvals like that of Vår Energi and Kistos signal that operators retain confidence in the economics of incremental North Sea development, particularly where existing infrastructure can be leveraged.