Plans to decommission iconic Brent oil field

Oil rig worker - credit Lindsey G

Plans to decommission the whole Brent oil field in the North Sea are expected to be lodged with the UK Government later.

Oil and gas giant Shell, which has four platforms in the iconic site, is expected to provide ministers with detailed plans to follow its current decommissioning of the Delta platform with the other three.

The UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy will then open the plans to consultation for 30 days.

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Environmental campaign group WWF say Shell will ask permission to leave the supporting legs of the platforms in place.

WWF Scotland director, Lang Banks, said: "Oil and gas companies operating in the North Sea have a legal, as well as moral, obligation to clean-up their mess. Having once pushed the boundaries of science and engineering to secure the oil and gas beneath the seabed, the industry should be pressed once again to do the same when decommissioning."

North Sea oil is often refered to as Brent crude, such has been the importance of the site. The name acts as a major benchmark price for purchases of oil worldwide.