North Sea oil price

"We expect around £54bn (in nominal terms) will be spent on decommissioning on the UKCS and anticipate it to be completed in the early 2060s. Decommissioning spend is expected to increase by over 50pc by 2019 and will overtake development spend in the same year, " said Ms Legate.

Lower oil prices are forcing companies to review their operations around the world. New basins opening up in the Arctic and Brazil mean that the UK Government will have to provide more incentives to drillers to keep working in the North Sea.