Ultra-deep water port: feasibility study

Appendix A: EY Scope of services

Our scope of services encompasses the following:

Stage 1

• Perform a locational assessment for an UDW port
  • Identify a long list of locations which could accommodate a UDW port and successfully compete with established international facilities.
  • Undertake a desktop analysis of the Norwegian UDW facilities to establish the criteria to which UK sites will be compared.
  • Assess the long list of locations against the criteria to determine the two best suited locations.
  • In this area EY worked with Arch Henderson LLP as technical specialist consultants.
• Undertake a market assessment for an UDW port
  • Request information from the OGA on the O&G sector in the UKCS and review it to determine the 'base case' demand for reverse engineer decommissioning in the UKCS.
  • Perform a desktop review to identify potential changes in market conditions, focusing on new vessel commissioning and changes in regulation, in order to run sensitivity analysis on the base case.
• Examine multi-use opportunities
  • Review publicly available information and hold discussions with SG and its partners to identify non-decommissioning projects that an UDW port could support.
• Complete a market consultation
  • Perform telephone interviews with platform operators, UHLV operators and multi-use operators to get a better understanding of the market views and demand for a UK UDW port.

Stage 2

• Undertake a CBA on the two shortlisted options to identify the preferred location.
• Determine an initial list of possible operational structures for the preferred location and identify opportunities for operational efficiencies.
• Set out our recommendations for next steps.

The feasibility study does not include analysis of the tax, state aid or accounting implications of the project, as these were specifically excluded from the detailed scope set out by the SG in the Invitation to Tender (Tend Ref: 536870). These matter should be considered by the SG prior to a final decision being made.