The New Use of Non-Operational Oil and Gas Platforms

The historic Platform Holly expands 235 feet (72 meters) above the Pacific Ocean, a few miles away from the Santa Barbara coast. The abandoned oil rigs are dull and lifeless, but the view below the surface is impressive. The colorful crabs, starfish, mussels, and fish congregate on the steel posts, which occupy more than 400 feet (120 meters) to the ocean floor.

There are more than 12,000 oil and gas rigs worldwide. Eventually, these rigs become non-operational once they produce too little fuel for extraction. 

What will happen to these massive infrastructures when the fossil fuels stop flowing? 

The number of old rigs is increasing due to the pandemic, issues about the world’s “peaked oil” demand, and climate change. However, decommissioning abandoned oil rigs is extremely expensive and labor-intensive. Aside from that, allowing them to rust is an environmental risk because it could damage marine ecosystems. 

There’s one way these abandoned oil rigs can be remarkably useful: the subsurface platform provides the perfect foundation for coral reefs. Swarming with fish and other species, rigs like Platform Holly are the most critical artificial marine habitats globally.

Transforming rigs into the reef in the United States had been done about four decades ago. In 1984. The US Congress approved the National Fishing Enhancement Act recognizing the benefits of artificial reefs. The Act also encouraged states to formulate plans to turn old oil rigs into reefs. Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas have developed rigs-to-reefs programs and have turned more than 500 oil and gas infrastructures into artificial reefs. When oil companies stop drilling in these states, they decommission their rigs by sealing the oil well. 

Converting platforms into artificial reefs is an attractive proposal for oil and gas companies. The practice is significantly less expensive than totally removing the oil rigs from the ocean. Advocates say it is a win-win situation as companies spend half of their decommissioning savings on the state’s artificial reef initiatives. The fund goes to the maintenance of the platforms, marine conservation, and education. The platforms have become ideal sites for diving, snorkeling, and recreational fishing.

Worldwide campaign to turn abandoned oil rigs into reefs 

Marine scientists Emily Hazelwood and Amber Sparks aim to replicate this best practice in other parts of the world. They established the California-based organization called Blue Latitudes in 2014. Blue Latitudes’ mission is to increase awareness of the benefits of rigs and encourage oil and gas firms to designate them as permanent reefs.

In 2019, gas comprised 21% and oil 34% of the world’s CO2 emissions from fuel, a substantial proportion coming from offshore oil and gas rigs.

Hazelwood and Sparks want to help the public to understand that marine conservation is not always about saving the whales. According to them, there are other ways to protect marine life, such as repurposing these enormous structures into artificial reefs. The two scientists have transformed rigs and saved large marine ecosystems from Thailand to West Africa.

Oil rigs are among the most productive fish habitats in the world, says marine biologist Milton Love. 

Milton Love spent 20 years researching fish populations in offshore rigs in California. He said these structures provide marine wildlife with food, shelter from predators, and safe spawning ground. The rich fish populations at Californian platforms can partly be credited to designating rigs as de facto marine protected areas. The state banned fishing around oil rigs.

Californians strongly resisted offshore oil rigs. They want their coastline and view free of those structures, says Kristen Hislop. Hislop is a marine conservationist at the Environmental Defense Center in Santa Barbara.

There are concerns that the savings offered to oil companies under the rigs-to-reefs program could persuade them to expand. Hislop also said that research and debates about what to do with the abandoned oil rigs are ongoing.

Some of these rigs are higher than the Eiffel Tower, like the Harmony platform in the Santa Barbara Channel. The beams are no longer visible because they are covered with marine wildlife. Hazelwood predicted that California would lose 27 large marine ecosystems if these oil rigs were toppled.

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