Abandoned Oil Rigs Repurposed to Help the Planet Heal

Decommissioned oil rig sitting on the Pacific Ocean waters has been the new home for a thriving ecosystem.

There are roughly 12,000 offshore oil and gas platforms worldwide that will become defunct when unable to produce enough fuel to be profitable. The question now is, what can be done with the enormous structures left behind.

With the world taking the threats of climate change seriously, prioritizing international climate crisis agendas, and the global COVID-19 pandemic effects, there is a predicted increase in defunct oil rigs on the ocean.

Removing the structures from the ocean is laborious and expensive; no business would voluntarily contribute. Additionally, allowing the oil rigs to rust and fall into disrepair is sure to have environmental risks on marine ecosystems.

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Repurposing Defunct Oil Rigs as Novel Ecosystems

A study published in the journal Marine Ecosystem Ecology suggests that these structures could be repurposed to serve as a novel ecosystem.

The subsurface rigs are an ideal skeleton for corals. Large platforms like Platform Holly could become the most diverse human-made marine habitat that could be teeming with fish and other wildlife.

But this practice of transforming abandoned oil rigs into reefs isn't new. In fact, 40 years ago, the U.S Congress signed the National Fishing Enhancement Act that recognized the benefits of artificial reefs encouraging states to draw plans to turn defunct rigs into human-made reefs.

States on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico like Mississippi, Texas, Alabama, and Florida all have rigs-to-reef programs where they have converted roughly 500 oil rigs into artificial reefs.

When companies cease drilling in the mentioned states, they will decommission the platform and seal oil wells. They then have the option to remove the entire platform or remove only the upper section and convert the remaining into a reef.

Reefing a platform has become a significantly attractive proposition for companies since it is remarkably less expensive than total removal. This process also allows the industry to save millions of dollars annually.

Emily Hazelwood and Amber Sparks, marine scientists, are on a mission to replicate the success of conservation in more parts of the globe.

Together, they founded the Blue Latitudes in 2014. The California-based organization raises awareness about the benefits of rigs-to-reef programs and persuade both oil companies and governments to designate the novel ecosystems as permanent reefs.

Sparks says, "We're trying to help the general public understand that conservation isn't always about saving the whales. There are other ways we can look at complex ideas in our oceans."

Sparks and Hazelwood have reefed various rigs from West Africa to Thailand, preventing more than a dozen large marine ecosystems from collapse.

A study published in 2014 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America suggests that offshore rigs, such as the ones in California, are the most productive fish habitats globally.

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