Nature Platforms
WHAT? INTRUDUCTION
Industrial opportunism for the sake of nature During the past decades, the oil industry has gained a very controversial reputation - oil spills on the seas, high pollution levels and flimsy safety measures for offshore crews all come to people’s imaginations when the subject comes about. However, the age of fossil fuels is slowly coming to an end. What will happen to the infrastructure that it leaves behind? Traditionally, the remains of oil rigs are removed, and the sites freed for other uses. Though is this always necessary or useful? Could an oil rig contribute to the environment before it leaves permanently? During this Master’s thesis I have addressed these questions, focusing upon possible ways of reusing oil rigs as a nature-regeneration tool. Abandoned oil rigs have the potential to become architectural objects that benefit nature. Retired offshore structures could be converted into ecosystems which encourage biodiversity by hosting endangered species. This action could transform oil rigs from objects known for polluting seas and destroying marine life into spaces where species can recover, reproduce and thrive in safety. As a result, not only would sea life be better protected: new seascapes would also appear. The benefits of re-using decommisioned oil rigs outweigh the downsides Offshore platforms in shallow waters are proven to be suitable growth areas for corals . Over the lifespan of a platform, there are a large number of marine lives that accumulate on and around the underwater sections of the rigs. These metal assemblies become home to a wide variety of different species, providing them with safety and a 12
structure to settle on. When an oil well dries out, the related operation must be decommissioned. This currently means that the well must be plugged and the whole structure removed and brought to the shore for recycling or disposal. This leads to the death of marine life that has accumulated on it for years. Natural coral reefs host around 25% of all marine species, including fish, molluscs and worms. Unfortunately, due to climate change, overfishing, pollution and other human activities, the number of coral reefs around the world is declining rapidly. Around 30% of the coral in the Great Barrier Reef died in 2016 alone, because of a significant heatwave1. Currently, 60% of reefs worldwide are endangered. Once a reef dies out, all coral die, fish species leave and a whole ecosystem is destroyed. The question then remains of allowing retired offshore oil rigs to function as artificial reefs. Not only would this be beneficial for marine ecosystems, but it would also save a great deal of the work and cost associated with the decommissioning process. Resources saved could be reinvested in the re-naturalisation of reefs. Moreover, the upper sections of the platform could contribute to the protection of wildlife by functioning as stopovers for migrating birds.
1 James, Lauren E. 2018. National Geographic. [Online] August 2018. https://www.nationalgeographic. com/magazine/2018/08/explore-atlas-great-barrierreef-coral-bleaching-map-climate-change/.
Not all groups are proponents of keeping retired platforms in the seas. Part of this opposition comes from the shipping industry, which argues that artificial reefs impede marine traffic. The rigs indeed might be a barrier for ships and the consequences of a collision might be catastrophic. There are however ever fewer oil rigs currently constructed in shallow waters. The oil industry is moving steadily towards deeper waters, further away from the shores. As such, the number of rigs in shallow waters at the shores is not likely to grow, since there are few new oil fields in there (see illustration nr. 1). Other opponents of this idea are fishermen who do not like the idea of having more barriers to fishing nets. Clearly artificial rigs do occupy some area, however, this would not collide with areas designated for fishing. Furthermore, artificial rigs lead to higher populations of fish, beneficial to fishermen. Finally, some environmental organizations are afraid of dangerous chemicals from retired platforms ending up in the seawater.2 . Their concerns are well justified, considering the environmental effects caused by oil spills around the world. However, such spills did not occur on rigs which were already decommissioned. Usually, spills are caused by explosions on functioning rigs (see the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico) or fire (see the Ixtoc I oil spill and Kuwaiti oil fires). As soon as an oil rig is decommissioned, the well should be plugged and all remaining chemicals removed. The metal structure itself is then no longer dangerous
since all toxic elements have been disposed of. One of the examples for this unjustified fear about the danger of abandoned oil rigs is “The battle of Brent Spar.” In 1995 Green Peace organized a big media campaign against the disposal of The Brent Spar oil storage buoy in the North Sea, arguing with a high amount of toxic liquids end up in the water. This has led to a large Shell-boycott and in the end, the company was forced to remove the entire structure of the buoy and deliver it to the shore. However, as scientific researches have proved, the number of toxic elements named by Green piece were exaggerated, and only 1 percent of the called amount really exist on Brent Spar. This caused questioning the credibility of Green Peace, and the organization had to publicly apologize to Shell. An important aspect that should be considered while reusing a platform is local and global circumstances, such as climate, local flora and fauna, and socio-economic factors. Each case should be approached individually which will result in singular concepts and unique designs. The reutilization will have a stronger impact if it involves retired platforms around the globe. A worldwide chain will attract bigger public attention and enable the realization of this project also in developing countries with a weaker general ecological awareness.
2 Rice, A. L. 1999. Decommissioning the Brent Spar. London : Spon Press, 1999. ISBN 0-419-24090-X. 13
