Rigs-To-Reefs policy, progress, and perspective.

Abstract

The Minerals Management Service has updated its policy affecting platform abandonment procedures, which should facilitate cooperation between coastal states and oil and gas companies in the development of better Rigs-to-Reefs (RTR). Over the past 13 years, oil and gas companies have donated 141 platforms for construction of reefs in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Through partial platform removals and the elimination of explosives in the RTR conversion process, companies can now conserve reefs with higher profiles and fewer traumas to platform-associated reef organisms. Providing the industry with more productive offshore disposal alternatives and options can lead to reduction of abandonment costs and preservation of environmental values, thereby generating more incentives to convert platforms to reefs. In addition to producing 98% of the gas and 91% of the oil on our nation's Federal Outer Continental Shelf, GOM platforms compose the largest artificial reef complex in the world.