Who owns oil platforms

Additionally, Craig is obsessed with the size of things. Sometimes this translated into actually scientific research.

I really want to meet an Oil Magnate, there is so many questions I want to ask. Do they even go on the net? US drilling activity jumped by 32 rotary rigs to 1, units working to week 18th Dec, compared with 1, during the same period in , reported by Baker Hughes. Land drilling accounted for all of the gain, up 38 rigs to 1, in operation. Inland water activity lost 2 rigs, with 13 still working. Offshore drilling was down by 4 rigs to 33 in the Gulf of Mexico and a total of 34 on the US shelf.

Gas drilling increased by 16 rigs to Drilling for oil also increased by 16 units, to There were 11 rigs unclassified. Directional drilling gained 11 rigs to working. Horizontal drilling increased 14 rigs to The Texas rig count was up by 20 to working. Colorado gained 6 to Then they can either choose to remove the entire platform or convert it into a reef by removing just the upper section of the structure.

Reefing a platform is an attractive proposition for oil and gas companies as it is significantly less expensive than total removal and is estimated to save the industry millions of dollars each year. Campaigners say it is a win-win situation as companies spend half of their decommissioning savings on the state's artificial reef programme. This money goes towards maintaining the platforms, marine conservation and education.

Due to the abundant marine species living there, the platforms in the Gulf of Mexico have become hotspots for diving, snorkelling and recreational fishing. Marine scientists Emily Hazelwood and Amber Sparks are on a mission to replicate this conservation success in other parts of the world. They founded the California-based organisation Blue Latitudes in to raise awareness about the benefits of rigs and persuade oil companies and governments to designate them as permanent reefs.

Hazelwood and Sparks have reefed rigs from Thailand to West Africa, preventing more than a dozen large marine ecosystems from being wiped out. When offshore rigs become defunct, they can either be left in place and maintained for wildlife, or dismantled Credit: Alamy. Offshore rigs are among the most productive fish habitats in the world , according to marine biologist Milton Love who has spent 20 years studying fish populations around oil and gas platforms in California.

They provide marine wildlife with food, shelter from predators and a safe breeding ground. For some species, the rigs are even better nurseries than natural reefs, says Love.

The towering pylons are the perfect spawning grounds for tiny fish larvae. One of the big beneficiaries is rockfish, stocks of which have been heavily depleted due to overfishing along the US West Coast. These fish are found in abundance around oil platforms. For instance, the platforms have helped revive the critically endangered bocaccio rockfish. The abundant fish populations found at Californian platforms can partly be attributed to the fact that oil rigs serve as de facto marine protected areas , says Love.

In California, fishing around oil and gas platforms is prohibited. Displaced fish will often return to their home platforms, which provide a safe and versatile habitat Credit: James Wiseman. Chris Lowe, a marine biologist at California State University who has been tracking fish populations in southern California since , says there is clear evidence that fish are drawn to the platforms. For one study, Lowe attached sensors to fish living by three oil platforms, before moving them to a natural reef located up to 18km 11 miles away and monitoring their movements over two years.

A quarter of the fish, across all species, quickly returned to their home oil platform , while others would migrate back during non-breeding seasons. They really like their home platform. This showed us a lot about how the fish treat the platform as a habitat," says Lowe. Biologists estimated up to 45 species of fish — rockfish, lingcod, perch — live in its vicinity, while the legs of the structure support innumerable arthropods, such as barnacles, crabs and tiny crustaceans.

As a scientist, he is neutral. That is not a biological perspective. It is a philosophical perspective that society needs to debate. Given the revenues and the resources lying under Holly, old-timers and industry watchers wonder if decommissioning the platform had more to do with politics than common sense. Bautista recalls how the city of Goleta had little sympathy over the loss of Venoco.

Residents, he says, complained about the foghorn and the burn-off flare. He paints a scenario in which Holly would stay operational, empty the oil field and cover the cost of decommissioning. Back on land, the lawyers and engineers strip off life jackets and coveralls and return their hard hats. For the record: An earlier version of this story said that a pipeline near Refugio State Beach released nearly , barrels of oil when it ruptured in The spill released nearly , gallons of oil.

Behind the story: A reporter sails to a steel behemoth worthy of Melville ». Boles UC Santa Barbara. Onshore pipeline locations are from the California Energy Commission , and offshore pipelines locations are from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

Vent stack Burn-off flare. Drilling derrick. Galley and lockers. Drill deck. Production deck. East boat landing. Platforms off the coast of Santa Barbara and Ventura counties The highest concentration of offshore oil platforms in California is between Oxnard and Point Arguello, where seven are scheduled for decommissioning. Decommissioned platform. Active platform. Oil separation and treatment plants. Santa Barbara County. Plains All American pipeline Pipeline shut down in May after it cracked open.

Ventura County. Platform Hidalgo. Platform Harvest. Platform Hermosa. Refugio State Beach. Site of pipeline rupture. Santa Barbara. Platform Holly. Platform A: Origin of oil spill. Platform Habitat. Santa Barbara Channel. Platform Grace. Platform Gail. San Miguel Island. Santa Cruz Island. Anacapa Island. Santa Rosa Island.