Rigs-to-Reefs Policy, Progress, and Perspective

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) has updated its policy affecting oil and gas platform abandonment and removal procedures that should facilitate efforts between coastal states and oil and gas companies in the development of better offshore Rigs-to-Reefs (RTR). Over the past 12 years oil and gas companies have donated 128 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 less trauma to platform-associated reef organisms. Providing the industry with more productive offshore disposal alternatives and options can lead to reduction of abandonment cost and preservation of environmental values, thereby generating more incentives to convert platforms to reefs. In addition to producing 100% of the gas and 97% of the oil on out Nation's Federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), GOM OCS platforms provide for the largest artificial reef complex in the world.