Offshore decommissioning horizon scan: Research priorities to support decision-making activities for oil and gas infrastructure

Watson, Sarah M.; McLean, Dianne; Balcom, B.J.; Birchenough, Silvana N.R.; Brand, Alison M.; Camprasse, Elodie  C.M.; Claisse, Jeremy T.; Coolen, Joop W.P.; Cresswell, Tom; Fokkema, Bert; Gourvenec, Susan; Henry, Lea‐Anne; Hewitt, Chad L.; Love, Milton S.; MacIntosh, Amy; Marnane, Michael J.; McKinley, Emma; Micallef, Shannon; Morgan, Deborah; Nicolette, Joseph P.; Ounanian, Kristen; Patterson, John W.; Seath, Karen; Selman, Allison  G.L.; Suthers, Iain M.; Todd, Victoria L. G.; Tung, Aaron; Macreadie, Peter I.

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163015

Cited by 17 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 95 publications

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“…Number of steel jackets globally is 12 000, 1 multiply this by the mass of each = (12 000 × 50,000 t) = 600 Mt as 20% of MMS are jackets, the total mass of global MMS is (600 × 5) = 3,000 Mt.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The oil and gas industry (OGI) has been active in the marine environment for more than 70 years 1 in the exploration, production and transport of hydrocarbons (HC). Globally there are currently around 12 000 platforms, 180,000 km of pipeline 2 and a vast array of other types of infrastructure in place in various marine settings.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…12 The OGIMMS and the operations can interfere with local hydrodynamic processes and sedimentation patterns 13 as well as introducing contaminants, nutrients, and articial noise and light that may alter species behaviours. [14][15][16] However, Watson et al 1 found that the impact on other marine users, possible contaminant releases and liability issues are the main concerns of academics, industry leaders and policy makers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A first estimate of blue carbon associated with oil & gas industry marine infrastructure

Davies,

Hastings

2023

Environ. Sci.: Adv.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A first estimate of blue carbon associated with oil & gas industry marine infrastructure

Davies,

Hastings

2023

Environ. Sci.: Adv.

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“…This is further supported by the study carried out by [63] in which Multicriteria Approval (MA) for evaluating and comparing alternative decommissioning options across key selection criteria such as environmental, financial, socioeconomic, and health and safety were considered. [64] also demonstrated that using multicriteria decision analysis can be considered an adequate model for choosing options for decommissioning oil and gas assets, and leave in-situ is one of the most preferable options for decommissioning where a qualitative approach was applied.…”

Section: Potential Economic Impactmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Assessment of Environmental Impact on Offshore Decommissioning of Oil and Gas Pipelines

et al. 2023

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There has been a steady growth in the length of pipelines over the past 45 years, with over 6000 operating platforms extracting oil. Several facilities would reach their operational life, which can no longer be economically viable for their production and will eventually undergo the decommissioning procedure. Almost 3000 petroleum industries will likely be decommissioned worldwide in the next 17 years. By 2030, the total cost of decommissioning globally amounted to about USD 104.5 billion. The choice to decommission the offshore oil and gas sector is considered complicated and crucial as it must evaluate numerous variables such as cost, health and safety, and environmental consequences. This review paper aims to assess the decommissioning activity, specifically on pipelines in the oil and gas industry. The purpose of this study is to understand and evaluate significant environmental impacts associated with decommissioning of oil pipelines and to propose mitigation measures to address the challenges of decommissioning. Waste disposal, a threat to biodiversity and air pollution, is a major environmental concern in decommissioning oil and gas pipelines. Among the decommissioning measures, leave in-situ has the lowest environmental impact while repurposing and recycling, with the application of environmental impact qualitatively and quantitatively by integrating 3D information models, mathematical models embedded in hydrodynamic models look promising for decommissioning.

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“…Over the last decade, there has been increased concern about the environmental risks of contaminants in offshore oil and gas infrastructure that may be left in the ocean (in situ) as a decommissioning option (Cresswell et al, 2021; MacIntosh et al, 2021, 2022; Melbourne‐Thomas et al, 2021). The decommissioning of offshore facilities and their subsea infrastructure may result in the release of contaminants into the marine environment from various sources, either immediately or over an extended period postoperation (Watson et al, 2023). Assessing the ecological impacts of contaminants has been recognized as a global research priority with a need to further understand the impacts of offshore petroleum‐associated contaminants on the marine environment (Watson et al, 2023).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Response of Microbial Communities to Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material–Contaminated Sediments: A Microcosm‐Based Study

MacIntosh,

Dafforn,

Chariton

et al. 2024

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

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There is a growing need to understand the potential ecological impacts of contaminants in offshore oil and gas infrastructure, especially if that infrastructure is to be left in situ as a decommissioning option. Naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) is one type of contaminant found in solid deposits on internal surfaces of infrastructure that poses potential ecological harm if released into the marine environment. Microbes are important components of marine sediment ecosystems because they provide ecosystem services, yet the impacts of NORM contamination to these communities are not well understood. The present study aimed to investigate the response of benthic microbial communities to NORM‐contaminated scale, collected from an offshore oil and gas system, via controlled laboratory microcosm studies. Changes to microbial communities in natural sediment and sediments spiked with NORM at radium‐226 activity concentrations ranging from 9.5 to 59.8 Bq/kg (in partial equilibria with progeny) over 7 and 28 days were investigated using high‐throughput sequencing of environmental DNA extracted from experimental sediments. There were no significant differences in microbial community composition between control and scale‐spiked sediments over 7 and 28 days. However, we observed a greater presence of Firmicutes in the scale‐mixed treatment and Chloroflexi in the scale‐surface treatments after 28 days. This could suggest selection for species with contaminant tolerance or potential resilience to radiation and metal toxicity. Further research is needed to explore microbial tolerance mechanisms and their potential as indicators of effects of radionuclide‐contaminated sediments. The present study demonstrated that microcosm studies can provide valuable insights about the potential impacts of contamination from oil and gas infrastructure to sediment microbial communities. Environ Toxicol Chem 2024;00:1–14. © 2024 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC.

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Offshore decommissioning horizon scan: Research priorities to support decision-making activities for oil and gas infrastructure

Cited by 17 publications

References 95 publications

A first estimate of blue carbon associated with oil & gas industry marine infrastructure

A first estimate of blue carbon associated with oil & gas industry marine infrastructure

An Assessment of Environmental Impact on Offshore Decommissioning of Oil and Gas Pipelines

Response of Microbial Communities to Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material–Contaminated Sediments: A Microcosm‐Based Study

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