While it is expected that a day will come for the offshore oil and gas infrastructure to be retired at the end of active service life, does this have to be the end for these giant beasts of the sea? This year, many eyes have been opened to the idea that these oil rigs could get a new lease of life by being reimagined and rehabilitated into something new, like art.
At the end of its lifecycle, the offshore energy infrastructure is withdrawn from use and put through a decommissioning process. Some companies like the U.S.-based Chevron and Malaysia’s Petronas opt for rigs-to-reefs projects when possible, where decommissioned rigs are submerged into the sea to create artificial reefs. This has already been done multiple times and enables cost savings and reuse of offshore platforms that otherwise would become scrap metal and material. These projects are believed to be beneficial for the marine environment.
However, the awareness about the possibility of reusing these industrial structures has been further raised by a decommissioned North Sea platform, which embarked on its transformation into a large-scale public art installation in 2022.
