Making Oceans Off-Limits to Offshore Oil and Gas

This report by the Center for International Environmental Law argues that offshore oil and gas activities—including exploration, production, transport, and decommissioning—pose severe threats to marine ecosystems, human rights, and the global climate. It calls for oceans everywhere to be made off-limits to these activities to address the triple planetary crises of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss.

• Offshore oil and gas production now accounts for more than 30 percent of global production, with 40 percent of all maritime trade consisting of the shipment of fossil fuels and their products.
• The production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) has increased the use of oceans as conduits for energy trade and has led to the proliferation of polluting infrastructure, such as processing plants and terminals, along coastlines.
• Offshore activities have significant, often underreported climate impacts; satellite data indicates that methane leaks and flaring at offshore platforms and coastal facilities are higher than official records suggest.
• The life cycle of offshore projects creates diverse hazards: exploration uses air guns that cause noise pollution harming marine life; production risks well blowouts and oil spills; transport involves routine discharges of hydrocarbons and toxic metals; and decommissioning is often neglected, leaving abandoned wells to leak gases and toxins.
• Offshore infrastructure can negatively impact local communities by creating exclusion zones that block access to fish stocks, leading to food insecurity and loss of livelihood.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (n.d.). Making Oceans Off-Limits to Offshore Oil and Gas. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Making-Oceans-Off-Limits-to-Offshore-Oil-and-Gas.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. Making Oceans Off-Limits to Offshore Oil and Gas. n.d. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Making-Oceans-Off-Limits-to-Offshore-Oil-and-Gas.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=Making Oceans Off-Limits to Offshore Oil and Gas |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Making-Oceans-Off-Limits-to-Offshore-Oil-and-Gas.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallawndmaking, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{Making Oceans Off-Limits to Offshore Oil and Gas}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Making-Oceans-Off-Limits-to-Offshore-Oil-and-Gas.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }