Offshore, Off-Limits

The briefing details the systemic failures in decommissioning offshore oil and gas sites, highlighting how abandoned wells leak methane and toxins, threaten marine biodiversity and coastal livelihoods, and how corporations use legal and financial loopholes to shift cleanup costs to the public.

• Improperly decommissioned or abandoned offshore wells are a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions, specifically methane, which is responsible for 25 percent of current global warming. In the North Sea, it is estimated that one-third of abandoned wells could release between 3,000 and 17,000 tons of methane annually.
• Abandoned infrastructure poses severe biodiversity and environmental risks, including the leakage of oil, benzene, and heavy metals like mercury. Additionally, the process of decommissioning itself can cause harm through noise pollution and the use of explosives, which can destroy coral reefs and kill marine wildlife.
• The 'rigs-to-reefs' (RtR) practice, which converts platforms into artificial reefs, is criticized as a potential tool for corporate greenwashing. While some argue it provides habitat, critics point to risks such as the spread of invasive species and the release of contaminants as structures corrode.
• Decommissioning costs are substantially higher for offshore sites than onshore ones, with deepwater subsea wells costing at least $21 million to plug compared to $20,000 to $50,000 for conventional onshore wells. Global decommissioning costs were estimated at nearly $100 billion between 2021 and 2030.
• Oil and gas companies frequently avoid decommissioning liabilities by selling aging assets to under-resourced 'wildcat' operators who may later declare bankruptcy, shifting the financial burden to taxpayers. Examples include asset transfers in Nigeria and the Timor Sea.
• Regulatory and contractual loopholes allow companies to reduce their financial obligations. In the UK, tax relief means the public may bear half of the estimated £40 billion cost for North Sea rig dismantling. In Guyana, a production-sharing agreement allows a consortium to deduct future decommissioning costs as current operating expenses.

APA

Khatri, U., Steer, A., & Reisch, N. (2025). Offshore, Off-Limits. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Offshore-Off-Limits-Decommissioning.pdf

Chicago

Khatri, Upasana, Aidan Steer, and Nikki Reisch. Offshore, Off-Limits. Center for International Environmental Law, 2025. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Offshore-Off-Limits-Decommissioning.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Khatri |first1=Upasana |last2=Steer |first2=Aidan |last3=Reisch |first3=Nikki |title=Offshore, Off-Limits |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=2025 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Offshore-Off-Limits-Decommissioning.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{khatri2025offshore, author = {Khatri, Upasana and Steer, Aidan and Reisch, Nikki}, title = {{Offshore, Off-Limits}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2025}, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Offshore-Off-Limits-Decommissioning.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }