Offshore, Off-Limits

The document details the hazards of offshore oil and gas transportation, highlighting that 40 percent of maritime trade involves fossil fuels. It argues that the expansion of this sector, particularly liquefied natural gas (LNG), increases greenhouse gas emissions, the risk of catastrophic oil spills, and the spread of invasive species. The report emphasizes that climate change creates a feedback loop, where extreme weather and sea-level rise heighten the likelihood of infrastructure failure and subsequent ecological disasters.

• The transportation of oil and LNG by tanker is a major contributor to global shipping emissions; in 2022, it accounted for 171.6 million tons of CO2, representing 20 percent of total shipping emissions for that year.
• Liquefied natural gas (LNG) has a significantly higher climate impact than pipeline gas, producing 10 times the carbon emissions due to the energy-intensive processes of liquefaction, storage, and regasification.
• The shipping industry frequently engages in illegal bilge dumping, releasing oil, toxic metals like lead and arsenic, and chemicals such as benzene into the ocean. In European waters alone, there may be up to 3,000 such cases annually.
• Transportation-related oil spills are common and devastating; a 2003 study indicated that 12 percent of the more than 343 million gallons of oil entering the sea annually were due to transportation incidents.
• Climate change increases the physical risk to offshore infrastructure. For example, 72 percent of hydrocarbon production sites in the Niger Delta are vulnerable to drought, flooding, and changing rainfall patterns, while many US platforms were not designed for permanent sea-level rise.
• LNG transportation poses severe safety risks, including the potential for vapor cloud explosions (VCEs) or jet fires that can cause second-degree burns up to a mile away. Independent studies suggest the magnitude of these explosions could be 15 to 20 times greater than industry projections.

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-Transportation.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-Transportation.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-Transportation.pdf |access-date=23 October 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-Transportation.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }