Thousands of oil rigs located offshore and gas platforms are nearing the end of their operating life or are already decommissioned throughout the world, understanding the environmental effects of decommissioning these platforms and their potential alternative use is important to consider after their operating life has ended. The energy industry is facing a global issue related to decommissioning the offshore infrastructures, it is estimated that costs of removing oil platforms from the ocean can rise up to £40 billion by the year 2040.
International policies require oil platforms to be removed once their life span has ended, however, it is revealed that these structures have become important for sealife to thrive on and coral reef formation and removing them will have negative impact on the population that has formed around them. (Brigitte et al., 2018) This project will focus on the importance of oil platforms as habitats for sealife and how they can be repurpoused to study marine life as well as provide a laboratory and study space for the scientific community, more especifically, marine biologists.