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Posts Tagged ‘UCSB’

Santa Barbara beach tar reminds us of Platform Holly’s environmental benefits

Posted in California, Offshore Energy - General, seeps, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 20, 2026| Leave a Comment »

The cessation of production at Platform Holly 10 years ago has contributed to the periodic surges in natural seepage that soil Santa Barbara area beaches (see the Instagram post above).

The correlation between production at Platform Holly, which lies just offshore from the Univ. of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB), and seepage in the Coal Oil Point area (map below) was apparent to those who worked at Holly. That association was confirmed by UCSB studies:

“Emeritus Professor James Boles collected and analyzed decades of data on methane seeping from the seafloor southeast of Platform Holly, just offshore from Isla Vista. He and colleagues Grant Garven at Tufts University and Chris Peltonen at Beacon West Energy Group determined that production of oil and natural gas from the platform reduced natural methane seepage into the waters of the Santa Barbara Channel, confirming earlier regional studies. The findings appear in the journal Marine and Petroleum Geology.“

This blog called Platform Holly a “net negative hydrocarbon polluter,“ because production from Holly reduced natural seepage and methane pollution from shallow formations beneath the Channel. Steel subsea pyramids (“tents”) installed by Arco in 1982 collected seafloor methane seepage, an added environmental benefit from the platform operations. As described in a 2014 presentation posted by the California State Lands Commission,“production at Platform Holly has resulted in significant improvement in local air quality.”

Further per UCSB:

After combing through 20 years of data, the authors found that production at Platform Holly significantly reduced the amount of methane seeping into the tents. For example, production from a well drilled 1 kilometer beneath the tents immediately reduced the natural seepage. In contrast, the seepage increased when production ceased from that well. “This indicates a direct link between the oil reservoir and the natural seepage in the area,” Boles noted.

Production at Holly ceased 10 years ago; the tents have been removed and the platform is being decommissioned. However, methane bubbles in the Channel and periodic beach tar will continue to remind us of Holly’s positive environmental legacy.

Map showing areas ( shaded ) of natural oil seeps offshore from Coal Oil Point near Santa Barbara, California. Inset map shows the Channel Islands ( I ) designated SM San Miguel, SR Santa Rosa, SC Santa Cruz, A Anacapa, SN San Nicholas, SB Santa Barbara, and SCL Santa Catalina. Seep fields were mapped between 1946 and 1973 (modified from Hornafius et al. 1999) 

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Rigs-to-Refuge

Posted in California, Offshore Energy - General, rigs-to-reefs, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 30, 2025| Leave a Comment »

During a recent dive survey at Platform Holly off California’s coast, scientists from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) had to pause fieldwork because dozens of sea lions took shelter around the structure.

The reason? A pod of killer whales had been spotted hunting near another offshore platform in federal waters.

These real-time encounters reveal more than marine drama. They highlight the ecological role that offshore platforms can play as part of the seascape. UCSB’s work is part of our ongoing study, Understanding Biological Connectivity Among Offshore Structures and Natural Reefs, which explores how marine life moves among natural and manmade habitats.

See Rigs-to-Reefs+++

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Add the Record of Decision for California decommissioning to DOI’s immediate review list

Posted in California, decommissioning, energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , , , on February 13, 2025| Leave a Comment »

PNAS: “among the most productive marine fish habitats globally”

Secretarial Order No. 3418 identified energy policies and regulations requiring immediate Interior Dept. review. A policy decision that should be added to the list is BSEE’s Record of Decision (ROD) for the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement on Pacific OCS Decommissioning.

Inexplicably, BSEE’s ROD designates the most environmentally harmful, unsafe, and costly alternative as the “preferred alternative.” The decision is contrary to the opinions expressed by the leading experts on the ecology of California offshore platforms, most notably Dr. Milton Love of the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Why did BSEE select alternative 1 (complete removal) when their $1.6 million EIS acknowledges that alternative 2 (partial removal) is environmentally preferable? Was their decision influenced by activists who support the alternative that is most punitive to the industry they despise?

The Interior Dept. needs to immediately review this decision so that stalled decommissioning projects can move forward in a manner that is most efficient and best protects “the most productive marine habitats per unit area in the world.”

beneath Platform Gilda, Santa Barbara Channel

“On December 7, 2023, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) issued a Record of Decision (ROD) recommending the full removal of California’s 23 offshore oil platforms in federal waters, following a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) conducted to assess decommissioning options for platforms, pipelines, and other related infrastructure. However, upon close review, the PEIS and ROD appear to have reached misguided and detrimental conclusions due to critical oversights in their analyses.” Asher Radziner, Montecito Journal

More posts on California decommissioning

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Platform Holly story continues 9 years after production ceased

Posted in California, decommissioning, Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on September 19, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Platform Holly, California State waters in the Santa Barbara Channel, formerly operated by Venoco

Platform Holly sits immediately offshore from the Univ. of California at Santa Barbara, and UCSB scientists have studied the platform and surrounding ecology extensively. Multiple studies have shown that production from Holly reduced natural seepage and methane pollution from shallow formations beneath the Channel. Platform Holly was thus a “net negative” hydrocarbon polluter.

The natural seepage in the Santa Barbara Channel was important to the earliest inhabitants of the area. The Chumash used the tar for binding and sealing purposes, including caulking their canoes. Since Holly shut down in 2015 following the Refugio pipeline spill, offshore workers and supply boat crews have reported a considerable increase in gas seepage.

Earlier this month, it was reported that well plugging operations at Holly had now been completed, but decisions regarding the final decommissioning of the platform remain.

Venoco declared bankruptcy in 2015 and the State of California became the platform owner. According to the State Lands Commission, Exxon will pay the costs for decommissioning the platform. This is because Exxon acquisition Mobil operated the platform from 1993-1997 before Venoco became owner.

The most recent Holly development is that Venoco has settled its law suit with Plains, the company responsible for the 2015 Refugio pipeline spill that halted production from Holly. Terms of the settlement have not been disclosed.

Note: As an aside, I’m curious as to whether Mobil provided a decommissioning guarantee as part of the sale to Venoco or whether the State is simply holding ExxonMobil accountable as a legacy owner. If it’s the latter, why isn’t bp (bp acquisition Arco was Holly’s operator from 1966-1993) also liable? Is it a matter of Mobil being the more recent predecessor owner?

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‘Every square inch is covered in life’: the ageing oil rigs that became marine oases

Posted in California, decommissioning, rigs-to-reefs, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 16, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Guardian: Juvenile rockfish seen on an oil platform off the coast of Santa Barbara. For the scientists who study them, preserving these accidental marine ecosystems has become a moral issue. Photograph: Scott Gietler

Excellent Guardian article featuring my former colleague Dr. Ann Bull and Dr. Milton Love from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

According to a 2014 study they (Bull and Love) co-authored, the rigs were some of the most “productive” ocean habitats in the world, a term that refers to biomass – or number of fish and how much space they take up – per unit area. The research showed the rigs to be about 27 times more productive than the natural rocky reefs in California.

Guardian

More on decommissioning platforms offshore California.

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Important “Rigs-to-Reefs” Study Completed by UCSB

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on November 20, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Platform Gina - Santa Barbara Channel


The Marine Science Institute of the University of California Santa Barbara has completed a 6-year study to investigate the differences between the types of fish that live around offshore oil and gas production platforms off the coast of California and the species that inhabit natural reefs in the same geographic area.  This research strengthens and confirms observations made in previous studies. Among the important conclusions (full study linked here):

  1. There is very extensive diversity in the species assemblages around the oil and gas platforms of California. Factors driving this variability include A) location around the platform, B) geographic location of the platforms, and C) bottom depth of the platform.
  2. Around each platform, there are three, unique, fish assemblages: midwaters, bottom, and shell mound. While a suite of rockfishes (of 43 species) dominate most platform assemblages, a number of other taxa (e.g., lingcod, combfishes, sculpins, and seaperches) are also important.
  3. Midwater fish assemblages tend to be similar across platforms; there are substantial differences among those found at bottoms and shell mounds.
  4. In general, the assemblages of platforms and natural sites are different. These differences are primarily based on differences in species’ densities rather than the presence or absence of taxa.
  5. The role that habitat complexity plays in structuring platform fish assemblages should not be underestimated.

For a less scientific look at the reef effect and other uses of offshore platforms, see our Rigs-to-Reefs+++ page, a BOE exclusive! 🙂

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