We’re paying to clean up an oil industry mess

When we drill, we spill. That old adage has been true over and over again. But spilling isn’t the only environmental problem created by offshore drilling: drilling itself requires a massive industrialization of the ocean and coastline, with previously peaceful ecosystems cut through by pipelines and the surface of the Gulf of Mexico studded by oil platforms. 

When leases end and the oil stops flowing, the oil companies are supposed to pay to clean up and remove this extensive infrastructure, permanently plug their wellheads and leave the site for the sea turtles, fish and whales that swim through the Gulf’s warm waters. 

But far, far too often, that is not what happens. 

Earlier this month, the Department of Interior announced that it has hired a company to decommission eight abandoned oil and gas pipelines off the coast of Texas. This news should be welcome: removing pipelines will allow the seafloor to recover over time, and even “decommissioning in place” (where the pipeline is cleaned and filled with seawater) will reduce the risk that corroded pipelines could release more toxic chemicals into the Gulf. 

But there are some problems: first, this effort, while positive for the health of Gulf ecosystems off the coast of Texas, is a drop in the bucket compared to the scale of orphaned, abandoned and delinquent infrastructure that sits off the larger Gulf coast. Second, the companies that profited off dirty, dangerous drilling should be the ones picking up the bill for cleanup, not us. 

An ocean of outdated offshore oil and gas infrastructure

The amount of oil and gas infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico is overwhelming: one study estimated that there are 14,000 unplugged, non-producing wells in U.S. waters and wetlands, and a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) research report from last year found that the government’s own data recorded almost 2,300 wells in the Gulf that were at the end of their life and needed to be decommissioned. 

What’s worse: that same government report highlighted just how often oil and gas companies are missing or outright ignoring decommissioning deadlines: of the wells that were due for decommissioning between 2010 and 2022, 1,700 of them were overdue, with 1,300 wells on leases that had ended more than two years earlier. These delinquent wells could, in some cases, spell disaster: 700 of these wells hadn’t even been temporarily plugged, meaning companies had not taken interim steps to “install long-term barriers to prevent leaks before decommissioning.” 

And despite having the authority to do so, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), the federal agency responsible for administering decommissioning, almost never reports a company for failure to meet its responsibilities, which means that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), which issues new permits and leases for offshore drilling, isn’t considering whether a company applying to do more drilling at a new site has cleaned up their mess on a previous lease. 

We’re on the hook if companies don’t clean up their mess

Without action, taxpayers will end up paying to clean up the oil industry’s messes: the GAO report found that the total cost of decommissioning oil and gas infrastructure currently in the Gulf could cost between $40-$70 billion. If operators fail to meet their decommissioning obligations, then BOEM will be left to fund the cleanup. 

In theory, BOEM should have already collected supplementary bonds from companies to cover this cost. Supplementary bonds, similar to security deposits on an apartment rental, are meant to defray the cost of cleanup if companies leave a mess. But right now, BOEM has only $3.5 billion in bonds – nowhere near enough to cover the $40-$70 billion dollars of outstanding costs. 

All of this delinquent and abandoned infrastructure comes with risk: the longer pipelines and platforms sit corroding in salt water, the greater the likelihood that we’ll see a spill or a release of toxic chemicals. And abandoned offshore wells may also be leaking methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere, as a study conducted on abandoned oil & gas infrastructure in Europe’s North Sea found.  

Pathways to a brighter future

For the health of the Gulf’s ocean life and our coastal communities, we need to tackle this generational problem head on. 

Before I get into specific policy recommendations to deal with decommissioning, let me be clear: the absolute best thing to do for the ocean is to end offshore drilling all together, and then figure out how to get rid of all of the old infrastructure. Barring that, we should at least stop digging ourselves in deeper: we need to stop selling new leases for oil & gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, or anywhere else in the U.S. waters. Every lease sold today will lock us into new drilling infrastructure for decades to come. 

But at a time when Congress is considering a bill that would require even more new oil and gas leasing than is already planned in the Gulf, there are still good, common sense ways to tackle the problem of delinquent, abandoned and orphaned oil & gas infrastructure in our federal waters. 

First, government officials should start enforcing their own deadlines and rules around decommissioning and penalize companies that fail to meet them. If they need more resources and tools to be able to take on delinquent companies, Congress should increase funding and support for enforcement – a smart investment, if it means avoiding costly clean-ups in the future. 

We should also stop allowing bad actors to continue to operate oil and gas rigs in our waters. If a company has failed to fulfill its decommissioning responsibilities, it should not be able to buy new leases, purchase leases from other companies, or begin new drilling or exploration operations on leases it already owns. Drilling for oil offshore is risky, and only companies willing and able to abide by the rules should have the privilege of continuing to drill off our coast. 

Finally, BOEM should require companies to set aside more money for clean up on the front-end, so if a company fails to meet its obligations, taxpayers aren’t picking up the tab. 

The case can be made that offshore drilling was never worth the risk of spills and pollution. It’s especially not worth it today in 2024. We now fully know that old, decaying pipelines and other drilling infrastructure remain in the Gulf unattended. Moreover, we know that renewables and EVs are on the rise, and we’re slowly but surely turning the corner toward a new energy future. This future will be better for us, and better for the Gulf’s whales, sea turtles and fish. 

Step one to get to that future is dealing with the mess that’s in the Gulf. Let’s get started.