ABSTRACT
There exist more than 6,500 offshore oil and gas installations around the world, many of which provide a facility for tankers to load oil into their holds. The North Sea is home to a majority of the world’s heavy deepwater steel platforms. Of the approximately 600 rigs, operating in the North Sea and North Atlantic, about fifty will reach the end of their useful life by 2006. Because some of the equipment and the sludge contained within could pose serious environmental consequences, plans to decommission these rigs raise ongoing and conflicting economic and environmental concerns.
