Aging Offshore Platforms Are Operating on Borrowed Time

U.S. offshore oil and gas exploration began more than 100 years ago with the construction of a 300-foot pier mounted with a standard cable-tool rig off the coast of California in 1896. This, America’s first offshore well, started producing in 1897 and continued for the next 25 years. Other companies followed suit, constructing more piers and hundreds of wells to extract oil from beneath the seabed. In 1911, Gulf Refining Company abandoned the use of piers and utilized tugs, barges, and floating pile drivers to drill in Caddo Lake, Louisiana.

The first offshore platform in the Gulf of Mexico was built in 1938, about one mile off the coast of Creole, Louisiana. Standing 15 feet above the water on 300 yellow pine pilings driven into the ocean floor, the freestanding 320-foot by 180-foot wooden drilling platform was built to last, designed to withstand 150-mph winds and rough seas.

11 years and dozens of exploratory wells later, oil production had risen to become the second-highest revenue generator in the country, second only to income taxes. Demand only increased, and by the end of the 20^th century, technological advancements had pushed offshore drilling to new heights—with a new 7,625-foot depth record in the Gulf of Mexico. Today, rigs are capable of drilling hundreds of miles offshore and tens of thousands of feet below the seabed. 

This is an industry that has been extracting the world’s most valuable resources for hundreds of years—giving rise to questions about aging platforms and infrastructure. What is the average lifespan of an offshore platform? What happens when it passes its prime? When should a platform be decommissioned, and what does that involve?

We are facing these issues now more than ever—and they deserve our attention.

Thousands of Platforms Have Exceeded Their Service Lives

Most offshore platforms are designed to last 20 to 30 years, with certain limited-use structures rated for just 10. However, some heavy-duty platforms, especially in calm water and weather conditions, can last longer with proper maintenance and retrofitting. 

In the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 1,500 platforms have exceeded 30 years of service, with many operating well past their expected lifespan. The oldest platform in the Gulf is the Cognac Drilling and Production Platform, which was constructed in 1978. 

In the North Sea, about 1,500 platforms, averaging 25 years old, are nearing their decommissioning window. 9 out of 10 of the world’s longest-standing fixed offshore platforms are located in the North Sea.

In the Asia-Pacific region, it’s estimated that more than 2,500 offshore platforms will need to be decommissioned within the next decade.

Aging Platforms Present Serious Safety & Environmental Hazards

As an offshore platform nears the end of its operational service, it can present serious risks to its workers and the environment. Over time, structural fatigue and corrosion become unavoidable. The constant stress from waves, wind, and operational loads creates microscopic cracks in steel and concrete components, which, left unchecked, can propagate and eventually lead to catastrophic failure. Substructures built of reinforced concrete—such as the North Sea’s Gullfaks C, which weighs hundreds of thousands of metric tons—are particularly vulnerable to cracking and erosion that are exceedingly difficult to repair at depth.

A recent structural analysis of six aging jacket-type platforms found that even slight tilting—caused by foundation settlement, seabed erosion, or uneven loading—can significantly amplify stress on critical members, accelerating fatigue and increasing the risk of buckling or collapse. Once tilting begins, the redistribution of loads can overstress components that were never designed to bear such forces.

Old platforms may also face outdated safety and monitoring systems that no longer meet modern regulatory standards. Degraded fire pumps, gas detection networks, and emergency shutdown valves leave workers vulnerable to fires, explosions, and blowouts. Safety assessments in other regions, such as those conducted under the UK HSE’s KP3 inspection program, have repeatedly found that many aging platforms lack properly maintained or upgraded safety-critical systems, even after decades in operation.

Cumulative damage from retrofits adds another layer of risk. As production continues, operators often add new topside equipment or modify existing infrastructure to extend a platform’s productivity. These additions can increase weight and strain foundations and support structures not designed for decades of extra load.

Finally, aging offshore platforms are highly prone to erosion around pilings and seabed scouring caused by currents and waves. This not only undermines foundation stability but can also trigger platform tilting—a condition that severely compounds structural stress and pushes already fatigued components closer to failure. 

For offshore workers, these problems translate into very real hazards: machinery malfunctions, leaking pipelines, unreliable evacuation equipment, and increased exposure to toxic chemicals or explosive gases. The longer these platforms remain in service without major overhauls or decommissioning, the greater the risk of catastrophic structural failure or environmental disaster.

Some of the most serious risks of aging offshore platforms include:

• Structural collapse from foundation scour or fatigue fractures
• Gas or oil leaks stemming from seal failures or corroded piping
• Deck and handrail failures that lead to fatal falls or worker entrapment
• Electrical faults that ignite fires or disable alarms
• Equipment malfunction—hydraulic, mechanical, or control systems that fail when needed most

These are significant risks. They should not be ignored. They jeopardize production as well as workers and the environment, so why do offshore operations continue on platforms that are well beyond their intended operational age?

Why Old Platforms Are Still in Use

Many factors come into play when it comes to delays in offshore platform decommissioning. These are financial, technical, and political in nature.

Operators may delay aging platform shutdowns and decommissioning to:

• Save on massive shutdown and removal costs
• Extend production and profitability for as long as possible
• Avoid technically challenging removals
• Delay expensive compliance with stricter safety and environmental standards

In the Gulf, over 500 platforms and 2,700 wells are overdue for decommissioning.

What It Takes to Decommission an Offshore Platform

Decommissioning an offshore platform is one of the most technically challenging and expensive operations in the energy industry. Platforms can weigh anywhere from 40,000 metric tons topside to over 300,000 metric tons for massive concrete substructures like those in the North Sea. Removing them requires specialized heavy-lift vessels, subsea robotics, and months—sometimes years—of planning.

There are three primary methods for retiring offshore platforms:

• Complete removal
• Rigs-to-Reefs programs
• Partial removal or toppling

Regardless of the method, decommissioning carries astronomical costs—estimated at $40 to $70 billion in U.S. waters alone. With thousands of platforms nearing the end of their service lives, the world faces what some are calling a decommissioning crisis.

What Does This Mean for Offshore Workers?

For the men and women who live and work on these platforms, aging infrastructure isn’t just a technical concern or a threat to profitability—it’s a daily safety risk. Every corroded pipe, overloaded deck, or outdated emergency system represents another potential failure point in an environment where there is no room for error.

The longer these platforms stay in service past their intended lifespan, the greater the chance of serious accidents. Safety must come first. That means stricter inspections, better monitoring, and, most importantly, making the difficult decision to retire platforms that can no longer meet modern safety standards. 

Offshore workers deserve to know that when they step onto a platform—whether it’s 5 or 35 years old—the structure beneath their feet has been maintained and monitored to the highest standard, not kept running until something goes wrong. 

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Arnold & Itkin has fought for offshore workers and their families after the worst disasters in maritime history. From catastrophic platform failures to deadly blowouts, the firm has taken on major oil and gas companies that put profits ahead of safety. Its maritime trial lawyers have secured more than $20 billion in verdicts and settlements, holding corporations accountable for cutting corners and risking lives. When offshore workers are injured or killed because of aging infrastructure, poor maintenance, or delayed decommissioning, Arnold & Itkin stands ready to demand justice and deliver results. No matter what.