Decision Support Models to Integrate Market and Non-Market Value Attributes for Platform Decommissioning: An Effective Approach for Resolving Challenges at the Nexus of Science and Regulatory Policymaking

摘要

In this paper, we describe how to use multi-variable decision analysis to facilitate offshore oil and gas platform decommissioning. We implemented decision analysis as a software tool (PLATFORM) to clarify and evaluate decommissioning alternatives against a comprehensive set of objectives, including both market and non-market values. Decommissioning options selected for in-depth analysis were complete platform removal and partial removal to 85 feet below the water line, with the remaining structure converted to an artificial reef. PLATFORM performed key analyses of the impacts of each option (e.g., on costs, fishery production, air emissions). The analysis found a near-consensus of stakeholders in support of partial removal and a “rigs-to-reefs” program.