Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) is the seventh largest oil and gas company in the world, with a market cap of US$337.8 billion and a stake in more than 41,000 oil wells globally as of 2023.
The company is moving to decommission nine oil platforms off the coast of Western Australia, near Thevenard Island.
The wells have not extracted oil since 2014, requiring Chevron to decommission the infrastructure – the oil and gas giant has received government approval to recycle them as artificial reefs.
Eight platforms are set to be transformed in this way, with a ninth to be removed entirely and recycled onshore.
The plan has drawn ire from the Wilderness Society and the Offshore Alliance, a union of workers on oil and gas platforms.
Nonetheless, Chevron, the WA government and RecFishWest, the regional fishing body, say the plan is ecologically sound, offering benefits to both the local ecosystem and fishing and tourism in the area.
Can oil rigs be safely decommissioned as reefs?
A fossil fuel campaigner for the Wilderness Society told the ABC that the organisation has concerns over heavy metals and chemicals leaching from the rigs into the local environment.
"The question we should be asking is whether oil and gas infrastructure, which was never intended to be a substitute for marine ecosystems, should be being used in that way," Fern Cadman said.
"We are concerned that this project slipping through without proper environmental scrutiny could then set a precedent for other similar proposals.
"The long and the short of it is cleaning up oil and gas infrastructure is expensive.
"So, companies are looking for ways they can minimise the cost."
A Chevron spokesperson made assurances the company would "fully account" for decommissioning the oil rigs, and would return the infrastructure to the state in the "agreed end state".
"Chevron Australia has a proactive and planned approach to decommissioning, with the highest priority placed on the safety of our people and the environment," the spokesperson said.
Dozens more rigs to follow
The Offshore Alliance union was unimpressed with Chevron’s promises.
Organiser Doug Heath told the ABC full decommissioning and recycling of the rigs would offer more opportunity for workers.
"It's not a good start to what's going to be 30 years of decommissioning if government are going to chop up the jobs of our members," Doug Heath said.
"It doesn't pass the pub test for the WA government to sit down with Chevron, to the exclusion of other stakeholders, and cut a deal."
A further 57 oil rigs across Western Australia, Northern Territory and Victoria are set for or approaching the decommissioning phase off Australian shores.
They include over 8,000 kilometres of pipelines and more than 1,000 wells to be plugged, according to the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA).
As Australia’s economy works toward decarbonisation and renewable energy, the majority of the offshore platforms off Australian shores will be decommissioned over the next 30 years or so.