Gulf Coast - Rig Removal

Holy cow they are busy removing rigs. One I fished and marked a couple of trips ago was gone. Made a pass thru ST 63/86 and most of the small single "pole" rigs are gone. Man those single poles always had lemons and nice mangroves. I passed over a couple I had marked and there is NOTHING left. They pick up everything. Then passing pack in thru ST 21/22 they are ripping those suckers out in production line fashion. We need to get this stopped before there are none left. They are ruining something amazing.

same over here, it is amazing, went out expecting to go to a couple of rigs 20 miles out of dauphin island this weekend, and there is nothing left of them. They had a barge and crane up against one tearing it down, it will probably be gone within the week. sad.

Holy cow they are busy removing rigs. One I fished and marked a couple of trips ago was gone. Made a pass thru ST 63/86 and most of the small single "pole" rigs are gone. Man those single poles always had lemons and nice mangroves. I passed over a couple I had marked and there is NOTHING left. They pick up everything. Then passing pack in thru ST 21/22 they are ripping those suckers out in production line fashion. We need to get this stopped before there are none left. They are ruining something amazing.

We saw one of the rig removal boats coming in Saturday he was in the ST 20's..I made this exact same comment about stopping this!

They have removed ei 74 a very good spot for specks. Always reliable at retain times of the year. Now its gone

same over here, it is amazing, went out expecting to go to a couple of rigs 20 miles out of dauphin island this weekend, and there is nothing left of them. They had a barge and crane up against one tearing it down, it will probably be gone within the week. sad.

Crap, what rig is that? Its not the little yellow one just south of the tensaws is it..

Hey I agree I was in Fourchon week before last working on mangroves and lemonfish and was very surprised to see the platforms missing in the ST 63/86 block! The few that are left are H2s platforms I don't like to go to. I'm sure they will rape the 20 block next!! I thought this was supposed to be stopped? WTH??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FyEPh_E3Vs&feature=youtu.be

A good time to send them a message.
Courtesy of CCA.
http://www.votervoice.net/Core/core.aspx?APP=GAC&AID=616&IssueID=29071&AdminPreview=True&SiteID=-1

A good time to send them a message.
Courtesy of CCA.
http://www.votervoice.net/Core/core.aspx?APP=GAC&AID=616&IssueID=29071&AdminPreview=True&SiteID=-1

Done

done

Hey Joshua, funny I ran less than a mile from EI 74 on Wednesday coming back from a snappper trip in the deeper EI area and it was still there. Did they remove it in 5 days? There wasn't a demo barge or any other type of equipment anywhere near there.

Done & forwarded link to friends and family!

Man we went about a month ago And they ran us off because they were getting ready to blow out the lines under water. They had guys there cutting on the rig. People were telling me that they were taking it down. After that happend I belived them. Man so sorry for the misinformation glad to here its still there

Yep, I went to my favorite cobia rig which I had named "cobia city" in my GPS and it is now gone.

Please explain? Are they removing them because they are done producing or is it some type of Obama B.S. ? Dont mean to sound stupid..

Get you a beer or 10 and read this: http://www.data.boem.gov/PI/PDFImages/ESPIS/4/4254.pdf


"Structures are installed to produce hydrocarbons, but at some point in time during the life cycle of the field, when the cost to operate a structure (maintenance, operating personnel, transportation, fuel, etc.) exceeds the income from production, the structure exists as a liability instead of an asset. If the production rate of the structure can be increased (through investment) or the operating costs can be reduced (through more efficient production practices, a farm-out arrangement, or unitization), the field will continue to produce until its “economic limit” is
reached. Since 1947, over 2,300 structures have been removed from the GOM, and over the past decade, 125 structures have been removed annually. Structures that exist on a lease that have not produced in the last year or serve a useful economic purpose are called “idle iron.”

thanks i understand now.

We do not have oil rigs around here but do have a series an Naval Towers that Kings Bay Submarine Base used some how. Now they are talking about removing them because the up keep is $100,000+ per year. With them gone, there is not much of the coast of GA.

They were also helpful when navigating. Liked the point of reference. Those rigs were anywhere from 30 to 60 miles offshore.

Joshua, I had heard the same thing for months. Passed there June 2nd and it was still up and the jackup barges had moved to EI 65, then I passed there last week and she's still up. I've been hoping that they were just removing some of the compressor equipment or the living quarters off the topside. I'm pretty sure it isn't manned anymore. Maybe if they remove the old structure they may replace it with a smaller structure like they did at 51, even with the smaller structure trout can still be caught there.
I can tell you ALL of EI 128 is gone, that field had at a minimum 10 platforms or structures and (POOF!!), its like they vanished in the night.

It only takes a good demo crew 3 or 4 days to remove a shallow water (>150) rig. Espcially if its a little 3 pile. We built a 300' class jack up boat who's sole purpose is to remove non-proucing structure from the gulf.

Do I think its right.....no. But is being done on a daily basis. I work on the Houma Nav and see 2 or 3 a week coming in to be stripped and scrapped.

I work on the Houma Nav and see 2 or 3 a week coming in to be stripped and scrapped.

Or sold to Alabama so they can increase their offshore "idle iron".

so it is all taken up from the sea floor nothing is left under the water when they tear down a platform ? i was told they go down 20 ft below the surface and cut it off leave the bottom part on sea floor just remove the top of it ?

so it is all taken up from the sea floor nothing is left under the water when they tear down a platform ? i was told they go down 20 ft below the surface and cut it off leave the bottom part on sea floor just remove the top of it ?

They cut the pilons 20' below the mud line and pull them out the water. I dont think they leaving anything in the water but I could be wrong.

Crap, what rig is that? Its not the little yellow one just south of the tensaws is it..

yep, gone.

They cut the pilons 20' below the mud line and pull them out the water. I dont think they leaving anything in the water but I could be wrong.

Last one I checked was a couple years back, had real good numbers on it and the year after it was removed went back and nothing on the bottom at all, no fish and nothing marked on the bottom. They take them all.

There's never been anything on any of the rigs I have marked that are now removed except one rig in MC.

Automated response from Congressman Scalise,

Thank you for your correspondence regarding H.R. 3429, the “Rigs to Reefs Habitat Protection Act of 2011.” It is an honor to represent the First Congressional District of Louisiana, and your thoughts and concerns are very important to me.
As you may know, H.R. 3429 was introduced by Representative Steven Palazzo on November 15, 2011. You will be pleased to know that I am a proud cosponsor of this legislation. This legislation would authorize the use of certain offshore oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico for artificial reefs and other purposes. This bill has been referred to the House Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans, and Insular Affairs. I appreciate hearing your thoughts on this important issue, and as a conservationist, I will continue to support the conservation of our valuable coastal and marine resources.
Thank you again for contacting me. I invite you to visit my website at www.scalise.house.gov for more information. Please do not hesitate to contact my office in the future on issues that are important to you.

Sincerely,

Steve Scalise
Member of Congress
SS/gg

sent to my public officials.