Rigs-to-Reefs

My post-doctoral project titled "Sea Stories: Constructing Nature in the Rigs-to-Reefs Debate" is an examination of the modern history of the Rigs-to-Reefs program in which decommissioned oil and gas offshore platform jackets are converted into artificial reefs. In this project, I examine the scientific and political controversies surrounding Rigs-to-Reefs since the mid-1970s in the Gulf of Mexico, California Bight and North Sea. By analyzing the historical development of artificial coral reef research in conjunction with political and business discussions about offshore disposal of oil structures, the project hopes to shed light on why policies have developed differently in the three areas. I am particularly interested in how a combination of science, politics, economics, and culture work together to define what is “natural.”

The project has been funded by the Research Council of Norway's Miljø 2015 program.

Publications

“An oasis in a watery desert? Discourses on an industrial ecosystem in the Gulf of Mexico Rigs-to-Reefs program”

History and Technology 25 (December 2009): 343-364. Available online

Abstract: This article explores how in the years after 1980 a spectrum of historical actors came to see petroleum platforms in the Gulf of Mexico as a necessary part of the Gulf ecosystem and how such views affected platform removal policies. Through a discourse analysis of the Rigs-to-Reefs program, in which old offshore petroleum facilities were converted into artificial reefs, this article examines how actors presented to the public their notions of the relationship of the Gulf ecosystem with technological offshore structures. Through this case we see how ideas of technology and nature were mutually constructed via discourses and what affect that had on policies.

Forthcoming Publications

“Reconsidering Rigs-to-Reefs in the North Sea”. Currently under journal review.

Reefs or rubbish? A comparative history of the Rigs-to-Reefs concept. Book manuscript under preparation.

Conference Papers

“A controversial platform: The politics of fishermen and environmentalists in the Rigs-to-Reefs debate,” World Congress of Environmental History, 2009.

“An oasis in a watery desert: Maintaining an industrial ecology in the Gulf of Mexico with the Rigs-to-Reefs program,” American Society for Environmental History, 2009.

“Contesting conversion: The dynamics of Rigs-to-Reefs discussions,” Society for the History of Technology, 2008.

Public Project Dissemination

"Rigger bør bli rev" [Rigs should become reefs], DagensNæringsliv, 23 November 2009.

“En dårlig plan eller dårlig timing? Hvorfor det norske Rigs-to-Reefs programmet havarerte” [A bad plan or bad timing? Why the Norwegian Rigs-to-Reefs program failed], Forum for historie, kultur og samfunn, University of Stavanger, 18 March 2009.