More than 40 years since oil first flowed from the Forties oil field, many North Sea fields are coming to the end of their productive lives. This means that platforms must be decommissioned and dismantled, the wells capped. But when a rig is built to withstand all the elements can throw at it, they’re not going to come apart easily.

Oil companies must remove all structures installed at sea, as required by the Petroleum Act 1998 and decision 98/3 of industry body OSPAR, and return the seabed to its original state. This agreement came about partly as a consequence of the controversy over Brent Spar, a floating storage tank belonging to Shell that the regulator had agreed could be sunk at sea. The platform was occupied by Greenpeace in 1995 who questioned Shell’s assessment that it would pose little environmental threat, eventually forcing the company to bring the platform

https://theconversation.com/oil-rigs-are-built-to-withstand-decades-at-sea-taking-them-apart-is-as-tough-as-they-are-55251?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20March%204%202016%20-%204413&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20March%204%202016%20-%204413+CID_38d8e3c98d23b98c0360e75dbfa52a2f&utm_source=campaign_monitor_uk&utm_term=Oil%20rigs%20are%20built%20to%20withstand%20decades%20at%20sea%20%20taking%20them%20apart%20is%20as%20tough%20as%20they%20are

And have you seen the price of tea in China these days, Wow.