Telling The True Tale of Chronic Oil Pollution in the UK’s North Sea
Cerulean Case Study
Oceana UK
Telling The True Tale of Chronic Oil Pollution in the UK’s North Sea
Ocean advocacy organization Oceana UK launched an investigation into chronic oil pollution from offshore infrastructure in the UK’s North Sea using Cerulean, creating compelling visual assets for a public education campaign and advocacy efforts targeting offshore oil activity.

The North Sea is a vibrant waterway off the east coast of the United Kingdom. It is surrounded by several nations, and due to its central location has been heavily industrialized over the last century. Historically, it has been one of Europe’s main fishing areas, playing a central role in the world’s global seafood supply chain. Additionally, it hosts key vital shipping routes and a bustling coastal tourist economy.
It is also home to significant oil and gas activity; according to the World Economic Forum, there are over 1,500 platforms and installations in the North Sea with an average age of 25 years. One such platform is Piper Bravo, the replacement rig of the now infamous Piper Alpha whose explosion and subsequent sinking in July of 1988 killed 167 people.
While Piper B is not at immediate risk of an explosion, the rig has been served health and safety notices regarding failures in ‘well integrity’ known to the company since at least 2005, and has a history of chronic oil pollution events that can have serious impacts on marine life and ocean ecosystems, including reduced fertility, cardiac and lung disease, and even death in some species.
The true volume spilled through chronic oiling events across the North Sea is unknown due to opaque, convoluted, and oftentimes incomplete reporting requirements for oil and gas companies operating in the area; namely, that permit breaches are reported separately from accidental releases and oftentimes do not include amount of oil spilled. In fact, analysis by Oceana UK showed that nearly a third (32%) of permit breach reports failed to include the volume of oil discharged.
This underreporting hides further environmental destruction. Without public accountability, chronic polluters like Repsol Resources, Piper Bravo’s parent company, continue to be awarded new oil and gas licenses in the UK with next to no penalties for existing damage or accountability for future impact.
The Oceana UK team previously worked with SkyTruth to use Cerulean to expose biodiversity loss in UK waters from impacts of expanding oil and gas extraction in the North Sea like the Braer spill which killed at least 1,500 birds and affected up to a quarter of the local grey seal population.
This time, they approached our team with concerns that Piper Bravo was responsible for significant chronic oiling events, and wanted to use Cerulean to visually confirm this suspected activity.
Cerulean detected 47 separate instances of possible oil slicks originating from Piper Bravo, constituting nearly a quarter of all satellite images of the rig in 2023. In the report Sea Slick: The true scale and impact of chronic oil pollution in UK seas, Cerulean helped Oceana UK identify Piper Bravo as one of the potential worst offenders within the North Sea.
Building on this work, Oceana UK worked with an independent filmmaker to educate the public on the issue of chronic oiling with a short documentary, “Spill: The true scale of chronic oil pollution in UK seas”, using Cerulean to help visualize the true extent of the oil spills. The documentary enlisted local environmental advocates and scientists to expand on the potential health impacts and true scale of chronic oil pollution in the North Sea, including a live analysis of satellite imagery by SkyTruth CEO John Amos.
The advocacy organization has been using the resources developed through this partnership to run a campaign to end all new North Sea oil and gas due to the marine and climate impacts. They shared the film and policy recommendations from the report during the 2024 UK Labour Party Conference, and continue to amplify the call for an end to offshore oil leasing in the North Sea.
Oceana UK’s work exemplifies how advocacy organizations can leverage SkyTruth’s data to craft powerful narratives. By pairing satellite imagery with compelling storytelling, they reveal hidden environmental harm and inspire action. This approach drives pressure on policymakers and industry leaders to address the impacts of fossil fuel activity on biodiversity.
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