NASA Earth Observatory image modified by SkyTruth
Visualizing the Threat of Aging Floating Offshore Oil and Gas Infrastructure
Journalists from the Associated Press used SkyTruth data to uncover the hidden environmental threat posed by aging offshore floating oil and gas infrastructure.
Sentinel-1 imagery collected on February 20, 2022 shows a large oil slick emanating from the FPSO Trinity Spirit off the coast of Nigeria.
While much attention is given to the threat of future fossil fuel expansion, there is another hidden, oftentimes overlooked industry-wide danger – decommissioned tankers which have been turned into offshore oil and gas infrastructure.
Floating Storage and Offloading, Floating Storage Production and Offloading, Floating Liquefied Natural Gas, and Floating Storage Regasification Unit vessels (collectively FxOs) are a type of offshore oil and gas infrastructure that serve to store, transport and, in some cases, produce oil.
These FxOs and traditional O&G platforms pose significant threats to both immediate and long-term climate and conservation goals, through a combination of oil slicks, methane release, and flaring events as well as the net GHG footprint required to operate and maintain these structures and vessels.
A major roadblock to understanding the environmental threat of FxOs is a lack of strong data, with some vessels being so old they pre-date Automated Identification System (AIS) tracking. Because of this, the threat of aging, poorly maintained infrastructure will oftentimes go unnoticed until disaster strikes, like the explosion of the FxO Trinity Spirit off the coast of Nigeria, which killed several of its workers.
Investigative Collaboration with the Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) collaborated with SkyTruth following the Trinity Spirit disaster to better understand the global threat of FxOs.
SkyTruth supported the AP reporters by providing AIS broadcast data for a set of vessels that may have interacted with the Trinity Spirit; satellite imagery evidence of potential chronic oil pollution from FxOs using Cerulean, our oil slick detection platform; and a list compilation of all known FxOs globally.
Ultimately, this collaboration resulted in two investigative pieces that helped to turn the raw FxO data into a compelling story of the threats posed by this neglected, aging infrastructure:
Deadly explosion off Nigeria points to threat posed by aging oil ships around the world goes into great depth about the explosion of the Trinity Spirit, and introduces the problem and potential scope of aging FxOs.
Takeaways from the AP’s investigation into aging oil ships builds off the findings of the first piece to have a broader conversation about the environmental threat of these aging vessels, painting a wider threat analysis of global FxO activity.
