The impact of the 2005 hurricane season on the Louisiana Artificial Reef Program

The 2005 hurricane season in the Gulf of Mexico was the worst in the history of offshore production, with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroying 110 oil and gas structures and eight mobile offshore drilling units. Infrastructure destroyed by accident or natural catastrophe are decommissioned according to the same federal regulations that guide normal decommissioning operations, but depending on the nature of the destruction and the market conditions in the months following the event, special conditions and delays may occur. Historically, offshore infrastructure destroyed by hurricanes or other unusual circumstances have been considered for inclusion in the Louisiana Artificial Reef Program (LARP) under the Special Artificial Reef Site (SARS) category. The purpose of this paper is to review the impact of the 2005 hurricane season on the LARP and the current status of the SARS program. We examine the criteria employed in project evaluation and approval as well as aggregate program statistics. The characteristics and risks associated with decommissioning destroyed infrastructure are also described. At the end of 2006, 10 projects representing 35 platforms destroyed in the 2005 hurricane season have been approved as SARS in the Gulf of Mexico, effectively doubling the number of sites and structures classified as SARS.