For those not familiar with oil industry jargon, that means reselling redundant platforms and parts. But although a few oil companies have recorded some moderate success in recycling bits and bobs from older rigs, nobody has yet managed to sell an entire North Sea structure intact. The problems are both technical and psychological. Finding a buyer with the right technical specifications, including water depth, oil density and other conditions, is just one hurdle. Finding someone who actually wants to buy second hand equipment is another.
Many companies are reluctant to fork out for used goods.
In this respect, the larger European companies operating in the North Sea are rather behind the times. Recycling oil equipment is fairly common practice in the Gulf of Mexico, where smaller, more flexible US exploration firms are eager to gain access to cheaper equipment for quicker drilling. Whether the corporate mentality will change in Europe is open to question, but the financial incentives for recycling are clear. Clearer still is the value in terms of public relations. All hell broke loose, in the shape of a high-profile Greenpeace media campaign, when the British government announced in 1995 its support for Shell's application to dispose of the Brent Spar oil installation in deep Atlantic waters.