In July, Thailand's PTTEP announced that it had redeployed a decommissioned wellhead platform, saving time and money while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The national oil company said it was the first project of its kind in its portfolio and described it as an example of applying circular economy principles, an approach that encourages industrial companies to adopt novel ways to reduce their environmental footprint.
The Jakrawan K wellhead platform was relocated to the Funan Field within the Gulf of Thailand, with the original topsides, jacket, and some of the pile sections reused as part of the project.
By repurposing the existing platform, PTTEP reduced the combined construction and installation schedule to 6 months, compared with an estimated 20 months for a new platform of similar specifications, representing a 70% reduction in project time.
PTTEP also reported that reusing the platform lowered construction costs by 35 to 50% compared with building a new structure from scratch. By avoiding the cutting of new steel, the company estimates the project prevented 3,270 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions.
Going forward, PTTEP said it expects to reuse up to 10 other wellhead platforms by 2029. All candidates are structurally sound and have passed safety assessments, the company said in a statement.
Vestigo Petroleum Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Petronas, did something very similar in 2019 offshore Malaysia (OTC 30668).
The subsidiary created for marginal field developments removed an unmanned wellhead platform from a field where it had produced oil for 3 years and reinstalled it about 34 miles away at the Jitang Field in about 240 ft of water. The platform was then connected to a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) unit located about 1,000 ft away.
Vestigo reported that it reached first oil in early 2020, which was a little more than a year after it made a final investment decision, and that the reusable platform reduced development costs by about 40% compared with a newbuild installation.
Notably, the facility was transported in a single piece and required only four new flowlines to connect its four new wells. As of 2025, the Jitang platform, which has a total expected service life of at least 15 years, was understood to still be producing oil and gas.
US deepwater producer LLOG Exploration also opted to reuse an offshore asset in 2022 when it acquired the floating platform formerly known as the Independence Hub. The facility was originally deployed by Anadarko Petroleum and its partners to develop a gas field in the US Gulf of Mexico, with first production achieved in 2007. After producing 1.3 Tcf of natural gas, operations ceased in 2015, and the facility was decommissioned in 2019.
The platform would receive a new lease on life when LLOG acquired the asset in 2022 as part of an initiative to reduce development costs of recently made discoveries in the Leon and Castile fields.
After refurbishing work was done at shipyards in Texas and Louisiana, the production platform, renamed Salamanca, was once again put to work in late 2025
in the US Gulf. The operator said reuse of the facility reduced associated emissions by 87% while speeding up time to first production. Initial output from the Salamanca’s two fields was reported at a combined 14,000 BOE/D.
LLOG was acquired by UK-based Harbour Energy later in 2025, and the new owner shared plans this year to boost Salamanca’s output by drilling new wells in
the two fields it produces from.
While the concept of reuse appears attractive for the capital-intensive offshore business, backed by the reported cost savings, shorter project timelines, and emissions reductions, examples of recycling offshore oil and gas infrastructure for greenfields remain few and far between. And there are plenty of reasons why.
One of them comes down to timing. As a new offshore development prepares for sanctioning, there must be an idle or soon-to-be decommissioned platform available, and its bespoke specifications and structural condition must be compatible with those required by the untapped development. In the case of floating platforms in the US Gulf, this is often not the case because many older installations have benefited from life-extension programs.
Newbuild facilities also offer advantages that often surpass those of older assets. In addition to incorporating designs that meet current regulatory
requirements, they are typically equipped with more advanced and efficient technologies.
Regulatory requirements regarding decommissioning, asset transfer, and reinstallation can further complicate efforts to relocate and reuse existing platforms.
We have, of course, seen the reuse of offshore infrastructure for many years but primarily through rigs-to-reef programs. In these programs, shallow-water platforms are often toppled over on their side or have their topsides removed to a depth safe enough for ships to pass over. In the US Gulf alone there are more than 600 platforms that have been reefed in this manner since the 1980s.
Then there are the more novel ideas that have come forward in recent years. Though they were not production platforms, two semisubmersible drilling rigs were bought by SpaceX a few years ago in a since scuttled plan to use them as floating platforms for the launch and retrieval of rockets.
In 2021, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund launched a project called simply “The Rig” to turn a mix of decommissioned oil platforms and newbuild platforms into a sprawling tourism complex with 800 hotel rooms, 11 restaurants, and dozens of theme-park-inspired attractions. It’s unclear where the ambitious project stands today, and its website has not posted an update in 2 years.
There has also been plenty of discussion about reusing offshore platforms for renewable energy projects. But these proposals have also gained little traction, and a recent study from the University of Houston-led Repurposing Offshore Infrastructure for Clean Energy (ROICE) program helps explain why.
As outlined in a 2024 Offshore Technology Conference paper (OTC 35474), ROICE researchers evaluated whether aging oil and gas platforms could be repurposed for applications such as offshore wind, green hydrogen production, and carbon sequestration as an alternative to full decommissioning.
While ultimately optimistic about the concept, the study’s principals also concluded that there are several challenges that must be ironed out. Among them are the aforementioned regulatory requirements governing asset transfers, questions over the allocation of long-term liability, and issues associated with insurance and financial assurance obligations. These are in addition to the technical work required to assess, recertify, and extend the service life of aging infrastructure.
Circling back to the upstream arena, despite the apparent obstacles, some still believe opportunities remain to redeploy floating assets.
In 2025, Singapore-based consultancy Energy Maritime Associates found 27 floating production assets were available globally. Most of these idle assets were FPSOs. The firm concluded that one-third of the total were unlikely to return to offshore service because of their age and limited capabilities.
Another 30% were deemed suitable for redeployment because of their higher specifications and remaining design life, while the remaining 35% were viewed as suited only for marginal field development.
The analysis and examples suggest that recycling fixed platforms along with floating units can help lower development costs, albeit on a limited scale.
When location, timing, asset condition, and regulatory requirements align, the economic and environmental benefits appear to be a win-win scenario. But the relatively small number of successful projects also suggests that the industry’s ability to give offshore infrastructure a second life has been, and will likely continue to be, the exception rather than the rule.
For Further Reading
OTC 35474 Repurposing Offshore Infrastructure for Clean Energy (ROICE) vs. Decommissioning—Regulatory Considerations by E. Keen; B. Gibbs; T. Matthews; L. Feijo; G. Legge; S. Tallavajhula; and R. Seetharam.
OTC 30668 The Reuse of Offshore Wellhead Platform To Facilitate a Marginal Field Development–Vestigo Experience by M.R. Jamil; M. Mustapha; M.G. Othman.
