Editing Oil platform (section)

== Effects on the environment ==
[[File:Smoke from controlled oil fire in Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana, after Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, May 5, 2010.jpg|thumb|Smoke from controlled oil fire in Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana, after the [[Deepwater Horizon oil spill]], May 5, 2010.]]
[[File:Marco Polo at Dusk.jpg|thumb|Long-term [[gas flare]]s could have impacts on the environment.]]
Offshore oil production involves environmental risks, most notably [[oil spill]]s from oil tankers or pipelines transporting oil from the platform to onshore facilities, and from leaks and accidents on the platform.<ref>{{cite video|title=Debate Over Offshore Drilling|medium=internet video|work=[[CBS News]]|date=2008|url=http://www.webcastr.com/videos/news/debate-over-offshore-drilling.html |access-date=2008-09-27|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080824002817/http://www.webcastr.com/videos/news/debate-over-offshore-drilling.html |archive-date=2008-08-24|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Produced water]] is also generated, which is water brought to the surface along with the oil and gas; it is usually highly saline and may include dissolved or unseparated hydrocarbons.

Offshore rigs are shut down during hurricanes.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kaiser |first1=Mark J. |title=The impact of extreme weather on offshore production in the Gulf of Mexico |journal=Applied Mathematical Modelling |date=October 2008 |volume=32 |issue=10 |pages=1996–2018 |doi=10.1016/j.apm.2007.06.031 |quote=When a hurricane enters the GOM, oil production and transportation pipelines in the (expected) path of the storm shut down, crews are evacuated, and refineries and processing plants along the Gulf coast close. Drilling rigs pull pipe and move out of the projected path of the storm, if possible, or anchor down|doi-access=free }}</ref> In the Gulf of Mexico the number hurricanes is increasing because of the increasing number of oil platforms that heat surrounding air with methane. It is estimated that oil and gas facilities in the Gulf of Mexico emit approximately 500000 tons of [[methane emissions|methane]] each year, corresponding to a 2.9% loss of produced gas. The increasing number of oil rigs also increases the number and movement of oil tankers, resulting in increasing {{CO2}} levels which directly warm water in the zone. Warm waters are a key factor for hurricanes to form.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Yacovitch|first1=Tara I. |last2=Daube|first2=Conner |last3=Herndon|first3=Scott C. |date=2020-03-09|title=Methane Emissions from Offshore Oil and Gas Platforms in the Gulf of Mexico|journal=Environmental Science & Technology |volume=54|issue=6|pages=3530–3538 |doi=10.1021/acs.est.9b07148|pmid=32149499|bibcode=2020EnST...54.3530Y |issn=0013-936X |doi-access=free}}</ref>

To reduce the amount of carbon emissions otherwise released into the atmosphere, [[methane pyrolysis]] of natural gas pumped up by oil platforms is a possible alternative to [[flaring]] for consideration. Methane pyrolysis produces non-polluting [[hydrogen]] in high volume from this natural gas at low cost. This process operates at around 1000&nbsp;°C and removes carbon in a solid form from the methane, producing hydrogen.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23230940-200-crack-methane-for-fossil-fuels-without-tears/|title=The reaction that would give us clean fossil fuels forever|first=Jon|last=Cartwright|website=New Scientist|access-date=2020-10-20|archive-date=2020-10-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026044037/https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23230940-200-crack-methane-for-fossil-fuels-without-tears/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://phys.org/news/2013-04-hydrogen-methane-co2-emissions.html|title=Hydrogen from methane without {{CO2}} emissions|first=Karlsruhe Institute of|last=Technology|website=phys.org|access-date=2020-10-20|archive-date=2020-10-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021215453/https://phys.org/news/2013-04-hydrogen-methane-co2-emissions.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=BASF |title=BASF researchers working on fundamentally new, low-carbon production processes, Methane Pyrolysis |url=https://www.basf.com/us/en/who-we-are/sustainability/we-produce-safely-and-efficiently/energy-and-climate-protection/carbon-management/interview-methane-pyrolysis.html |website=United States Sustainability |publisher=BASF |access-date=19 October 2020 |archive-date=19 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019120013/https://www.basf.com/us/en/who-we-are/sustainability/we-produce-safely-and-efficiently/energy-and-climate-protection/carbon-management/interview-methane-pyrolysis.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The carbon can then be pumped underground and is not released into the atmosphere.
It is being evaluated in such research laboratories as Karlsruhe Liquid-metal Laboratory (KALLA).<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.europeanenergyinnovation.eu/Latest-Research/Spring-2019/KITT-IASS-Producing-CO2-free-hydrogen-from-natural-gas-for-energy-usage |title=KITT/IASS – Producing {{CO2}} free hydrogen from natural gas for energy usage |access-date=2020-10-20 |archive-date=2020-10-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030213425/http://www.europeanenergyinnovation.eu/Latest-Research/Spring-2019/KITT-IASS-Producing-CO2-free-hydrogen-from-natural-gas-for-energy-usage |url-status=live }}</ref> and the chemical engineering team at University of California – Santa Barbara<ref>{{cite web |last1=Fernandez |first1=Sonia |title=low-cost, low-emissions technology that can convert methane into hydrogen without forming {{CO2}} |url=https://phys.org/news/2017-11-potentially-low-cost-low-emissions-technology-methane.html |website=Phys-Org |publisher=American Institute of Physics |access-date=19 October 2020 |archive-date=19 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019193709/https://phys.org/news/2017-11-potentially-low-cost-low-emissions-technology-methane.html |url-status=live }}</ref>