Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Rincon Island decommissioning

Rincon Island, an oil facility off the coast of Ventura County, is being decommissioned by the state. 

https://www.slc.ca.gov/oil-and-gas/rincon-island/

 

State of California officials say they’ve reached a milestone in the state’s transition away from fossil fuels and toward a clean energy future.

On Feb. 4, the State Lands Commission and the Department of Conservation’s California Geological Energy Management Division announced they’ve plugged and abandoned all 50 oil wells on Rincon Island, a small 2.3-acre artificial island off Mussel Shoals in Ventura County.

Rincon Island is one of a handful of remaining offshore oil structures in state waters, stated the agencies, which also announced the plugging and abandonment of all 24 state onshore production wells, and two additional onshore wells that were not part of state lease operations but had been deserted.

The state took responsibility for decommissioning Rincon in 2017, after the operator declared bankruptcy. It plugged and abandoned the 74 wells ahead of schedule, under budget and without incident or spillage, the Commission stated in a news release.

Plugging and abandoning the wells is the main component of phase one of a three-phase process that includes developing and executing a decommissioning plan. Work on the plan will include extensive public outreach and engagement, according to the Commission.

The remaining phase one work, underway now, consists of site clearance activities to remove decrepit oil production infrastructure and should be completed by June 2021, officials said.

For more information on the Rincon Island decommissioning status and the next steps in the process, visit www.slc.ca.gov/oil-and-gas/rincon-island/.

(article from Ojai Valley News: rincon-island-oil-wells-unplugged