Offshore oil and gas platform dynamics in the North Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Persian Gulf: Exploiting the Sentinel-1 archive

TL;DR

This paper presents an automated method using Sentinel-1 data and deep learning to monitor offshore oil and gas platforms across three major regions from 2017 to 2025, revealing regional trends and infrastructure dynamics.

Contribution

It introduces a novel, scalable approach for systematic offshore platform detection and monitoring using freely available satellite data and deep learning techniques.

Findings

Identified 3,728 platforms globally in 2025.

Observed regional variations in platform numbers and activity.

Highlighted the increasing mobility and short lifespan of offshore platforms.

Abstract

The increasing use of marine spaces by offshore infrastructure, including oil and gas platforms, underscores the need for consistent, scalable monitoring. Offshore development has economic, environmental, and regulatory implications, yet maritime areas remain difficult to monitor systematically due to their inaccessibility and spatial extent. This study presents an automated approach to the spatiotemporal detection of offshore oil and gas platforms based on freely available Earth observation data. Leveraging Sentinel-1 archive data and deep learning-based object detection, a consistent quarterly time series of platform locations for three major production regions: the North Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Persian Gulf, was created for the period 2017-2025. In addition, platform size, water depth, distance to the coast, national affiliation, and installation and decommissioning dates were derived. 3,728 offshore platforms were identified in 2025, 356 in the North Sea, 1,641 in the Gulf of Mexico, and 1,731 in the Persian Gulf. While expansion was observed in the Persian Gulf until 2024, the Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea saw a decline in platform numbers from 2018-2020. At the same time, a pronounced dynamic was apparent. More than 2,700 platforms were installed or relocated to new sites, while a comparable number were decommissioned or relocated. Furthermore, the increasing number of platforms with short lifespans points to a structural change in the offshore sector associated with the growing importance of mobile offshore units such as jack-ups or drillships. The results highlighted the potential of freely available Earth observation data and deep learning for consistent, long-term monitoring of marine infrastructure. The derived dataset is public and provides a basis for offshore monitoring, maritime planning, and analyses of the transformation of the offshore energy sector.