Lights Out at Platform Holly off Goleta Coastline
Plugging and Abandonment of Offshore Oil Derrick Includes the Electricity
Among the changes taking place at Platform Holly is the disconnection from the electrical power coming from the shore. What was once a productive oil rig two miles off the Goleta coast has been de-staffed for the first time since the 1960s, said Sheri Pemberton with the State Lands Commission. Instead, beacon lights illuminate each corner of the platform for boats and an aircraft beacon is set at the top of the derrick, all powered by solar panels and a battery system. The result is fewer lights and much less visibility from land.
State Lands has been supervising the plugging and abandoning of the platform’s 30 wells since September 2017. Just five months earlier, owner Venoco had quitclaimed its interests in the offshore South Ellwood Oil Field, including Platform Holly, after declaring bankruptcy. Though the worldwide COVID pandemic caused delays, the platform wells were successfully shut in by September 2024. The plugging of Platform Holly’s oil wells marked the end of more than 100 years of oil production in the Santa Barbara Channel’s state waters.
The next phase is the decommissioning, or removal, of the platform structure, which has stood in 211 feet of water since 1966. As the prior owner of Holly, ExxonMobil has assumed responsibility for the decommissioning of the platform, as it did the abandonment of the wells, once the EIR is certified and the project approved. Studies will be drafted in an environmental impact report for which a Notice of Preparation is expected early this year.
