On January 28, the Commission and DCOR LLC settled litigation that will end offshore oil and gas production at Platform Esther off the coast of Seal Beach. Platform Esther, one of three remaining oil production platforms in state waters, has an operative life of about 15 years. This settlement establishes decommissioning deadlines and ensures that operators will pay all the decommissioning costs, including plugging and abandoning all the platform wells.
The settlement resolves litigation between the Commission and DCOR LLC over DCOR’s ability to repurpose a pipeline between state Platform Eva and federal Platform Edith to transport oil from Platform Eva to Platform Edith. In exchange for relinquishing its mineral rights and decommissioning Platform Esther, the settlement grants DCOR LLC a $10 million royalty credit on future oil produced from Platform Eva. This credit is significantly less than Platform Esther’s production value. The settlement also ensures that DCOR updates the community and stakeholders on the status of onshore infrastructure and long-term decommissioning plans and preserves the Commission’s authority to approve platform decommissioning plans.