Visuals by Erin Schaff
Text by Ivan Penn
May 3, 2024
Appomattox, a deepwater oil platform, floats about 80 miles off Louisiana, in the Gulf of Mexico. Run by Shell, it’s one of several offshore operations that oil companies are continuing to invest in, even as they explore alternative energy sources.
Working on these platforms is unlike other jobs. Crew members work 12 hours a day for weeks at a time, often in risky situations, collecting crude oil buried thousands of feet below the seafloor.
But the journey to a platform is inherently risky, and scores of helicopters over the years have crashed at sea.
Before anyone — corporate executive, worker or visitor — can board, each must take an open water survival course.
Even the training carries risk. “We constantly do head counts,” Rebecca Melson, the course instructor, said. “If we’re missing one, we get nervous.”
To prepare for a visit to Appomattox, I learned how to escape from a helicopter-like cabin, upside down and underwater, all while holding my breath.
It wasn’t without some hitches, but soon I got the hang of it.
With the training completed, I boarded a helicopter for the hourlong flight to the platform. The trip offered a glimpse of the vast oil and gas production operations spread across the gulf. Platforms grew sparser as we moved over deeper waters.
As one of the pilots announced our approach to Appomattox, it looked like a huge, industrial city, rising alone out of the deep blue.
Every month, the helicopter firm PHI Aviation ferries about 8,300 passengers throughout the Gulf of Mexico for Shell, the largest oil producer there.
It’s how platform crews have reached their workplaces for decades. Because of weight restrictions, workers must limit what they take. But they generally do not have to carry much, as all their needs are met on board.
The platform’s mooring system relies on chains made of steel, with links about three feet long and weighing 800 pounds each. They connect to polyester rope and another set of chain links that extend to the sea floor, 7,000 feet below.
Anchors that act like massive versions of stakes used to secure tents keep the 100,000-metric-ton platform from drifting away.
Shell brought Appomattox online in 2019. It collects and processes oil and gas drawn from reservoirs beneath the seafloor, using drill rig ships. “We like to see the drill rig nearby,” Rich Howe, executive vice president of Shell’s global deepwater business, said when we saw one in the distance. “It means we’re drilling new wells.”
Then the oil and gas is pumped through pipelines to shore. Using pipes rather than tankers produces less carbon emissions.
Environmentalists want oil companies to stop expanding drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico. More attention, they argue, should be focused on clean energy resources like wind power to help reduce emissions and the effects of climate change.
Shell and other major oil companies say the fossil fuels drawn from the gulf generate lower carbon emissions than oil and gas produced elsewhere.
The platform can house up to 180 workers who help test and process the oil and gas or maintain equipment. The company contracts some of the work, like laundry services that operate 24 hours a day.
I left my fire-resistant jumpsuit and other laundry in a bag outside my sleeping quarters. My roommate, Jared Adams, a health, safety and environmental supervisor, said that by morning, “they’ll wash, fold and have it ready.”
The crew is divided into day and night shifts. The daytime workers awaken together, with a 5 a.m. knock on the door and a flip of the light switch. Crew members often share sleeping quarters with bunks separated by curtains that can be drawn closed for privacy.
While the night shift rests, the daytime crew begins its turn with breakfast. Team meetings, community gatherings and meals bring the workers together over the course of a day.
Workers spend two weeks at a time aboard Appomattox. They receive three meals a day with themes like “fajita and taco night” and snack-filled breaks with coffee, chips and chocolate.
The platform affords comforts of home — and then some. Bingo night comes with a chance to win prizes like $300 handbags, Appomattox T-shirts and hats. For more skilled activities, crew members can challenge one another to Ping-Pong or cornhole.
After a two-week tour, workers go home for 14 days of rest and time with family and friends whom they’ve communicated with only virtually while on the platform.
They trade places with another group that flies in for the next two weeks, regardless of the calendar — including during holidays like Christmas. It’s not always easy. “You’ve got to have a strong home base,” said Todd Coulon, the offshore installation manager at Appomattox.