HIFLD OPEN Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Drilling Platforms

This data set contains point locations for oil and gas platforms (structures) located in the Gulf of Mexico federal waters. Note: Platforms are being added or modified continuously; obtaining updates of this database are required to know the true distribution of platform data. Because GIS projection and topology functions can change or generalize coordinates, these GIS files are considered to be approximate and are NOT an OFFICIAL record.An oil platform, offshore platform, or (colloquially) oil rig is a large structure with facilities to drill wells (optionally), to extract and process oil and natural gas, or to temporarily store product until it can be brought to shore for refining and marketing. In many cases, the platform contains facilities to house the workforce as well.Depending on the circumstances, the platform may be fixed to the ocean floor, may consist of an artificial island, or may float. Remote subsea wells may also be connected to a platform by flow lines and by umbilical connections. These sub-sea solutions may consist of one or more subsea wells, or of one or more manifold centers for multiple wells.