OIL platforms could help protect ocean biodiversity from climate change – by aiding the growth of coral, it is claimed.

According to scientists, rigs, shipwrecks and other North Sea structures could help safeguard coral populations and even make them stronger.

Corals were first found to be colonising the lower parts of platforms in the 1990s.

Now study leader Dr Lea-Anne Henry, of Edinburgh University, says the outcome of new research carried out in conjunction with experts from Norway should now force a rethink on one of the biggest issues surrounding the sector – the future for disused infrastructure off Scotland’s coast.

She said: “We need to think very carefully about the best strategies to remove these platforms, bearing in mind the key role they may now play in the North Sea ecosystem.”

Scientists from Heriot-Watt University, the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research, environmental consultants BMT Cordah and the UK-wide National Oceanography Centre teamed up to examine the impact of the metal structures on the natural world.

Their findings suggest infrastructure from the fossil fuel industry supports a network of densely connected coral ecosystems spanning hundreds of miles and crossing international borders.

Published yesterday, the study concludes that the man-made items may have the potential to aid conservation, despite other concerns over the industry’s environmental impact.

Researchers used a computer model to reveal how a protected species of coral might use industrial structures to spread.

They found larvae of the Lophelia pertusa species released near oil platforms would travel between corals that have colonised other structures and reach natural populations located at great distances.

This would enable larvae to supplement existing populations, recolonise damaged reefs and protected areas in other countries and improve their chances of survival.

Published in the specialist journal Scientific Reports, the paper’s findings could be key to informing decisions about decommissioning, its authors say.

Estimates published by industry regulator the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) last year put the overall cost of taking current infrastructure out of service – including 250 installations, 3000 pipelines and 5000 wells – at around £60 billion.

According to legislation on this area, which is reserved to Westminster, offshore oil and gas operators are required to decommission their infrastructure “once a field reaches the end of its economic life”.

The OGA aims to “minimise” the industry’s costs to the tune of 35%.

On the coral work, Professor Murray Roberts, of Edinburgh University, said: “When we first spotted these corals growing on the legs of oil platforms in the late 1990s it was a real surprise, as we expected this to be a very unsuitable environment for them.

“We now have strong evidence that they’re likely to be dispersing right across the North Sea and into marine protected areas.”

The news follows earlier work by Edinburgh and Glasgow Universities on coral bleaching, which sees the tiny algae living in the coral expelled when water warms.

The process can cause the coral to die and the work found the frequency of bleaching has increased since the late 1700s.