A production platform has exploded in the Gulf, in shallow water west of the BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig that blew up in April. Today’s explosion occured at about 9:30 AM CT. All thirteen people on the platform have reportedly been rescued. Details remain sketchy and it is unclear if there is any oil leaking at the site. The platform is owned by Texas based Mariner Energy.
Associated Press:
Mariner said the cause of the explosion and fire had not been determined. The company’s statement said production recently averaged about 9.2 million cubic feet of natural gas a day and 1,400 barrels of oil and condensate.
The explosion comes one day after a federal judge issued an unfavorable ruling on the Obama administration’s moratorium on deep water drilling. Also today, three Greenpeace protesters were arrested after occupying a drilling rig for two days in Baffin Bay, Greenland.
This second explosion coming so soon after the BP explosion is sure to raise further questions about the safety and wisdom of off-shore drilling. It plays into the hands of the Obama administration that desperately wants to focus on alternative energy sources and pass cap and trade legislation. These events may well all be unrelated but considering the industry’s good safety record, to have two off-shore accidents in a little over four months is troubling.
Moe Lane
Steve Maley
Dan McLaughlin
Neil Stevens
Daniel Horowitz
Oil sheen spreading from platform explosion
texasgalt (Diary) Thursday, September 2nd at 2:39PM EST (link)http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_gulf_rig_explosion
We need Vlad's expertise on this to
Jonbontx Thursday, September 2nd at 3:00PM EST (link)explain on the ins and outs.
Agreed Jonbontx. Vlad is the go-to guy.
texasgalt (Diary) Thursday, September 2nd at 5:55PM EST (link)More bad pub the Gulf Coast didn’t need. At least it appears for now no oil is spilling.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_gulf_rig_explosion
Rigs & platforms
Steve Maley (Diary) Thursday, September 2nd at 6:34PM EST (link)A couple of years ago, I played around with explaining the difference between rigs & platforms here. There are a few pictures there if you click on “previous” & “next”.
Rigs are mobile units that drill new wells or work on existing wells. They are typically owned by drilling contractors, not oil companies. Some rigs are “floaters”, like the Deepwater Horizon once was; the rig at my web page is a “jack-up” which is on legs so they can jack up & down. Obviously, jackups are used in shallower water.
Platforms are (semi)permanent structures which function to hold up wells and production processing equipment. They sit on the sea floor in up to 1000 ft of water, and they are held in place by huge piles. They are owned by the oil companies. They can have from a single well up to dozens, depending on the size of the field. Some, but not all of them, are manned.
In deepwater nowadays, there are some floating platforms that have a rig permanently installed, so they’re kind of the hermaphrodites of the oil patch.
It makes it especially confusing because even locals that know the difference will refer to “the rigs” meaning platforms, if it’s their fishing destination. Platforms are artificial reefs that abound in marine life.
I heard that this fire was out by noon CDT. It sounds to me like a very small amount of oil hit the water, if any. It is so far offshore that the environmental impact will be zero.
No definite word yet on the cause of the fire. There was reportedly a crew aboard for sandblasting and painting (routine maintenance).
The blogger formerly known as ‘Vladimir’.
Thanks Vlad
texasgalt (Diary) Thursday, September 2nd at 6:54PM EST (link)We learned from you during the BP disaster just how rare that type of event is. Are there many accidents like today’s explosion on the platforms? I don’t recall hearing much about any.
If this platform fire had happened a year ago...
Steve Maley (Diary) Thursday, September 2nd at 8:45PM EST (link)…it might have made the news here in S LA but we certainly wouldn’t be discussing it at RS.
I heard that it may have been started by a welder. That is TBD, but the same kind of accident could happen in just about any industry. The difference here is 13 men hit the water, & they were 80 miles offshore.
Thousands of people work offshore, and it’s a heavy industry: lots of lifting heavy stuff with cranes, high pressures & etc. That being said, probably the most dangerous thing they do is ride in boats & helicopters.
The blogger formerly known as ‘Vladimir’.
Hardly a month goes by here that there isn't a fire
Achance (Diary) Thursday, September 2nd at 9:09PM EST (link)of some sort on a construction site, an oil rig, a ship, caused by welding, sparks from a grinder, and just the sort “stuff happens” things that happen in the world of heavy work. ‘Course most people in the US not only never do any heavy work, they never really even see it, so the stuff that is pretty normal seems like some really big deal to them. Throw in the fact that it is being reported by New Yawkers who never see much of any thing that’s real, and the hysteria mounts quickly.
In Vino Veritas
What the lefties at Think Progress are saying about the platform explosion
texasgalt (Diary) Thursday, September 2nd at 7:09PM EST (link)Instructive sample from the nutters at Think Progress:
angels81 says:
So I wonder what the excuse the oil tycoons are going to use for this explosion?
Oh wait, I know…It was a gay Muslim illegal Mexican progressive left wing commie who blew up the rig to protest the fact that humans keep stepping on ants and killing them.
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http://thinkprogress.org/2010/09/02/mariner-oil-obama/
All on it's own it exploded ?
Kenny Solomon (Diary) Thursday, September 2nd at 9:25PM EST (link)I tend to doubt that.
Had to be an evil scary-looking gun’s fault.
Oh wait…… Where was George W. Bush today ?
Kenny, you of all people know that it was rogue elements
texasgalt (Diary) Friday, September 3rd at 1:00AM EST (link)of the Mossad . . . paid by Goldman Sachs.