GOM Oil Spill - BP Stops Oil Leak

[HURAKAN]

Oil rig explodes off Louisiana coast; 11 missing

By KEVIN McGILL (AP) – 2 hours ago

NEW ORLEANS — An explosion rocked an offshore oil drilling platform, sending a column of fire into the sky and touching off a frantic search at sea Wednesday for 11 missing workers.

Most of the 126 workers on the rig Deepwater Horizon escaped safely after the explosion about 10 p.m. Tuesday, the Coast Guard said. Three were critically injured.

The rig, more than 50 miles southeast of Venice on Louisiana's tip, was still burning Wednesday afternoon. It was tilting about 10 degrees. There was no estimate of when the flames might be out.

Helicopters and boats searched the Gulf of Mexico for any sign of the workers who had not been accounted for.

"We're hoping everyone's in a life raft," Coast Guard Senior Chief Petty Officer Mike O'Berry said.

The Coast Guard said there were 17 workers evacuated by air and sea Wednesday morning but not all required hospital stays. Three were in critical condition, Rear Adm. Mary Landry.

The other 98 workers were being brought in by boat and were expected ashore Wednesday evening.

When the explosion happened, the rig was drilling but was not in production, according to Greg Panagos, spokesman for its owner, Transocean Ltd. in Houston. The rig was under contract to BP PLC. BP spokesman Darren Beaudo said all BP personnel were safe but he didn't know how many BP workers had been on the rig.

Adrian Rose, vice president of Transocean, said crews were doing routine work before the explosion and there were no signs of trouble.

Coast Guard environmental teams were on standby in Morgan City, La., to assess any environmental damage once the fire was out.

According to Transocean's website, the Deepwater Horizon is 396 feet long and 256 feet wide. The semi-submersible rig was built in 2001 by Hyundai Heavy Industries Shipyard in South Korea. The site is known as the Macondo prospect, in 5,000 feet of water.

The rig is designed to operate in water up to 8,000 feet deep and has a maximum drill depth of about 5.5 miles. It can accommodate a crew of up to 130.

A semi-submersible rig is floated to a drilling site. It has pontoons and a column that submerge when flooded with seawater. The rig doesn't touch the sea floor, but sits low in the water, where it is moored by several large anchors.

Last September, the Deepwater Horizon set a world deepwater record when it drilled down just over 35,000 feet at another BP site in the Gulf of Mexico, Panagos said.

"It's one of the more advanced rigs out there," he said.

Panagos did not know how much the rig cost to build, but said a similar rig today would run $600 million to $700 million.

Workers typically spend two weeks on the rig at a time, followed by two weeks off. It is equipped with covered lifeboats with supplies to allow them to survive for extended periods if they must evacuate.

Total offshore daily production in the Gulf of Mexico is 1.7 million barrels in federal waters; 6.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day is produced in those waters. There are about 35,000 workers offshore in the Gulf at any one time, according to MMS.

Joe Hurt, a regional vice president for the International Association of Drilling Contractors, said working on offshore oil rigs is a dangerous job but has become safer in recent years thanks to enhanced training, improved safety systems and better maintenance.

"In recent years, there's been a lot more money available and more money spent on training and safety," he said.

Transocean has 14 rigs working in the Gulf and 140 worldwide. There are 42 deep water rigs either drilling or doing workovers — upgrades and maintenance — in depths of 1,000 feet or greater in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the federal Minerals Management Service.

Since 2001, there have been 69 offshore deaths, 1,349 injuries and 858 fires and explosions in the Gulf, according to the agency, which did not break down the cause of the deaths, the severity of the injuries, or the size of the fires and explosions.

Associated Press Writers Alan Sayre and Mike Kunzelman in New Orleans and Cain Burdeau in Port Fourchon, La., contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

[HURAKAN]

Smoke from the oil rig

[Stephanie]

I hope that they are able to find the 11 missing ALIVE.

[CajunMama]

http://www.storm2k.org/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=98808&p=1976438#p1976438

and it's 12 people missing

[Dionne]

AP is now reporting that it appears a "blowout' caused the explosion on the rig. BOP valve failed?

[JonathanBelles]

This rig sunk into the GOM today. Crews are now working to stop any oil from leaking and spreading.

[Dionne]

According to Bloomberg.....the oil spill associated with the rig blast now covers 100 square miles and is drifting NE towards shore. At least 11 surface skimming vessels are working the spill along with aircraft dispersing chemical agents. The spill consists of crude and light oils. This is not good.

Edit; The numbers are changing rapidly on the size of the spill. At this time the smallest number is 5 square miles. The good news (if there is any) is that the amount of crude oil does not appear to be increasing. There are so many reporting agencies and so many numbers.....you just don't know who to believe.

[Stephanie]

I hope that they are able to get it contained. It is good news that it doesn't seem to be increasing in size.

[Dionne]

Looks like a continuing disaster. 1000 barrels/42,000 gallons of crude leaking from the well head everyday. Worse yet is the well head is 5000' below the surface.

[chrisnnavarre]

Anybody have any idea, taking into consideration sea currents, wind, etc...how soon the slick might get here to the western Florida panhandle?

[CajunMama]

Alabama could possibly recieve this week possibly according to this article so the panhandle should be around the same time i would think.

2:15 PM UPDATE

GULF SHORES, Ala. (AP) — Alabama officials are getting ready in case the state's beaches and wetlands are hit by an oil slick from the petroleum rig that exploded and sank off the coast of Louisiana.

State environmental officials held a conference call Monday with emergency planners, and contractors already are preparing to contain any damage from the spill.

The emergency management director in coastal Baldwin County, Leigh Anne Ryals, said it could be both an environmental and economic disaster for a major slick to hit Baldwin or Mobile counties.

Experts are monitoring winds and ocean currents to see which way the leaking oil spreads. The coast could be affected this week if crews can't cut off an estimated 42,000 gallons of oil that's leaking daily.

The Advertiser

[Dionne]

The spill is currently being reported as 48 miles long and 80 miles wide and spilling 42,000 gallons per day at the well head. From April 29 to May 4 the winds in this region of the northern GOM are forecast as onshore after which the winds will be easterly.

We're gonna need a miracle.

EDIT: 10:06 CDT today....ACCUWEATHER is now forecasting oil reaching the beaches of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida as early as this weekend.

[brunota2003]

What happens to the oil when such a spill like this occurs? I know there are clean ups...but is the oil just discarded afterwords?

[Dionne]

What happens to the oil when such a spill like this occurs? I know there are clean ups...but is the oil just discarded afterwords?

I really don't know. In Prudhoe we buried the small spills with washed gravel.

I'm thinking that disposal of the gathered oils is a rather low priority right now. First the release must be stopped.

[Stephanie]

This will be devastating to the wildlife and ecosytems, not to mention the livelihoods of those along the coast.

Is it me, or does it seem like they never had a true backup plan in case something like this ever happened to stop the leak from 5,000 feet down?

[attallaman]

Is this the forum discussing the oil slick in the GOM? I'm in Biloxi and want to know if any weather service has posted maps or graphics showing where the oil slick might go based upon current weather conditions.

[vbhoutex]

There is some scenario based software in place that might be used, but I couldn't find any current maps of projections for it.

[Dionne]

This will be devastating to the wildlife and ecosytems, not to mention the livelihoods of those along the coast.

Is it me, or does it seem like they never had a true backup plan in case something like this ever happened to stop the leak from 5,000 feet down?

The back up plan was the BOP valve. Which failed. When the well "kicked" the valve either failed to activate or simply could not handle the explosive pressure. Not all BOP valves are created equal. The reliability of subsea BOP valves has been an issue for decades.

[srainhoutx]

Coast Guard To Try Burning Oil Slick Off Louisiana Coast

The U.S. Coast Guard will attempt to burn off portions of an oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, a U.S. Coast Guard official said, as the pool of crude began to encroach on sensitive ecological areas in the Mississippi River Delta.

The option was one of several that Coast Guard officials were considering as the slick moved to within 20 miles of the Louisiana coastline.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Steve Leeman said the burn operation likely will begin between 11 a.m. and noon CT (noon and 1 p.m. ET). There are still many variables to be worked out, he said, including finding oil in the slick that will burn, gathering the oil into an enclosed area with booms and safety issues.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/04/28/louisi ... index.html

[Dionne]

Coastal flood statement for Louisiana. NWS.....NOLA. Persistent onshore winds combined with astronomical tide cycle will be at large spring ranges. Tides 2-3 feet above normal.

No wonder the Coast Guard is planning a burn. There are no other immediate options. Starting to look like a no win scenario.

"As the days progress, the (oil) plume will migrate north, northeast," said Gregory W. Stone, an oceanographer and head of the Coastal Studies Institute at Louisiana State University. "That plume will push onshore."