Transocean semi fire in BP's GoM operations

According to what Ive heard from US analysts is that Horizon is listing and could very likely sink.

Whatever happens, its going to be a write off fromwhat Ive heard.

Another sad reminder of the cost fo this business.

Doesnt seem appropriate to comment on the financial impact on RIG at this time.

Not sure about the quality of the source, but it looks as if the 11 were found in a life raft:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/wgno-news-oil-rig-explosion,0,2757404.story

In reply to emptyend, post #2

....mmmmm.......if the 11 ARE in a life raft it looks as if they haven't found it yet:

http://www.wwl.com/pages/6861300.php?contentType=4&contentId=5966202

By the looks of the intensity of the flames I am inclined to think its a well fire. Some reports say that BP had requested a temporary well abandonment, which suggests a live well and an operation to suspend the well. So possibly a testing sequence and or completion procedure. The rig had a capacity of 27855 barrels of fuel oil. That translates into volume equivalent to a fleet of sixty six, 40 ft road containers. Quite enough there for a considerable fire as well!

It is confirmed to be a well fire and efforts are still underway to extinguish it. It appears that SW10 was on the money in his original suspicion that it was a blowout. Here's a recent update from Transocean: http://pr-canada.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=187745&Itemid=59

...The rig was staffed with a 126 member crew, 11 remain missing and 115 have been safely evacuated. The ongoing search and rescue effort is being coordinated among Transocean's Emergency and Family Response Team, the lease operator, BP Exploration & Production, Inc., and the U.S. Coast Guard.

The rig continues to burn and Transocean, BP and the U.S. Coast Guard are actively pursuing various methods to stem the flow of hydrocarbons that appear to be fueling the fire. The rig is being monitored continually for stability. The U.S. Coast Guard has contingency plans in the event environmental risk escalates.

The cause of the fire and explosion is unknown at this time. An investigation into the cause of the incident and assessment of the damage will be ongoing in the days or weeks to come...

 

Also from BP: http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=201004220539dowjonesdjonline000394&title=bpstarted-work-to-cut-oil-flow-feeding-transocean-rig-fire

The rig in the Gulf of Mexico, called the Deepwater Horizon, remains ablaze following the unexplained explosion Tuesday night.

"We are trying to get kit down to the seabed to stop the oil flowing," up the riser connection and on to the platform where it is feeding the blaze, said the spokesman for BP, which had contracted the Transocean rig to drill a well.

Remotely operated underwater vehicles have already been deployed to perform this task, he said. He couldn't say how long the operation would take.

There have been reports of a sheen of oil on the surface of the water near the burning rig, but no evidence of a significant oil spill, he said.

And: http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article212665.ece;.upstream.lempira;.upstream.lempira

The explosion occurred on Tuesday evening at about 2200 hours local time while the rig was drilling a well on the Maconda prospect in BP-operated Mississippi Canyon Block 252, about 41 miles (65 kilometres) south-east of Venice, Louisiana.

The cause of the explosion is not yet known, although it is understood surface casing work was being carried out at the time of the blast.

Transocean said that the rig's stability is being closely monitored - it is understood that the semisub is moored by the marine riser. Earlier, the rig was listing at an angle of between three and 70 degrees.

The Coast Guard has also put in place contingency plans should there be any threat to the environment.

An investigation into the cause of the accident has been launched and an assessment of the damage will be carried out once it is safe to do so, Transcoean said. The US Coast Guard will also launch a probe.

At the time of the explosion, the well had reached a total depth of more than 18,000 feet, Transocean executive Adrian Rose told a press conference in Houston last night.

He said production casing was being run and cemented, after which it would be tested for integrity and a cement plug set to abandon the well for completion later as a subsea producer.

“We don’t know what caused the accident,” he told the press conference, but when asked if it was a blowout, he replied: "Basically, yes."

Rose added that "undoubtedly abnormal pressure" had accumulated inside the marine riser and as it came up it "expanded rapidly and ignited".

He told reporters that the intervention plan involves sending a remotely operated vehicle down with a “hot stab” that could then close the blowout preventer and stem the flow.

My sympathy to the crew & families.

Mark