There has been an ongoing leak at a PTTEP (Thai owed) oil production falcitity in Australia. Apart from this link I have not seen any news about it in the Thai media.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/eco ... leak-blaze
Thai Oil Rig Fire
Thai Oil Rig Fire
Not sure where this should be posted, mods please move if in the wrong place.
There has been an ongoing leak at a PTTEP (Thai owed) oil production falcitity in Australia. Apart from this link I have not seen any news about it in the Thai media.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/eco ... leak-blaze
There has been an ongoing leak at a PTTEP (Thai owed) oil production falcitity in Australia. Apart from this link I have not seen any news about it in the Thai media.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/eco ... leak-blaze
May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil know`s you`re dead!
Moved to News. 
Per Angusta In Augusta.
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OK the original story from Monday and Tuesday. Followed by the follow up article today.
Blaze engulfs Montara platform
Anthea Pitt & news wires
A fire has broken out on the Montara wellhead platform, in the Timor Sea off Australia's remote north-west coast, engulfing the installation and the Seadrill-owned jack-up rig West Atlas.
The blaze erupted as the West Atlas' sister rig, the West Triton, which is about two kilometres from the platform, managed to intercept the blown-out H1 wellbore at the PTTEP-operated development on its fourth attempt.
The H1 well blew out on 21 August.
As work got under way this morning to kill the well with heavy mud, the installation caught fire.
PTTEP said the fire is burning around the cantilever portion of the West Atlas, which lies directly above the wellhead platform.
The company evacuated 113 non-essential personnel from the West Triton, adding that the crew on two nearby work vessels are safe.
No one has been working on the West Atlas since the blowout.
A PTTEP spokesman confirmed that the platform and rig are still ablaze, and that non-essential personnel had been evacuated from the West Triton and flown to the Australian mainland about 200 kilometres away.
He declined to comment when asked whether the evacuation was prompted by fears the fire could ignite hydrocarbons on the sea surface surrounding the stricken platform.
He later said: "No evidence currently suggests the fire would spread to the sea."
He said the cause of the blaze was not yet known, and declined to comment on whether work on the relief well may have played a role in the fire.
At a doorstep press conference held in Perth this afternoon, PTTEP chief financial officer Jose Martins said the fire was being fuelled by oil and gas and the only way to stop it was to plug the leak.
"The measures which we have been able to take so far can only mitigate the fire, they will not stop the fire," the Australian Associated Press quoted him as saying.
"The best way to stop the fire is to complete the well-kill and stop the flow of oil and gas at the surface of the H1 well, cutting off the fuel source for the fire."
Earlier, Australia's federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson said in a statement: “The government remains deeply concerned about this incident.”
He added: "Current operations are focused on reducing the intensity of the fire.
"Some of the world's leading experts are working to fix the leaking well and respond to this latest problem."
Ferguson said the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority had been called out to help fight the fire, while Geoscience Australia and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority are providing technical advice.
A specialist fire fighting team from Alert Well Control has been flown to the site and is assessing the blaze.
PTTEP said a fire fighting vessel, the Nor Captain, had earlier doused the fire with water before moving away. The vessel is currently on standby about two nautical miles away from the West Atlas rig.
Sea water has been pumped into the relief well from the West Triton in a bid to “wet” the gas and help bring the fire under control. It is understood pumping operations are ongoing.
The blowout has cost PTTEP an estimated A$177 million (US$162 million), with clean-up costs alone totalling around A$5 million.
"This spill has been a disaster from the outset," Australian Greens Senator Rachel Siewert told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation this morning.
"Coupled with the environmental impacts of the oil entering the ocean, the potentially hazardous effects of the dispersants being used and the threat to fisheries both here and in Indonesia, now we have a fire on our hands."'
An estimated 500,000 litres of oil and condensate has spewed into the Timor Sea since the blowout.
PTTEP said 300 to 400 barrels of oil per day was leaking from the damaged wellbore, but the Department of Resources, Energy & Tourism told a Senate committee it believed up to 2000 bpd is being leaked into the sea.
The area surrounding the Montara development is home to a wide variety of marine wildlife, including several species of dolphin, sea turtles, sea snakes and humpback whales, as well as migratory sea birds.
On Friday, the federal government released a report saying birds and marine species were at risk from the spill.
The report said that while the total effects of the spill were yet to be determined, scientists had found dead and dying birds as well as sea snakes in the spill zone.
Over five days of observation, 462 whales and dolphins, 2801 birds, 62 sea snakes and 25 turtles were logged in the affected area.
A WWF-Australia spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.
However, last week the group issued a report claiming the spill would have a disastrous effect on the marine environment.
Blaze engulfs Montara platform
Anthea Pitt & news wires
A fire has broken out on the Montara wellhead platform, in the Timor Sea off Australia's remote north-west coast, engulfing the installation and the Seadrill-owned jack-up rig West Atlas.
The blaze erupted as the West Atlas' sister rig, the West Triton, which is about two kilometres from the platform, managed to intercept the blown-out H1 wellbore at the PTTEP-operated development on its fourth attempt.
The H1 well blew out on 21 August.
As work got under way this morning to kill the well with heavy mud, the installation caught fire.
PTTEP said the fire is burning around the cantilever portion of the West Atlas, which lies directly above the wellhead platform.
The company evacuated 113 non-essential personnel from the West Triton, adding that the crew on two nearby work vessels are safe.
No one has been working on the West Atlas since the blowout.
A PTTEP spokesman confirmed that the platform and rig are still ablaze, and that non-essential personnel had been evacuated from the West Triton and flown to the Australian mainland about 200 kilometres away.
He declined to comment when asked whether the evacuation was prompted by fears the fire could ignite hydrocarbons on the sea surface surrounding the stricken platform.
He later said: "No evidence currently suggests the fire would spread to the sea."
He said the cause of the blaze was not yet known, and declined to comment on whether work on the relief well may have played a role in the fire.
At a doorstep press conference held in Perth this afternoon, PTTEP chief financial officer Jose Martins said the fire was being fuelled by oil and gas and the only way to stop it was to plug the leak.
"The measures which we have been able to take so far can only mitigate the fire, they will not stop the fire," the Australian Associated Press quoted him as saying.
"The best way to stop the fire is to complete the well-kill and stop the flow of oil and gas at the surface of the H1 well, cutting off the fuel source for the fire."
Earlier, Australia's federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson said in a statement: “The government remains deeply concerned about this incident.”
He added: "Current operations are focused on reducing the intensity of the fire.
"Some of the world's leading experts are working to fix the leaking well and respond to this latest problem."
Ferguson said the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority had been called out to help fight the fire, while Geoscience Australia and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority are providing technical advice.
A specialist fire fighting team from Alert Well Control has been flown to the site and is assessing the blaze.
PTTEP said a fire fighting vessel, the Nor Captain, had earlier doused the fire with water before moving away. The vessel is currently on standby about two nautical miles away from the West Atlas rig.
Sea water has been pumped into the relief well from the West Triton in a bid to “wet” the gas and help bring the fire under control. It is understood pumping operations are ongoing.
The blowout has cost PTTEP an estimated A$177 million (US$162 million), with clean-up costs alone totalling around A$5 million.
"This spill has been a disaster from the outset," Australian Greens Senator Rachel Siewert told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation this morning.
"Coupled with the environmental impacts of the oil entering the ocean, the potentially hazardous effects of the dispersants being used and the threat to fisheries both here and in Indonesia, now we have a fire on our hands."'
An estimated 500,000 litres of oil and condensate has spewed into the Timor Sea since the blowout.
PTTEP said 300 to 400 barrels of oil per day was leaking from the damaged wellbore, but the Department of Resources, Energy & Tourism told a Senate committee it believed up to 2000 bpd is being leaked into the sea.
The area surrounding the Montara development is home to a wide variety of marine wildlife, including several species of dolphin, sea turtles, sea snakes and humpback whales, as well as migratory sea birds.
On Friday, the federal government released a report saying birds and marine species were at risk from the spill.
The report said that while the total effects of the spill were yet to be determined, scientists had found dead and dying birds as well as sea snakes in the spill zone.
Over five days of observation, 462 whales and dolphins, 2801 birds, 62 sea snakes and 25 turtles were logged in the affected area.
A WWF-Australia spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.
However, last week the group issued a report claiming the spill would have a disastrous effect on the marine environment.
Todays article on the West Atlas Disaster.
Note comment from Greens Senator, who no doubt rollerblades to parliment in cardboard shoes.
Company silent on oil disaster cause
LEE RONDGANGER, The West Australian November 4, 2009, 9:14 am
The company in charge of the crippled West Atlas oil rig that has spewed thousands of barrels of oil into the Timor Sea over the past two months is refusing to reveal the cause of the disaster.
PTTEP Australasia company director Jose Martins said today the company knew what caused the disaster but that it would wait for a legal inquiry into the leak to be completed before releasing the details.
And when asked on ABC radio this morning if the company was sorry for the disaster, Mr Martins refused to apologise.
"We regret what's happened," he said.
"There is going to be a proper legal process to find out the cause of the leak and we don't want to undermine a proper legal process….We just have to maintain our position on that," Mr Martins said.
He described the focus on the cause of the leak as a "red herring" saying that even if the public was told the cause it would not have changed the company's response to plug crisis.
"It should not have happened in the first place," he said.
Mr Martins also confirmed PTTEP Australasia is preparing a multi-million dollar insurance claim to recoup the cost of the disaster.
The company said last week that the cost had reached $170 million, but that was before a fire engulfed the oil platform on the weekend.
Mr Martins comments came as it emerged that oil from a crippled rig may have washed up on a Northern Territory beach.
Northern Territory Minister for Primary Industries Fisheries and Resources, Kon Vatskalis, confirmed the Department Of Planning And Infrastructure was investigating the discovery of a substance that washed up at Wadeye, about 240km southwest of Darwin, on Tuesday afternoon.
"In the past we have had many calls about oil washing up on our beaches and it was proven it was of biological origin, from corals," he said.
"But we have to investigate to see if it has come from the oil leak.
A spokesman for DPI said they had been in contact with the Australian Maritime Safety Authority which would send aircraft to the area to make preliminary observations to determine the size and location of the substance.
A sample of the substance would be collected and scientifically tested, he said.
The rig leak was finally plugged yesterday and the fire extinguished, 74 days after oil and gas began leaking from the Montara wellhead.
Well control experts aboard the nearby West Triton rig injected 3400 barrels of heavy mud into the relief well, declaring a complete shutdown of the leak at 3.45pm.
Mr Martins said yesterday that he was "relieved and thankful" that the spill had ended, but that a lot more work remained to plug the well and secure it completely.
Engineers were yesterday monitoring the West Atlas rig as it cooled and would wait between 24 and 48 hours before boarding it to install plugs in the wellhead, Mr Martins said. The team was also continuing to pump light mud and brine into the relief well to ensure the leaking well remained stable.
Mr Martins said the company was "committed to fully funding the clean-up and environmental programs being undertaken by the lead government agencies".
He also pledged to co-operate fully with the investigation into the incident planned by Federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson.
Mr Martins said the industry had learnt much from the 74-day operation.
Greens Senator Rachel Siewert called for the immediate launch of a full judicial inquiry into the spill, "to be conducted at arm's length from both the Government and the company".
Note comment from Greens Senator, who no doubt rollerblades to parliment in cardboard shoes.
Company silent on oil disaster cause
LEE RONDGANGER, The West Australian November 4, 2009, 9:14 am
The company in charge of the crippled West Atlas oil rig that has spewed thousands of barrels of oil into the Timor Sea over the past two months is refusing to reveal the cause of the disaster.
PTTEP Australasia company director Jose Martins said today the company knew what caused the disaster but that it would wait for a legal inquiry into the leak to be completed before releasing the details.
And when asked on ABC radio this morning if the company was sorry for the disaster, Mr Martins refused to apologise.
"We regret what's happened," he said.
"There is going to be a proper legal process to find out the cause of the leak and we don't want to undermine a proper legal process….We just have to maintain our position on that," Mr Martins said.
He described the focus on the cause of the leak as a "red herring" saying that even if the public was told the cause it would not have changed the company's response to plug crisis.
"It should not have happened in the first place," he said.
Mr Martins also confirmed PTTEP Australasia is preparing a multi-million dollar insurance claim to recoup the cost of the disaster.
The company said last week that the cost had reached $170 million, but that was before a fire engulfed the oil platform on the weekend.
Mr Martins comments came as it emerged that oil from a crippled rig may have washed up on a Northern Territory beach.
Northern Territory Minister for Primary Industries Fisheries and Resources, Kon Vatskalis, confirmed the Department Of Planning And Infrastructure was investigating the discovery of a substance that washed up at Wadeye, about 240km southwest of Darwin, on Tuesday afternoon.
"In the past we have had many calls about oil washing up on our beaches and it was proven it was of biological origin, from corals," he said.
"But we have to investigate to see if it has come from the oil leak.
A spokesman for DPI said they had been in contact with the Australian Maritime Safety Authority which would send aircraft to the area to make preliminary observations to determine the size and location of the substance.
A sample of the substance would be collected and scientifically tested, he said.
The rig leak was finally plugged yesterday and the fire extinguished, 74 days after oil and gas began leaking from the Montara wellhead.
Well control experts aboard the nearby West Triton rig injected 3400 barrels of heavy mud into the relief well, declaring a complete shutdown of the leak at 3.45pm.
Mr Martins said yesterday that he was "relieved and thankful" that the spill had ended, but that a lot more work remained to plug the well and secure it completely.
Engineers were yesterday monitoring the West Atlas rig as it cooled and would wait between 24 and 48 hours before boarding it to install plugs in the wellhead, Mr Martins said. The team was also continuing to pump light mud and brine into the relief well to ensure the leaking well remained stable.
Mr Martins said the company was "committed to fully funding the clean-up and environmental programs being undertaken by the lead government agencies".
He also pledged to co-operate fully with the investigation into the incident planned by Federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson.
Mr Martins said the industry had learnt much from the 74-day operation.
Greens Senator Rachel Siewert called for the immediate launch of a full judicial inquiry into the spill, "to be conducted at arm's length from both the Government and the company".
Well, this is a actually a oil rig from the North Sea area.Rider wrote:74 days of leaking oil??! WTF?!
If that was the North Sea there'd be an HSE investigation and heads would roll!
It's a Norwegian owned drill rig on lease to the unfortunate Thai operators.
It's a big shame that the blow out wasn't stopped a couple of months ago!!
I intend to live forever - so far so good.
Actually, the rig is a recent new build from a Singapore yard, and yes, the owners are Norwegian. But, the problem was not the Oil Rig itself. It was working over a producing platform, and the original "leak" started from a fault on one of the production wells. Leaked unofficial reports from the Industry suggest that the operator was too hasty in abandoning the Rig itself, when the problem first erupted.Norseman wrote:Well, this is a actually a oil rig from the North Sea area.Rider wrote:74 days of leaking oil??! WTF?!
If that was the North Sea there'd be an HSE investigation and heads would roll!
It's a Norwegian owned drill rig on lease to the unfortunate Thai operators.
It's a big shame that the blow out wasn't stopped a couple of months ago!!
There is an ongoing inquiry into the whole fiasco, but one of the major setbacks was getting another Rig mobilised and on site from Singapore to drill a relief well into the leaking production well, in order to "plug" the uncontrolled flow.
My OP was more to point out that there has not been any mention of this in the Thai media (that I have seen), but as soon as it was plugged then there was great headlines: "PTTEP plugs blowout"!
May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil know`s you`re dead!
You are quite right Nereus, but that was the only gateway to Rider and the North Sea that I could think of.
Don't know about the newspapers, but it's been mentioned on Thai TV news channels.
A environmental disaster like this needs war type headlines though!!
Red Adair is dead but Boots Hansen - where are you?
Don't know about the newspapers, but it's been mentioned on Thai TV news channels.
A environmental disaster like this needs war type headlines though!!
Red Adair is dead but Boots Hansen - where are you?
I intend to live forever - so far so good.
Yeap, I noted with some alarm that one of the led features on Friday (as translated by good wife) was a 65 year old monk had died of a heart attack after being found having sex with a bitch (female dog) in the J (Phitsanuloke) by some of the locals who had come to investigate the dogs yowls. No mention of plugging leaks!