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For those of
you interested in the oil production damage report from Hurricane Katrina, here
are four things of high interest. KwC 1. Coast Guard confirms 20 oil rigs gone. At least twenty offshore oil
platforms have
gone missing, sunk, or gone adrift, according to the Coast Guard [18].
One oil rig, in dock
for repairs before the storm, broke loose and hit the Cochrane/Africatown USA
road bridge over the Mobile
River in Mobile,
Alabama. Two others went adrift in the Gulf of Mexico, but were resecured [19].
One platform,
originally located 12 miles off the Louisiana coast, has washed up onshore at Dauphin Island, Alabama. The Royal Dutch Shell MARS platform, producing around 147,000
barrels a day, has been severely damaged [20]. Note the
source: From
Wikipedia, an impressive comprehensive collection http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina#Oil_industry,
2. Reuters: Storm may shut some
refineries for months (not weeks) DOE
confirms 9 refineries still shut down, 11% of capacity http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N01263206.htm 3. This is
ominous. From The Oil Drum: an insider reports anonymously that: §
There are MANY production platforms missing (as in not visible from the
air). This means they have been totally lost. I am talking about 10's of
platforms, not single digit numbers. Each platform can have from 4 to 100+
wells on it. Most larger ones have 20-30 wells in this area, with numerous
caisson wells. They are on their sides, on the bottom of the gulf - they will
likely be left as reef material, provided we can get permission. MMS
regulations require us to plug each of the wells that were on these platforms -
HUGE cost now, as the platforms are gone... Hopefully, MMS will grant `abandon
in place' status for these wiped out structures. §
The jackup drilling rigs appear to be in various stages of damage, but
most rode the storm out with minimal problems. However, each of them has
shifted position. When we jack the rig up, it is carefully positioned directly over the well
slot where we are working. The derrick has rails that allow us to slide it in 4
directions to get the derrick directly over the well or slot. If the rig moves
(right/left, or from level to uneven), it has to be jacked back down to the
waterline and repositioned with tugboats, then jacked back up. After it is back
up and level, the derrick is slid on the 2 sets of rails, and bolted into
position over the well or slot again. Thus we have to reset each of the drilling rigs, which requires getting
OUT of the well, tugboats and a move, then getting back into the well. The open
hole we have drilled (what is not enclosed in cemented casing) is likely to be
lost, and if the wellhead or the casing is bent, then the well will have to be
redrilled. This is an exploration setback of at least a month, but we don't yet
know the boat situation. §
Boats are usually brought into harbor to weather storms. We do not have
a boat count yet, but from the initial reports, we may have lost or grounded
30% of the Gulf of Mexico fleet. This means everything will cost more, take
longer - repairs, repositioning, everything. In short, the Gulf
area hit by the storm is basically in about the same shape as Biloxi. The
damage numbers you have gotten from the government and analysts are, in my
opinion, much too low. We are looking at YEARS to return to the production
levels we had prior to the storm. The eastern Gulf of Mexico is primarily oil
production...Loss of the MARS platform alone cost us 95,000 barrels a day for a
year or maybe more. YEARS, people.
I know what this means - hope everyone else gets it too.. http://www.theoildrum.com/story/2005/8/31/83553/8973 4. After some
reluctance, Foreign Aid for Katrina accepted: Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, the
Dominican Republic, El Salvador, France, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Hungary,
Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, other members in NATO, the
OAS, Russia, South Korea, Switzerland, the UAE, the UK, and Venezuela. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina#Foreign_Response Pres. Clinton
in a noon hour interview with Pres. GHW Bush on CNN said that even Sri Lanka
wanted to give something, as they recognized most of the worst-case victims
were poor. But the most significant support the Bush administration is looking
for comes from Saudi Arabia. |
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