Thursday, September 01, 2005

Katrina = Oil Disaster

Hat tip to a blogger on Daily Kos for the real story on Katrina. The US Coast Guard reports at least 20 rigs missing in the Gulf of Mexico.

According to the latest tally Wednesday from the federal Minerals Management Service, a total of 561 platforms and rigs have been evacuated in the Gulf of Mexico, which accounts for a quarter of US oil production. Over 91 percent of normal daily crude oil production in the Gulf -- 1.5 million barrels -- is now shut down, and more than 83 percent of natural gas production, the MMS said.

Higher gas prices? You bet. But look at this:
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.
Let's hope it is only a rumor....
UPDATE: A pic of one of the rigs:

2 comments:

Prof. Goose said...

Me too, but unfortunately I know the insider we cited...it's very likely the case...sad days.

PG, http://theoildrum.com

Michael Turton said...

Hey! Thanks for stopping by. You've got a damn fine blog there!