World
Institutional
links
Welcome back on
26 -29 August,
ONS 2008
Bridging
the energy gap
is ONS 2006 theme,
from 22-25 August,
in Stavanger, Norway
Petroleumworld
Business
Partners:
Centre for
Global Energy
Studies
  |
Pemex: Oil leak might take months to fix
CIUDAD DEL CARMEN, Mexico
Petroleumworld.com 11 29 07
An oil platform leak that has spilled thousands of barrels of crude into the Gulf of Mexico could take several more months to repair, state oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos said Wednesday.Since a drilling rig slammed into a production platform Oct. 23, killing at least 21 workers, a total of 11,700 barrels of oil — about 420 a day — have seeped into the gulf, Pemex Assistant Director for Exploration and Production Pedro Silva Lopez told reporters invited to fly over the site with company and environmental officials.
Pemex previously estimated the spill at nearly 13,000 barrels.
A fire was still raging Wednesday at the damaged well, about 20 miles offshore from the port of Dos Bocas in the Gulf coast state of Tabasco, but only faint traces of crude could be seen shimmering on the water.
The company plans to install a new valve assembly to replace a damaged one on the well, but Silva said officials are not sure that will stop the leak.
If it doesn't, another procedure to block the damaged well could take as long as four to five months to complete, said Carlos Morales, Pemex's director of production and exploration.
Silva said at least two beaches in the Gulf coast states of Tabasco and Campeche have been affected by the oil spill, but the full extent of the damage has not been determined.
The spill is far smaller than a major disaster like the 1989 Exxon Valdez supertanker spill that released 11 million gallons of oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound.
Pemex is losing about 5,700 barrels of oil a day in production at the offshore platform. The company expects the average daily production this year to finish slightly above 3.1 million barrels, said Jesus Reyes, director-general of Pemex.
The company's daily output in 2006 was 3.26 million barrels, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Pemex has promised both internal and external investigations of the collision in high seas between the platform and a drilling rig operated by a subcontractor.
Story by Mark Stevenson from AP
AP 29 11 07
Copyright© 2007 Petroleumworld. All rights reserved.
Your
feedback is important to us!
We invite all our readers to share with us
their views and comments about this article.
Write to editor@petroleumworld.com
Any
question or suggestions, please write to:
editor@petroleumworld.com
Best
Viewed with IE
5.01+
Windows
NT 4.0, '95, '98 and ME +/ 800x600 pixels