July 24, 2013 - RIG FIRE IN GULF MAY BURN FOR 2 MONTHS, OFFICIALS SAY - A drilling rig that caught fire late Tuesday after a natural gas well blew out about 55 miles off the coast of Grand Isle could continue to burn in the Gulf for several weeks while response crews work to permanently shut in the well, an energy expert said Wednesday. But owing to a variety of factors, officials said the accident does not have the potential to become an environmental disaster of major magnitude. Among those factors: the well was in relatively shallow water; it is spewing natural gas rather than crude oil; and all of the workers on the rig were safely evacuated. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, which regulates the oil and gas industry, and the U.S. Coast Guard are overseeing efforts to secure the well and put out the fire. The Coast Guard said the fire broke out at about 10:45 p.m. Tuesday. During a fly-over to examine the damage Wednesday, federal regulators said they saw no sheens on the water surface in the area near the well. The fly-over also revealed that beams supporting the derrick and the rig floor collapsed over the rig structure as the blaze continued. Two firefighting vessels on the scene at the time were relocated. A third vessel, with better fire-fighting capability, was expected to arrive Wednesday. Walter Oil & Gas Corp., the Houston-based oil and production company that was drilling the well, is moving a jack-up rig to the site with the aim of drilling a relief well, a permanent means of shutting down the well, authorities said Wednesday. The Coast Guard is enforcing a five-mile safety zone around the rig, officials said. “At this point, I think it appears to be of no threat to the environment or to human life or to sea life for that matter,” Jefferson Parish President John Young said Wednesday about the burning rig. One local observer of the oil and gas industry said the company has few options other than drilling a relief well. “They don’t have any choice right now,” said Eric Smith, an associate director of the Tulane Energy Institute. Smith believes it could take 30 to 60 days for the relief well to be drilled. During that time, the rig will likely continue to burn as the natural gas from deep below the seabed rises to the surface. He estimates that the rig is “a total loss, and that’s probably a $50 million bill on somebody’s tab.” The well is in about 154 feet of water. Crews were drilling the well at about 8:45 a.m. Tuesday on an platform in the South Timbalier area of the Gulf, doing completion work to prepare for production, when the well blew out. All 44 workers aboard were safely evacuated, the company said. The cause of the accident is under investigation. theadvocate/news/6596287-123/rig-fire-in-gulf-may
Posted on: Wed, 24 Jul 2013 23:09:40 +0000