Katrina Slams U.S. Gulf Coast, Oil Rigs Adrift

[Penndems]

Aug 29 4:14 PM US/Eastern


By Rick Wilking

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Hurricane Katrina ripped into the U.S. Gulf Coast on Monday, battering the historic jazz city New Orleans, swamping resort towns and lowlands with a crushing surge of seawater and stranding people on rooftops.

<snip>

At least two oil rigs were adrift in the Gulf of Mexico, where Katrina raged through offshore fields as one of the strongest hurricanes on record. Fearing the worst from the 175 mph (280 kph) winds, oil companies shut down rigs and closed refineries along the coast, sending oil futures higher.

<snip>

The storm forced oil companies to shut down production from many of the offshore platforms that provide a quarter of U.S. oil and gas output.

Shell said two of its oil drilling rigs under contract were adrift in the Gulf of Mexico. One rig is owned by Nobel, the other by Transocean Inc.

Link:
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/08/29/MTFH71843_2005-08-29_20-22-59_HO481242.html
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This is just unbelievable. A hurricane so strong it can pick up two multi-ton oil rigs? OMG!

[Deja Q]

1. All the more reason to invade Iran, I suppose.

Whatever.

Nuke us all now, *co.

[WillyT]

2. Have We Heard Any More On These Drifting Oil Rigs !!!

:scared::wow::scared:

[Penndems]

3. One of them was picked up by Katrina and smashed into

a bridge on Mobile Bay. Haven't heard anything about the other one.

[Jacobin]

6. Actually, that's a third one

The one in Mobile Bay was being worked on in the harbour and was blown under a bridge.

The ones Shell is talking about were in the Gulf.

I imagine there are others which have sunk, or are drifting or are severely damaged.

[Penndems]

10. Thank you for clarifying that

I'm absolutely astonished at the ferocity and strength of this hurricane. Picking up OIL RIGS? Oh my dear God . . .

[htuttle]

4. Wouldn't an oil rig being adrift mean that the submerged pipe is leaking?

If they are adrift, it seems to me that what is still attached to the bottom would be spewing some oil, wouldn't it?

[Jacobin]

7. When they turn off flow and evacuate the production platforms

They close the production valves at the base of the well on the sea floor.

[ProfessorGAC]

9. I Think The Connections Used Are. . .

. . .larege scale quick disconnect. They're essentially a check valve that opens full when the outlet is connected. If the outlet is disconnected, the checks move back into place and flow is disrupted.

These are really common in the petrochem industry, on things like barge and ship docks, and pipelines. I'm just guessing they have these installed, but it makes sense they would use such a well-established technology.
The Professor

[CabalPowered]

5. If it can do that to an oil platform then I fear the LOOP..

is in really bad shape.

"In addition to domestic production, Louisiana's coast is the land base for the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), America's only offshore oil port. LOOP handles about 15% of this country's foreign oil and is connected to more than 30% of the total refining capacity in the U.S. Much of the support infrastructure is located in the most rapidly deteriorating coastal areas. In addition to LOOP, one will find two storage sites for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) and Henry Hub, one of the nation's major natural gas distribution centers."

http://www.americaswetland.com/article.cfm?id=195&cateid=4&pageid=3&cid=6

[Jacobin]

8. Haven't heard anything about LOOP yet

It was close to the hurricane.

There is so much damage and destruction from the path of this thing, that it will take weeks to even figure out how many people were killed and what was damaged