North Sea oil platforms less risky than BP rig which exploded

[FarCenter]

Platforms in Europe's North Sea are much safer as they are permanently anchored in place and less likely to sink

Drilling oil and gas wells on the ocean floor can be a costly hit-or-miss process, although it is often massively lucrative because those two resources currently supply about 60 percent of the world's energy.

The Deepwater Horizon was operating smoothly before an explosion on April 22 killed 11 workers and caused the rig to sink into the Gulf of Mexico. Now emergency crews are working to contain a spreading oil slick before it pollutes the ecologically delicate wetlands of Louisiana.

Energy giant British Petroleum had leased the semi-submersible drilling rig from Houston-based contractor Transocean. Efforts by BP to cap the well some 1,500 meters (5,000 feet) below surface using four robotic submarines failed, and recent estimates indicate nearly 5.6 million liters (1.5 million gallons) of oil may have already leaked into the Gulf of Mexico.

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Offshore drilling in Europe's North Sea began as recently as 1960, and is significantly safer than the drilling which went awry in the Gulf of Mexico, according to Slater. Platforms in the much shallower North Sea either have a foundation on the bottom of the sea or are permanently anchored in place.

"You have to distinguish between a platform and a rig. The incident that happened was on an exploration rig that travels around," Slater said.

<SNIP>http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5518362,00.html

[Greyskye]

1. Say the North Sea drilling platform owners.

Pardon my ignorance, but couldn't the same pressure inequality problem that caused the Gulf blowout cause a blowout in the North Sea as well? The problem isn't that the Gulf rig sank, it's that there is an open pipe thousands of feet down that is spewing crude oil. From what I understand, it would still be spewing oil even if the platform had managed to stay afloat.