Gas build-up threatens North Sea oil rig

Gas build-up threatens North Sea oil rig

Ninety oil workers have been evacuated from a North Sea rig as engineers fight to control a huge build up of pressure in a well which critics say has the potential to blow-up the platform and cause a major environmental problem.

The Norwegian company Statoil has been pumping cement into an offshore well on the Gullfaks field in an operation similar to the one being attempted today by BP in the Gulf of Mexico.

The equivalent of around 70,000 barrels of oil a day of production from the Gullfaks C, Tordis and Gimle platforms has been shut down and more than 90 staff evacuated from the area, which lies in Norwegian waters.

www.guardian.co.uk...

reply to post by ZombieSlayer


I am trying to get my head around this...
is this normal? the gas build up/evacuation or has the BP/Transoacean rig highlighted a problem, which is now actively being looked out for by all the other rigs??

What type of gas are we talking about here? I assume it is methane, which seems to be "popping" up in all the wrong places...

Kind of suspicious to say the least that these oil related accidents are all happening in such a short time frame.

Pressure still unstable on Norwegian North Sea oil platform: Statoil

Six days after the Gullfaks C platform in the North Sea was partially evacuated due to a sudden change of pressure in a well, Norwegian energy group Statoil said Tuesday it had yet to fix the problem.

In a worst case scenario, unstable well pressure can cause oil or gas to leak out and explode, as was the case in the devastating April 20 accident on the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig, which killed 11 workers and has caused an environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

"The pressure is still unstable, but the situation has not worsened," Statoil spokesman Gisle Johanson told AFP.

"We are continuing to work to normalise the situation," he said, adding that no leaks had so far been detected and the company "deems the risk of a blowout as very small."

www.google.com...

reply to post by ZombieSlayer


Kind of like it's suspicious that all these earthquakes, or volcanoes, or wars, or floods, or economic meltdowns, or... Shall I continue?

Hmmmmm indeed.

This is the first I've heard of the North Sea oil platform having problems but apparently this has been in the news for a couple days as these articles are dated May 27th, 2010. There doesn't seem to be much info being put out there about this though. Could be a non event or it could possibly turn out to be another oil disaster. Something to keep an eye on.


North Sea oil well still unstable

Tonnes of specialist drilling mud have been pumped into the Gulfaks well in a bid to contain pressure, and Statoil is attempting to cap the well with cement.

Statoil spokesman Gisle Johanson said the well was now more stable, but it may not be safely plugged for several more days - in what has been an unusually long struggle to bring a North Sea well under control.

He said: "The pressure is still unstable, but the situation has not worsened. We are continuing to work to normalise the situation."

news.bbc.co.uk...

[edit on 29-5-2010 by ZombieSlayer]

This sounds like higher gas prices are comming to me.

They can now justify charging more for gas.

reply to post by user414


Well the seismic and volcanoes can be related but these oil well pressure problems around the world are interesting and maybe all of the above are related.

This is just a hypothesis, BUT WHAT IF...There is something going on inside the earth that is changing the pressure. Whether that is the centifical force readjusting the crust from changes in our rotation due to large Earthquakes over the last few years. Who knows how long this takes to adjust the bulge near the equator.

Could shifts in the internal dynamo cause changes in pressure enacted out on the crust and could these changes happen rapidly?

Any Geology experts out there?

Doesn't seem to be any news about this on the Statoil site.
www.statoil.com...


Here's another article.

Risk of blowout on Norway’s Gullfaks C: Statoil has no control over the situation, says Bellona President Hauge

The well has suffered similar incidents, one as recenty as April 30th this year and again in December 23rd 2009.

“Three major events of this kind in less than five months proves that Statoil is not able to control this situation,” says President of the Bellona Foundation, Frederic Hauge.

Bellona has received new information that sheds some light over what actually happened on Gullfaks C, which is operated by the Norwegian state owned oil company Statoil. The situation remained unresolved Friday afternoon.

www.bellona.org...

Here's another quote from this article.

‘The situation is out of control’

According to Bellona’s sources, the drillstring is stuck in the well.

“Bellona’s position is that the situation is out of control, and that there is still a real risk of a blow out,” says Frederic Hauge.

I've done a little searching and can not work out if this is normal or not... can we seperate out the Valenzuelan gas platform fire a short time ago.. or could it be linked by miss management or something more serious!

reply to post by DEEZNUTZ


I am thinking along the same lines as you. There is a reason for the pressure, something is up under the earth's crust, or even possibly the magnetosphere could cause fluctations of the pressure, given the number of sunspots this year, and a recent hydra flare and CME, I would say the magnetosphere is taking a beating, and anytime it moves around so does the earth. It stretches and pulls with that invisble shield.

reply to post by space cadet


Well we'll know for sure if more blowouts start happening around the world in varying Lattitudes. I would imagine the most active areas would be the 0-30 deg latitude bands.

one in a short period of time can be a accident two in a short period of time may not be.

bad drilling mud or sabotage like someone putting sugar in the concrete mix???????????

reply to post by ANNED


Well not forgetting the one in the Caribbean sea to (13/14th May 2010) but it was a gas platform, so I am not sure whether it should be included or not...

Gulf of Mexico, Carribean Sea and now the North Sea..

[edit on 29/5/10 by thoughtsfull]

reply to post by user414


i think if you look back at the history of man you may find these things do happen.

reply to post by Freedom or Death


by gorge i think he's onto something.

DOWN WITH TPTB

Cant you all see?
Oil is the main chain that binds us all , along with currency. Its their way to control each and every one of us. It has started, slowly but surely. Out with the old, in with the new?
You doubt what i say?
Recalls of many vehicles globally
Financial problems globally
Oil rig DISASTER?
Airlines?

Authorities say slick measures 300 square kilometers

Danish shipping and oil group A.P. Moller-Maersk said on Thursday it was investigating sightings of an oil slick near three of its North Sea fields but that it could not identify any spill.

Oil on the surface of the sea was observed by Danish and German reconnaissance aircraft on Tuesday and Wednesday near the Dan, Halfdan and Kraka fields in the North Sea, Maersk Oil said in a statement on Wednesday.

An official at the Danish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said the slick was estimated to measure 300 square kilometers, but the EPA did not consider it to be a serious spill and the oil would not reach the shore.

uk.reuters.com...

300 km is a pretty large spill. That's aprx 186 miles.
Why isn't this story getting more coverage by the MSM?