nharrold
Inactive
Not to worry, O will be down there looking for butts to kick after he gets back from whatever vacation he's on at the moment...
BRKG COAST GUARD RESPONDING: NEW Oil Rig Explosion in Gulf of Mexico
- Thread starter mt4design
- Start date
Not to worry, O will be down there looking for butts to kick after he gets back from whatever vacation he's on at the moment...
Wardogs
Inactive
If nothing else, this incident exposes the failures and agendas of the those reporting on it. This latest from MSNBC is a good example.
First, the headline:
Coast Guard: No oil sheen from Gulf explosion
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38973757/ns/us_news-life/
In the actual article, you find out that there was no "explosion". There was a fire in and around the living quarters that became pretty severe, but never got near the 7 well heads. The cause is still unknown. They say this in the article but still use "explosion" in the headlines and throughout the report.
The whole article:
GRAND ISLE, La. — The Coast Guard is backing off its earlier report that an oil sheen about a mile long was spreading following a platform explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.
Coast Guard Cmdr. Cheri Ben-Iesau said Thursday afternoon that crews was unable to confirm the oil sheen. The Coast Guard says platform owner Mariner Energy reported a sheen about a mile long and 100 feet wide. But the company has said in a statement that an initial flyover didn't find an oil spill.
Ben-lesau says the fire on the platform has been put out. All 13 crew members were rescued from the water.
Patrick Cassidy, a spokesman for Mariner Energy, told Reuters that the fire was extinguished shortly before 3 p.m. CDT and all crew members have been brought ashore in Houma, La. There were no injuries, he said, although Ben-Iesau said one person was injured.
Video: Oil platform explodes off Louisiana coast (on this page)
The platform, which produces oil and gas, caught fire early Thursday. The scene is west of the site of the massive BP spill.
Cassidy said that the seven wells, which last week produced 1,400 barrels of oil per day and 9.2 million cubic feet per day of natural gas, were shut in.
"The facility is still standing. The fire was contained" to the upper of two decks, Cassidy said. He disputed descriptions of the fire as a blast. "It wasn't a blowout, it's not an explosion," he told Reuters. "The fire appears to have been in or near the living quarters on the upper deck."
But Coast Guard Petty Officer Bill Coklough said the sheen, about 100 feet wide, was spotted near the platform.
The company that owns the rig, Houston-based Mariner Energy, did not know what caused the blast, which was reported by a helicopter flying over the area.
Crew members were found floating in the water, huddled together in survival outfits called "gumby suits."
"These guys had the presence of mind, used their training to get into those gumby suits before they entered the water. It speaks volumes to safety training and the importance of it because, beyond getting off the rig, there's all the hazards of the water such as hypothermia," Coast Guard spokesman Chief Petty Officer John Edwards said.
The platform is in about 340 feet of water and about 100 miles south of Louisiana's Vermilion Bay. Its location is considered shallow water, much less than the approximately 5,000 feet where BP's well spewed oil and gas for three months after the April rig explosion.
Responding to any oil spill in shallow water would be much easier than in deep water, where crews depend on remote-operated vehicles access equipment on the sea floor.
The rig is a fixed platform that was in production at the time of the fire, according to a homeland security operational update obtained by The Associated Press.
The update said the platform was producing 58,800 gallons of oil and 900,000 cubic feet of gas per day. The platform can store 4,200 gallons of oil.
Story: Mariner may be facing BP-style crisis
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said Mariner Energy officials told him there were seven active production wells on the platform, and they were shut down shortly after the fire broke out.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said President Barack Obama was in a national security meeting at the time of the accident.
"We obviously have response assets ready for deployment should we receive reports of pollution in the water," Gibbs said.
***************************************
You have to work hard to pull actual facts from this article. Those facts as known now are:
It was a fire, not an explosion, yet they use the word "explosion" or "blast" at least five times including in the headline...
All seven wellheads have been shut down...
No oil is known to have leaked according to the Coast Guard, the company and their own headline, yet they repeat an earlier CG report of a "mile long, 100 foot wide oil slick"...
If there is indeed a leak, it would be from the storage tank, not the wellheads, so at least it would be finite...
It was a fixed, (not floating) production facility, not a drill rig. It produces both oil and gas. (Most do)...
It's in shallow water, (340 feet)...
It was not in production at the time of the fire but as recently as last week was producing 58,800 gallons of oil and 900,000 cubic feet of gas per day...
The platform can store 4,200 gallons of oil...
The fire is out and all personnel are accounted for...
Those are the facts known at the moment yet all through the MSM and blogosphere facts are being cast aside for speculation.
The worst (so far) is this one from Think Progress. And yes, in the comments, they even blame the Tea Party:
Ben Armbruster / Think Progress:
One Day Before Its Gulf Oil Rig Exploded, Mariner Energy Said Obama ‘Is Trying To Break Us’ With Moratorium
(The moratorium only covers rigs in 500 feet of water of more. It would have no effect whatsoever on this one).
The point is that without facts, we are all speculating.
wardogs
First, the headline:
Coast Guard: No oil sheen from Gulf explosion
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38973757/ns/us_news-life/
In the actual article, you find out that there was no "explosion". There was a fire in and around the living quarters that became pretty severe, but never got near the 7 well heads. The cause is still unknown. They say this in the article but still use "explosion" in the headlines and throughout the report.
The whole article:
GRAND ISLE, La. — The Coast Guard is backing off its earlier report that an oil sheen about a mile long was spreading following a platform explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.
Coast Guard Cmdr. Cheri Ben-Iesau said Thursday afternoon that crews was unable to confirm the oil sheen. The Coast Guard says platform owner Mariner Energy reported a sheen about a mile long and 100 feet wide. But the company has said in a statement that an initial flyover didn't find an oil spill.
Ben-lesau says the fire on the platform has been put out. All 13 crew members were rescued from the water.
Patrick Cassidy, a spokesman for Mariner Energy, told Reuters that the fire was extinguished shortly before 3 p.m. CDT and all crew members have been brought ashore in Houma, La. There were no injuries, he said, although Ben-Iesau said one person was injured.
Video: Oil platform explodes off Louisiana coast (on this page)
The platform, which produces oil and gas, caught fire early Thursday. The scene is west of the site of the massive BP spill.
Cassidy said that the seven wells, which last week produced 1,400 barrels of oil per day and 9.2 million cubic feet per day of natural gas, were shut in.
"The facility is still standing. The fire was contained" to the upper of two decks, Cassidy said. He disputed descriptions of the fire as a blast. "It wasn't a blowout, it's not an explosion," he told Reuters. "The fire appears to have been in or near the living quarters on the upper deck."
But Coast Guard Petty Officer Bill Coklough said the sheen, about 100 feet wide, was spotted near the platform.
The company that owns the rig, Houston-based Mariner Energy, did not know what caused the blast, which was reported by a helicopter flying over the area.
Crew members were found floating in the water, huddled together in survival outfits called "gumby suits."
"These guys had the presence of mind, used their training to get into those gumby suits before they entered the water. It speaks volumes to safety training and the importance of it because, beyond getting off the rig, there's all the hazards of the water such as hypothermia," Coast Guard spokesman Chief Petty Officer John Edwards said.
The platform is in about 340 feet of water and about 100 miles south of Louisiana's Vermilion Bay. Its location is considered shallow water, much less than the approximately 5,000 feet where BP's well spewed oil and gas for three months after the April rig explosion.
Responding to any oil spill in shallow water would be much easier than in deep water, where crews depend on remote-operated vehicles access equipment on the sea floor.
The rig is a fixed platform that was in production at the time of the fire, according to a homeland security operational update obtained by The Associated Press.
The update said the platform was producing 58,800 gallons of oil and 900,000 cubic feet of gas per day. The platform can store 4,200 gallons of oil.
Story: Mariner may be facing BP-style crisis
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said Mariner Energy officials told him there were seven active production wells on the platform, and they were shut down shortly after the fire broke out.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said President Barack Obama was in a national security meeting at the time of the accident.
"We obviously have response assets ready for deployment should we receive reports of pollution in the water," Gibbs said.
***************************************
You have to work hard to pull actual facts from this article. Those facts as known now are:
It was a fire, not an explosion, yet they use the word "explosion" or "blast" at least five times including in the headline...
All seven wellheads have been shut down...
No oil is known to have leaked according to the Coast Guard, the company and their own headline, yet they repeat an earlier CG report of a "mile long, 100 foot wide oil slick"...
If there is indeed a leak, it would be from the storage tank, not the wellheads, so at least it would be finite...
It was a fixed, (not floating) production facility, not a drill rig. It produces both oil and gas. (Most do)...
It's in shallow water, (340 feet)...
It was not in production at the time of the fire but as recently as last week was producing 58,800 gallons of oil and 900,000 cubic feet of gas per day...
The platform can store 4,200 gallons of oil...
The fire is out and all personnel are accounted for...
Those are the facts known at the moment yet all through the MSM and blogosphere facts are being cast aside for speculation.
The worst (so far) is this one from Think Progress. And yes, in the comments, they even blame the Tea Party:
Ben Armbruster / Think Progress:
One Day Before Its Gulf Oil Rig Exploded, Mariner Energy Said Obama ‘Is Trying To Break Us’ With Moratorium
(The moratorium only covers rigs in 500 feet of water of more. It would have no effect whatsoever on this one).
The point is that without facts, we are all speculating.
wardogs
Countrymouse
Country exile in the city
Sysman:
I know from experience (DWH) that you are a by-the-book, just-the-facts-ma'am kind of guy, so when you post this I know you're posting what you believe to be trustworthy info.
Therefore I find it VERY interesting that the 7 pm ABC news reported the .gov trying to "spin" away almost every assertion quoted in this article.
Point 1: they had a talking head on there emphasizing that the rig was only a "platform" for "oil transfer", NOT an active drilling site at all--in direct contrast to the quote about "seven active production wells".
Point 2: The Coast Guard is "denying all reports of any oil spills"--even though the ABC news camera had a really good shot of 'something' white covering a good deal of the water---isn't that commonly called a 'sheen'?
Point 3: The news report ended with the Coast Guard cavalierly assuring us that, "if" any oil was spilt, "We have plenty of dispersants to take care of it."
Oh, yeah. Just what we need in our Gulf---more COREXIT.
sassy
Veteran Member
On Fox News Houston this evening, a rep from Mariner said it was a Natural Gas Producing Platform.
This is from their press releases today:
(first one)
http://ir.mariner-energy.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=129671&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1466493&highlight=
Mariner Energy Confirms a Fire at a Production Platform on Vermilion Block 380 in the Gulf of Mexico; All Crew Members Safely Accounted forHOUSTON, TX, Sep 02, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) --
Mariner Energy, Inc. (NYSE: ME) confirms that a fire has occurred at a production platform located on Vermilion Block 380, approximately 100 miles from the Louisiana coast. All 13 members of the crew have been evacuated and safely accounted for. No injuries have been reported. In an initial flyover, no hydrocarbon spill was reported.
Mariner has notified and is working with regulatory authorities in response to this incident. The cause is not known, and an investigation will be undertaken. During the last week of August 2010, production from this facility averaged approximately 9.2 million cubic feet of natural gas per day and 1,400 barrels of oil and condensate. Updated information will be provided as available.
About Mariner Energy, Inc. Mariner Energy is an independent oil and gas exploration, development, and production company headquartered in Houston, Texas, with principal operations in the Permian Basin, South Texas and the Gulf of Mexico. For more information about Mariner, visit the company's website at www.mariner-energy.com.
(second press release)
http://ir.mariner-energy.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=129671&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1466603&highlight=
Mariner Energy Reports Fire Extinguished at Vermilion PlatformHOUSTON, TX, Sep 02, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) --
In a follow up to its news release issued earlier today, Mariner Energy, Inc. (NYSE: ME) reports that the fire at its production platform on Vermilion Block 380 has been extinguished.
The crew was transported to medical facilities onshore.
No injuries have been reported.
Automated shutoff equipment on the platform safely turned off the flow of oil and gas from the platform's seven producing wells before the fire occurred and the crew evacuated.
Mariner is working with regulatory authorities in response to this incident. The company mobilized fire response vessels immediately upon learning of the incident. The cause of the fire remains unknown, and an investigation is underway.
This is from their press releases today:
(first one)
http://ir.mariner-energy.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=129671&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1466493&highlight=
Mariner Energy Confirms a Fire at a Production Platform on Vermilion Block 380 in the Gulf of Mexico; All Crew Members Safely Accounted forHOUSTON, TX, Sep 02, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) --
Mariner Energy, Inc. (NYSE: ME) confirms that a fire has occurred at a production platform located on Vermilion Block 380, approximately 100 miles from the Louisiana coast. All 13 members of the crew have been evacuated and safely accounted for. No injuries have been reported. In an initial flyover, no hydrocarbon spill was reported.
Mariner has notified and is working with regulatory authorities in response to this incident. The cause is not known, and an investigation will be undertaken. During the last week of August 2010, production from this facility averaged approximately 9.2 million cubic feet of natural gas per day and 1,400 barrels of oil and condensate. Updated information will be provided as available.
About Mariner Energy, Inc. Mariner Energy is an independent oil and gas exploration, development, and production company headquartered in Houston, Texas, with principal operations in the Permian Basin, South Texas and the Gulf of Mexico. For more information about Mariner, visit the company's website at www.mariner-energy.com.
(second press release)
http://ir.mariner-energy.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=129671&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1466603&highlight=
Mariner Energy Reports Fire Extinguished at Vermilion PlatformHOUSTON, TX, Sep 02, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) --
In a follow up to its news release issued earlier today, Mariner Energy, Inc. (NYSE: ME) reports that the fire at its production platform on Vermilion Block 380 has been extinguished.
The crew was transported to medical facilities onshore.
No injuries have been reported.
Automated shutoff equipment on the platform safely turned off the flow of oil and gas from the platform's seven producing wells before the fire occurred and the crew evacuated.
Mariner is working with regulatory authorities in response to this incident. The company mobilized fire response vessels immediately upon learning of the incident. The cause of the fire remains unknown, and an investigation is underway.
Countrymouse
Country exile in the city
THOSE OF YOU IN CENTRAL, PACIFIC TIME....
...PLEASE try to catch / record the ABC Evening News with Diane Sawyer.
Something very weird is going on.
They have the "text" of her news broadcast, but NOT the same video as I saw up on the screen....
THE SAME VIDEO IN WHICH YOU CAN CLEARLY SEE (before they swiftly shift the camera away) A WHITE SHEEN OF OIL ON THE OCEAN SURFACE NEXT TO THE NEWEST BURNING RIG.
They quickly veered away from the picture, but it was a good, CLEAR shot.
On their website, they are not showing the same video they showed on the news AT ALL. Instead, they have up old file video about the Exxon Valdez.
Very, very, odd........
PLEASE someone--try to capture this film and put it up on the internet for all of us--or at least just the shot of the white sheen I saw on the news clip.
Thanks!
...PLEASE try to catch / record the ABC Evening News with Diane Sawyer.
Something very weird is going on.
They have the "text" of her news broadcast, but NOT the same video as I saw up on the screen....
THE SAME VIDEO IN WHICH YOU CAN CLEARLY SEE (before they swiftly shift the camera away) A WHITE SHEEN OF OIL ON THE OCEAN SURFACE NEXT TO THE NEWEST BURNING RIG.
They quickly veered away from the picture, but it was a good, CLEAR shot.
On their website, they are not showing the same video they showed on the news AT ALL. Instead, they have up old file video about the Exxon Valdez.
Very, very, odd........
PLEASE someone--try to capture this film and put it up on the internet for all of us--or at least just the shot of the white sheen I saw on the news clip.
Thanks!
Countrymouse
Country exile in the city
Nope--that's not the picture I saw. It wasn't from overhead, and the water ships and the rigs were in the background--but to the bottom right side of the screen was a squarish-shaped patch of white, undulating WITH the water.
Scott Mayland
Senior Member
I really don't know if this means anything, but I think this should at least be posted. A buddy and I was talking last night. He has a friend who worked on a clean up boat in the gulf. They had been sent home for weeks now. Nothing to clean up. He got a call yesterday asking him if if wanted to come back because they were about to start that boat back up. He was told to be ready to go this weekend. Most likely this is nothing but should be noted anyway.
Sysman
Old Geek <:)=
Thank you Countrymouse.
I know we've had our share of disagreements over the BP disaster, so that makes you saying this all the better.
I do try to be a just-the-facts-ma'am kind of guy. And after 4+ decades of programming computers, I consider myself a "logical" guy. So when it comes to something that I have absolutely no experience with, like a massive oil leak under 1 mile of water, I try to take what "facts" we do have, combined with what people that do have experience are saying, and apply my own "logic".
Historically I think I usually end up being correct. But not always. I couldn't have been any more wrong about some things, like the aftermath of Y2K for example. But even with Y2K I had a "logical" excuse. I didn't give my "fellow geeks" enough credit. I guess you can blame that on the "generation gap", thinking these young punks just don't know enough to save the world...
Anyway, the problem with "breaking news" these days is just what Wardogs said. The "MSM" doesn't wait for facts any more, they publish rumors. And if some of those rumors are proven to be incorrect, they don't bother to fix it, they just "copy and paste" the same old junk from some other story...
Sometimes ya just gotta wait for the real facts to show up, wait for the "separating wheat from chaff" process to finish...
Then use the "logic"...
Countrymouse
Country exile in the city
Hi Sysman:
Being the "dyed-in-the-wool" conservative that I am, I can truly say, "I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it!"
So regarding our past discussions on DWH, I respect your desire to only stick to verifiable facts, even if I disagree with the conclusions you draw from them.
As regards this, though---I hope no one will dismiss out of hand what I know I saw, simply because the image seems to have vanished. I still hope and pray "someone" got a video of tonight's news broadcast, because I know I saw a whitish square sheen on the water, rising and falling with the waves, and the rig (on fire, with smoke & the water ships--the whole 9 yards), was in the background, seen more from a lower altitude angle, and the white patch was toward the lower right of my screen. I do think it is significant that a lower-level Coast Guard official says there "is" an oil sheen, then the big dogs with the CG come on board and pooh-pooh all that and say there isn't, but "IF any oil spills, we do have PLENTY of dispersants on hand" (direct quote from Diane Sawyer quoting the CG).
I also am perturbed by ABC news' insistence---with video of talking heads (I suppose from the company that owned the rig, or maybe it was CG officials)--that this was only a TRANSPORTATION platform, not a production one---but now reports are coming out all over that it WAS a production platform.
So....who's telling the truth here?
There is a place for "just-the-facts", but there's also a place for "informed intuition"--and my intuition is telling me the reason for the contradictory reports is someone is trying to do one H*** of a job of backpedaling and spinning and covering up---
---and that makes me want to ask why.
Being the "dyed-in-the-wool" conservative that I am, I can truly say, "I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it!"
So regarding our past discussions on DWH, I respect your desire to only stick to verifiable facts, even if I disagree with the conclusions you draw from them.
As regards this, though---I hope no one will dismiss out of hand what I know I saw, simply because the image seems to have vanished. I still hope and pray "someone" got a video of tonight's news broadcast, because I know I saw a whitish square sheen on the water, rising and falling with the waves, and the rig (on fire, with smoke & the water ships--the whole 9 yards), was in the background, seen more from a lower altitude angle, and the white patch was toward the lower right of my screen. I do think it is significant that a lower-level Coast Guard official says there "is" an oil sheen, then the big dogs with the CG come on board and pooh-pooh all that and say there isn't, but "IF any oil spills, we do have PLENTY of dispersants on hand" (direct quote from Diane Sawyer quoting the CG).
I also am perturbed by ABC news' insistence---with video of talking heads (I suppose from the company that owned the rig, or maybe it was CG officials)--that this was only a TRANSPORTATION platform, not a production one---but now reports are coming out all over that it WAS a production platform.
So....who's telling the truth here?
There is a place for "just-the-facts", but there's also a place for "informed intuition"--and my intuition is telling me the reason for the contradictory reports is someone is trying to do one H*** of a job of backpedaling and spinning and covering up---
---and that makes me want to ask why.
changed
Preferred pronouns: dude/bro
N. Korean mini-subs?
Being used by Chavez/Venezuala?
Also don't forget that we are coming up to a landmark date two saturdays from now.
Sysman
Old Geek <:)=
Like milkydoo said, DWH isn't over yet. I was watching the vids today, they're in the process of removing the "cap", then they'll remove the BOP and put a new one on next. There is still plenty of room for a screw-up, or some "unknown factor" to kick in...
We still don't know what the final outcome will be. We do know several things: A massive amount of oil leaked into the water. M gallons of dispersant were used. Large amounts of "antifreeze" were applied. Thousands of barrels of "artificial mud" ended up in the water. And we won't know what the final impacts of this toxic blend will do to the Gulf environment for many years / decades. You'll get no argument from me here. It is a nightmare, enough to make a grown man cry...
Maybe it is a conspiracy. Maybe this new "fire" is a cover for that supposed massive oil/gas leak from the seafloor near DWH, a way to explain the "new oil" in the water. Maybe there is a huge ultra hi-pressure gas bubble moving around under the seafloor looking for a way out, and it is going to blowout one well after another...
But I just haven't seen enough "facts", I haven't heard enough "professional opinions", and I don't see the "logic" in the conspiracy, not yet at least...
Don't worry CM, I'll always love ya, and I'll always respect your opinion too...
Maybe we should leave it at that...
Wardogs
Inactive
I think much of the confusion comes from reporters who have no idea about the subject they are reporting on. There is a big difference between, drilling platforms, water injection platforms, production and wellhead platforms etc.
This was a production platform, meaning it was connected to both drilling and wellhead platforms that do actual extraction. This rig was connected to 7 wellheads which could be as much as 20-30 miles distant. The confusion comes from calling those 7 connections "wells". They are not wells in the traditional sense, they are not connected to the actual wellhead(s) directly like the BP one, but to pipelines coming from those platforms. They operate at much lower pressures and their function is to collect the production from other wells and distribute the product either to land via pipeline or onto tankers.
Here is a pic of the Valhalla rig in Norway where several of the different platforms are together. It shows 4 of 7 platforms in this cluster but the production platform is actually connected to 45 wellheads.
A description of the operation is here:
http://www.bp.com/extendedsectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=9003429&contentId=7008907
My theory on the "sheen" that was first visible and has now dissipated is that it was fuel oil from the deck machinery and generators on the rig. I base that on the use of the description "sheen" instead of a "slick". Fuel oil in calm water can spread quickly and cover a large area. A single gallon of diesel can cover a football field size portion of water and just a few hundred gallons would make a mile long by 100 foot wide "sheen" that would dissipate in a matter of hours. This picture, taken before the fire boats arrived shows the beginning of what appears to be a fuel oil sheen, probably caused by the breaching of fuel tanks for deck machinery:
Its from WDSU and ironically, the headline is "Coast Guard: No Sheen At Site Of Platform Explosion" but in the photo from the article it looks like a fuel oil sheen starting from the rig and running to the right along the wind line and under the smoke. Once water from the fire boats started any oil or fuel on the rig would go into the water.
Other confusion has been whether the rig was active. The Houston Chronicle reported that the rig has been shut down for 9 months. MSNBC and several others say it was producing as late as last week but was not online today, being shut down for "maintenance". The CG however says that it was online today.
The Chronicle also identified the vessel that picked the crew up from the sea was the "OSV Clear Skies, a passenger ship", even though the vessel type was in the name...OSV...Oil Supply Vessel.
What's important I guess is that the rig is stable, the feed lines are closed and secured. and the crew is safe. The details will come out over the next few days.
wardogs
This was a production platform, meaning it was connected to both drilling and wellhead platforms that do actual extraction. This rig was connected to 7 wellheads which could be as much as 20-30 miles distant. The confusion comes from calling those 7 connections "wells". They are not wells in the traditional sense, they are not connected to the actual wellhead(s) directly like the BP one, but to pipelines coming from those platforms. They operate at much lower pressures and their function is to collect the production from other wells and distribute the product either to land via pipeline or onto tankers.
Here is a pic of the Valhalla rig in Norway where several of the different platforms are together. It shows 4 of 7 platforms in this cluster but the production platform is actually connected to 45 wellheads.
A description of the operation is here:
http://www.bp.com/extendedsectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=9003429&contentId=7008907
My theory on the "sheen" that was first visible and has now dissipated is that it was fuel oil from the deck machinery and generators on the rig. I base that on the use of the description "sheen" instead of a "slick". Fuel oil in calm water can spread quickly and cover a large area. A single gallon of diesel can cover a football field size portion of water and just a few hundred gallons would make a mile long by 100 foot wide "sheen" that would dissipate in a matter of hours. This picture, taken before the fire boats arrived shows the beginning of what appears to be a fuel oil sheen, probably caused by the breaching of fuel tanks for deck machinery:
Its from WDSU and ironically, the headline is "Coast Guard: No Sheen At Site Of Platform Explosion" but in the photo from the article it looks like a fuel oil sheen starting from the rig and running to the right along the wind line and under the smoke. Once water from the fire boats started any oil or fuel on the rig would go into the water.
Other confusion has been whether the rig was active. The Houston Chronicle reported that the rig has been shut down for 9 months. MSNBC and several others say it was producing as late as last week but was not online today, being shut down for "maintenance". The CG however says that it was online today.
The Chronicle also identified the vessel that picked the crew up from the sea was the "OSV Clear Skies, a passenger ship", even though the vessel type was in the name...OSV...Oil Supply Vessel.
What's important I guess is that the rig is stable, the feed lines are closed and secured. and the crew is safe. The details will come out over the next few days.
wardogs
Countrymouse
Country exile in the city
Thanks for the clarifications, Wardogs. And that "sheen" looks very much like what I saw on the ABC video
And to Sysman:
And to Sysman: