Mexican oil company: Gulf oil leak could take months to fix
Pastor Dale Morgan
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updated 10:09 a.m. EST, Thu November 29, 2007
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Mexican oil company: Gulf oil leak could take months to fix*
* Story Highlights
* Drilling rig hit oil platform in October, killing at least 21 workers
* Pemex: 11,700 barrels of oil -- about 420 a day -- have seeped
into the gulf
* At least two beaches in states of Tabasco and Campeche have been
affected
* Fire still rages Wednesday at the damaged well
CIUDAD DEL CARMEN, Mexico (AP) -- An oil platform leak that has spilled
thousands of barrels of crude into the Gulf of Mexico could take several
months to repair, state oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos said.
Emergency boats work to put out a fire at an oil platform in the Gulf of
Mexico on November 14.
Since a drilling rig slammed into a production platform October 23,
killing at least 21 workers, a total of 11,700 barrels of oil -- about
420 a day -- have seeped into the gulf, Pemex Assistant Director for
Exploration and Production Pedro Silva Lopez told reporters invited to
fly over the site with company and environmental officials.
Pemex previously estimated the spill at nearly 13,000 barrels.
A fire was still raging Wednesday at the damaged well, about 20 miles
offshore from the port of Dos Bocas in the Gulf coast state of Tabasco,
but only faint traces of crude could be seen shimmering on the water.
The company plans to install a new valve assembly to replace a damaged
one on the well, but Silva said officials are not sure that will stop
the leak.
If it doesn't, another procedure to block the damaged well could take as
long as four to five months to complete, said Carlos Morales, Pemex's
director of production and exploration.
Silva said at least two beaches in the Gulf coast states of Tabasco and
Campeche have been affected by the oil spill, but the full extent of the
damage has not been determined.
The spill is far smaller than a major disaster like the 1989 Exxon
Valdez supertanker spill that released about 260,000 barrels, or 11
million gallons of oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound. Each barrel
of oil contains 42 gallons.
Pemex is losing about 5,700 barrels of oil a day in production at the
offshore platform. The company expects the average daily production this
year to finish slightly above 3.1 million barrels, said Jesus Reyes,
director-general of Pemex.
The company's daily output in 2006 was 3.26 million barrels, according
to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Pemex has promised both internal and external investigations of the
collision in high seas between the platform and a drilling rig operated
by a subcontractor.