รบกวนกูรู..ปัญหาที่ Montara จะมีผลต่อ PTTEP แค่ไหนครับ

[ek_tt]

ตามข่าวจาก Bloomberg ครับ

PTT May Need 50 Days to Stop Timor Sea Oil Rig Leak (Update1)


By Jason Scott

Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- PTT Exploration & Production Pcl said it may take at least 50 days to stop an oil and gas spill in the Timor Sea off northwest Australia by using another rig to intercept the leak and plug it with mud.

There is more than one way of potentially controlling the well, however at this stage this is probably our preferred course of action because it is lowest risk and highest probability of success, PTTEP Australasia Director Jose Martins said at a press conference in Perth yesterday.

The leak from the West Atlas rig 250 kilometers (155 miles) northwest of the Kimberley coast started Aug. 21 and has caused a slick of light oil about 15 kilometers long, government authorities said. The Montara field is about 800 kilometers north of the proposed A$50 billion ($41 billion) Chevron Corp.- led Gorgon gas venture that faces an environmental ruling this week from Australia on whether it can proceed.

The leak started about 3,500 meters below the sea bed, Martins said. He declined to comment on the risk of the rig catching fire, what caused the leak in the well bore, how big the size of the hole is, how much oil or gas may be leaking, and how much fixing the spill will cost.

PTT, Thailands only publicly traded exploration company, will pay for the cost of dispersing the spill, Martins said.

True Wilderness

The Kimberley is described by Tourism Australia as one of the worlds last true wilderness areas.

This area has been dubbed a marine superhighway, Australian Greens marine spokeswoman Senator Rachel Siewert said yesterday. There are populations of baby turtles this time of year, and the area also serves as a migratory route for whales and other marine life.

Australian environment minister Peter Garrett said Aug. 21 he will make a decision on the Gorgon liquefied natural gas venture, the countrys largest resources project, in the coming week. San Ramon, California-based Chevron and its partners Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc won environmental approval from the Western Australian state government earlier this month.

Moving the West Triton rig from Singapore to the Montara site will take 20 days, preparation to drill two days, drilling to secure a point above the target 20 days and intercepting the vector to target and kill the well eight days, PTTEP Australasias Martins said.

Workers Evacuated

Oil, gas and condensate have been seeping from the West Atlas rig, operated by Seadrill Ltd., since about 5:30 a.m. local time on Aug. 21. All 69 crew members were evacuated the same day.

Dispersants are breaking up the spill and will have to continue as long as the leak does, Tracey Jiggins, a spokeswoman for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said yesterday.

Bangkok-based PTT acquired the Montara project in February as part of its $170 million purchase of closely held Coogee Resources Ltd. It was expected to start producing about 35,600 barrels of oil a day in the fourth quarter.

International drilling experts arrived in Perth on Aug. 22 to help PTT engineers develop a plan to stop the leak, the company said.

High volumes of gas around the West Atlas rig and the leaking well, known as H1, create a fire risk and are the biggest challenge for engineers, according to Martins. Aircraft spraying dispersant wont go within 2 nautical miles of the rig, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said yesterday.

Pumping Mud

What we hope to do is intercept the existing well-bore and at that time pump heavy mud, which is designed to then flow up the H1 well and effectively block it off, Martins said. The procedure has successfully been used previously, he said, without providing an example.

A Singapore-based company has been hired to spray 20,000 gallons of seawater a minute on to the West Atlas to disperse the gas and minimize the risk of ignition.

There must be some fracture in the system somewhere which we cant detect which is causing the leakage, he said.

Contracting the West Triton is a fairly expensive exercise, Martins said, without giving a financial estimate. Other options for plugging the leak will continue to be investigated, he said, declining to identify them. Normal operations are expected after the leak is plugged, he said.

Western Australia accounted for two-thirds of Australias oil production last year and 71 percent of the nations gas output. Much of that comes from the states northwest coast.

The West Atlas spill shows the need to establish marine reserves in the region, which is a globally significant nursery and migration route for whales and turtles, the Australian Marine Conservation Society said yesterday.

Protection is currently the exception, not the norm, director Darren Kindleysides said in an e-mailed statement. Less than 1 percent of the region is safeguarded with marine Parks.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jason Scott in Perth at [email protected]

[ek_tt]

อัพเดทข่าวน้ำมันรั่วที่ออสเตรเลีย รู้สึกว่าทางนั้นวิตกกังวลกันพอสมควร

รบกวนท่านผู้รู้ มาประเมินผลกระทบว่าหนักเบาแค่ไหนอย่างไร

Oil Spill Off West Australia Appalling, Rudd Says (Update2)
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By Jason Scott

Aug. 31 (Bloomberg) -- An oil spill from a leaking PTT Exploration & Production Pcl field thats threatening marine life off Australias far north-west coast is appalling, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said.

Its appalling that this has occurred, but we are working to deal with the situation as it unfolds, Rudd told a radio station in Perth today, according to an e-mailed transcript. The slick is about 148 kilometers (92 miles) off the coast, he said.

Oil, gas and condensate started seeping into the Timor Sea Aug. 21 from 3,500 meters (11,500 feet) below the ocean floor at the Montara project. PTTEP, Thailands only publicly traded oil exploration company, said Aug. 23 it may take 50 days to plug the leak from the well, about 250 kilometers off the coast of the Kimberley wilderness region.

Oil covers about 25 percent of the spills range, which is now 70 nautical miles by 25 nautical miles, Rudd said today. PTTEP must be transparent with regulators, including the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority, to meet Australian legal and regulatory requirements, he said.

The Kimberley coast is described by Tourism Australia as one of the worlds last true wilderness areas. Western Australia accounted for two-thirds of Australias oil production last year and 71 percent of the nations gas output. Much of that comes from the states northwest coast.

The West Triton rig, which will drill a relief well intended to plug the leak, is on schedule to reach the Montara field on Sept. 8, PTTEP said today in a statement. The rig left Indonesias Batam Island, near Singapore, on Aug. 28.

PTTEP said yesterday it continues to work with the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which is managing the response to the spill.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jason Scott in Perth at [email protected]

[offshore-engineer]

วันก่อนอ่านข่าวเจอว่า คราบน้ำมันกระจายวงกว้างขึ้นและใกล้กับชายฝั่งมากขึ้น ส่วนสาเหตุก็ยังไม่เป็นที่แน่ชัด Woodside ซึ่งเป็นบริษัทน้ำมันที่ออสเตรเลียเสนอให้ยืม rig แต่ PTTEP เลือกที่จะใช้ rig ที่ตนเองเช่าซึ่งต้องใช้เวลาเดินทางจากสิงคโปร์ ทำให้การแก้ปัญหาล่าช้าออกไป

ค่าใช้จ่ายทั้งหมด PTTEP AA คงต้องรับภาระไปทั้งหมด แต่ยังประเมินไม่ได้ว่าจะเป็นเท่าไหร่