Fire (?) in Campos Basin Off Coast of Brazil

MODIS/Aqua satellite imagery of the coast of Brazil taken on December 31 shows what appears to be a long plume of smoke in the Atlantic Ocean about 70 miles from shore in the Campos Basin. The plume appears to emanate from a point about 2.7 miles north-northeast of Petrobras Platform 51, a big semisubmersible rig in the Marlim Sul field. VIIRS data indicate the presence of a combustion source at the north end of the smoke plume, and estimate it's temperature is 1800 degrees Kelvin -- hot enough to soften steel. The plume visibly extends to the south for at least 146 miles.

MODIS/Aqua satellite image taken December 31, 2013, showing apparent smoke plume emanating from Campos Basin off Brazil. Red markers indicate sources of combustion detected by nighttime satellite imagery; orange dots are locations of oil platforms (2011 data).

It's possible this is just an unusually vigorous gas-flaring event, but we don't see comparable plumes of smoke from the many other flares detected in the area.  We haven't heard anything but are concerned there may be a fire at a platform or drill rig working at this location.  Please let us know if you have any information!

[READ MORE...]

[[Location:-22.600214, -40.068569]]

Gas Blowout at Hercules Drill Rig, Gulf of Mexico

Around midday today a natural gas blowout occurred at a jackup drill rig, the Hercules 265, operating in shallow water in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana (South Timbalier Block 220).  All of the workers -- more than 40 -- were safely evacuated.  The rig was enveloped in a cloud of gas, so there is a high risk of fire or explosion until the well is killed.  A small sheen was reported around the platform - this is probably a thin slick of highly volatile natural-gas condensate.  At this time we have no reason to think there is potential for a significant oil spill from this incident.  But, coming hard on the heels of another blowout that happened in the Ship Shoal area last week, it's yet another reminder that drilling is an inherently risky activity. 

Hercules drill rig enveloped by cloud of gas from well blowout, July 23, 2013. Photo by Bonny Schumaker / On Wings of Care flew.  See many more on her blog. 

[[Location:28.384130,-90.530968]]

Thar She Blows! Another Oil "Geyser" in Gulf of Mexico

According to news accounts and reports coming through the SkyTruth Alerts system, a work boat struck a wellhead in the Gulf of Mexico about 9 miles southwest of Port Sulphur, Louisiana, about 8pm on Tuesday.  [NOTE: keep your distance - this well poses a hydrogen sulfide risk.] The well has been intermittently discharging an oily mixture ever since, in a semi-spectacular way judging from this photo provided by the Coast Guard:

Oily geyser erupting from wellhead damaged by a work boat Tuesday. Photo courtesy U.S. Coast Guard.

This is reminiscent of a similar incident in the Gulf back in August 2010, when an abandoned wellhead in Barataria Bay was also struck by a vessel and spouted oil 100 feet into the air.

[READ MORE...]

[[Location:29.364167,-89.768889]]

Fatal Explosion and Fire on Platform in Gulf of Mexico

An explosion and fire has claimed the lives of at least 2 workers on a platform operated by Black Elk Energy about 10 miles off the Louisiana coast. This is in Block 32 of the West Delta lease area. The water depth is about 60 feet. The fire has been extinguished. Two other workers are reported missing, and four have been airlifted to the hospital. No oil spill has been reported.  Black Elk says 28 workers were on the platform, but it was not producing any oil. [Read more...]

[[Location:29.141813,-89.692978]]

Site 23051 - Leaking Oil Into the Gulf Since 2004

We've reported on this site several times since 2010, when we discovered a chronic oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico where a platform operated by Taylor Energy was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. 

Back in 2010 there was a deepwater drill rig, the Ocean Saratoga, at the site for a while, working to plug the leaking wells. But the rig departed long ago for work elsewhere, and we haven't seen any sign of repair activity there since. Nevertheless, the company reports the continuing leak on a near-daily basis to the National Response Center, and we continue to see the slick on satellite images and during aerial overflights. 

Bonny Schumaker of On Wings of Care flew over the Taylor Energy site on Friday (November 9). Scroll down in her blog post to see video and pics of the Taylor oil slick. 

To see more info and pics on this chronic pollution source, check out SkyTruth's site chronology and report.

[[Location: 28.938022, -88.970963]]

Tanker Collides With Drill Rig Off Corpus Christi, Texas

The FR8 Pride, a Panamax tanker that carries petroleum products, lost power this morning and drifted into a mobile offshore drilling unit - a large jackup drill rig called the Rowan EXL I.  The rig was not drilling at the time; it was damaged and has been stabilized.  The tanker sustained flooding in a bow compartment and grounded itself; it is carrying a load of fuel oil.  No oil spill has been reported.  View a video of the collision and aftermath.

[[Location: 27.81753,-96.98905]]

Shell Reports 10-Mile-Long Slick in Deepwater Gulf of Mexico

Yesterday evening Shell reported sighting a 10-mile by 1-mile oil slick between two of their major deepwater oil production platforms, Ursa and Mars.  This is located in the Mississippi Canyon area of the Gulf, 130 miles south of New Orleans and about 60 miles beyond the tip of the Mississippi Delta, in water about 3,200' deep. 
Yesterday's low resolution MODIS/Terra satellite image of the area, shot at 16:50 UTC (10:50 am local time) shows what appears to be a narrow, 17-mile-long slick in the vicinity of the two platforms.  We often see slicks from known natural oil seeps that are about this size; some in the Green Canyon area to the west show up well on this same image.  Low clouds and their shadows are scattered across the lower half of this view:

[READ MORE...]


[[Location: 28.204381,-89.258767]]

Gas Pipeline Explosion and Fire - Vermilion Parish, Louisiana

SkyTruth Alerts gave us a heads up that there was an explosion and fire around noon yesterday in the marshes of Vermilion Parish, Louisiana.  One caller to the National Response Center noted flames shooting 150' into the air; another caller, perhaps a bit more excited, claimed 800'.  At about the same time, a caller from Texas Gas Transmission Co. detected a huge drop in pressure in one of their gas pipelines, while noting a fireball in the marsh in the vicinity of the pipeline.  The fire was burning so hot that it shows up as a fuzzy red spot in this low-resolution MODIS/Terra band 7-2-1 satellite image, taken yesterday at 1pm local time:

MODIS/Terra 721 satellite image, April 9, 2012 showing fire from inferred gas pipeline rupture in Louisiana. Orange dots are offshore oil and gas platforms in federal waters; orange lines are some of the seafloor oil and gas pipelines.

[READ MORE...]

[[Location: 29.23301,-91.035783]]

Gas Well Blowout in the North Sea - Small Slick on April 4

The out-of-control well owned by French company Total in the central North Sea's Elgin field is still spewing natural gas into the air. We noted a small slick at this site on a radar satellite image taken March 27.  Another image, taken on April 4, also shows a somewhat smaller slick (see image below).  This is probably caused by natural-gas condensate, a volatile and toxic hydrocarbon liquid that evaporates relatively quickly.  We don't see any reason to expect this incident to morph into a significant oil spill.

Radar satellite image showing small slick at North Sea blowout site, taken on April 4, 2012 at 9:29 pm local time. Envisat ASAR image courtesy European Space Agency.

 [READ MORE...]

[[Location: 57.011667,1.837778]]

Cuba Offshore Drilling Rig Spotted on Radar - Small Slick Reported

The big semisubmersible drill rig, built in China and now drilling a deepwater oil well for the Spanish company Repsol in the Florida Straits off Cuba (hey, it is a global industry), has finally made an appearance on a radar satellite image. This Envisat ASAR image, shot at 11:43 pm local time on March 30, shows a trio of very bright spots about 17 miles north-northwest of Havana.  We think the largest of these spots, with an interesting cross-shaped "ringing" pattern often seen on radar images of big, boxy metal objects, is the Scarabeo-9 rig.  The other two spots may be crew vessels or workboats:

Image courtesy European Space Agency.

[READ MORE...]

[[Location: 23.374496,-82.492283]]

Gas Well Blowout in the North Sea

On March 26, Total reported a gas leak that forced them to evacuate more than 200 workers from a production platform in the Elgin field of the central North Sea, about 150 miles east of Aberdeen, Scotland.  The Oil Drum has compiled excellent information about this serious ongoing incident. This Envisat ASAR radar satellite image, taken yesterday at about 9:23 pm local time, shows a patchy slick covering about 89 square kilometers (34 square miles).  The platform itself appears as a very bright spot on the radar image but it's covered up by our yellow rig icon marking the location:

Envisat ASAR image courtesy European Space Agency.

[READ MORE]

[[Location: 57.011667,1.837778]]

Slicks in Campos Basin, Offshore Brazil - March 20, 2012

This Envisat ASAR radar satellite image of the Campos Basin, taken at 9:18 pm local time on March 20, shows what appear to be long, narrow slicks emanating from several Petrobras production platforms and FPSOs:

March 201, 2012 Envisat ASAR radar satellite image courtesy European Space Agency.

This is a complex image.  Platforms, FPSOs, drill rigs and vessels appear as bright spots on radar. The large, indistinct dark areas in the upper part of the image are also slicks, but not caused by oil (a "slick" is any patch of smooth water, appearing dark on a radar image). Instead, these patches are probably caused by areas of very low wind speed, and/or by heavy rainfall.  Sea-surface wind data, taken almost the same time as the radar image above, indicate there was unsettled stormy weather in the area. 

[READ MORE]

[[Location:-22.593539,-40.188575]]

Mystery Slicks in Central Gulf - East Cameron South, Block 321

Every now and then we see something in SkyTruth Alerts that catches our eye. For the past few days we've noticed repeated reports of an unknown oil slick sighted near some platforms near Block 321 in the East Cameron (South Addition) area of the central Gulf of Mexico, about 92 miles off the Louisiana coast. We also see two slicks in the vicinity on an Envisat ASAR satellite radar image taken about noon local time on March 14.  The slicks aren't particularly big, on the image or in the reports, but their persistence in the area under strong winds blowing steadily from the southeast suggests that there is a continuous source of oil leaking at this site.  This is close to a major international shipping lane for the port of Houston, and there are also quite a few platforms and pipelines in the neighborhood:

Radar satellite image taken March 14, 2012 showing a pair of small slicks near the vicinity of oil slick sightings reported to the National Response Center on March 14, 15 and 16 (red markers). Orange lines and dots are pipelines and platforms. Image courtesy European Space Agency.

The water depth here is about 200-300 feet (note that a pipeline in this area was damaged during drilling operations back in 1978). Oil slick sightings were reported to the National Response Center, probably by personnel on the nearby platforms, on March 14, 15 and 16.  No source or cause is indicated in the reports.  We don't know if there is any active drilling occurring in the area. 

If anybody wants to swing on by and take a look, the center of the slick at right is located at 28.197404° North latitude / 92.783588° West longitude.

[[Location:28.197404,-92.783588]]

Chevron Reports Minor Slick From Leak in Campos Basin, Offshore Brazil

Chevron and Brazilian regulators reported that a small, fresh oil slick has appeared near the site of Chevron's blowout last November in the deepwater Frade oil field in Brazil's prolific Campos Basin. This is not entirely unexpected given the nature of the problem that Chevron had with the well being drilled by the SEDCO 706 rig: an unknown amount of oil escaped laterally from the well into surrounding bedrock, and worked its way up to the seafloor along a pre-existing natural fault.  It will take some time for all of that oil to emerge, so we've been anticipating chronic small oil slicks at this location.

But optical satellite imagery of this area (MODIS and MERIS) have had problems with clouds and haze for the past few days, so we haven't seen any sign of the latest slick. Radar images don't have that problem, but the most recent radar image we have was taken at about 9pm local time on March 9, and it looks clean around the SEDCO 706 site:

Detail from radar satellite image taken March 9, 2012, showing area of reported Chevron leak. Envisat ASAR image courtesy European Space Agency.

[READ MORE...]

 [[Location:-21.889431,-39.833091]]

Fire Extinguishes Itself at Chevron Blowout off Nigeria

Chevron reports the fire in the ocean off Nigeria, blazing since their Funiwa-1A gas exploration well blowout occurred on January 16, finally went out on March 2.  It's likely that the well "bridged over" and plugged itself, shutting off the flow of natural gas that had been feeding the fire, something every driller hopes for when they lose control of a well. 

Work will continue on a relief well so that the failed Funiwa-1A well can be properly plugged and abandoned.

We don't see any signs of the fire on today's MODIS/Terra satellite image.

 [[Location:4.356583,5.784562]]

Small Slick at Chevron's Blowout off Nigeria

Chevron's gas-well blowout in the Funiwa field off Nigeria continues to burn as efforts are underway to drill a relief well.  This Envisat ASAR satellite radar image taken today (February 27) shows a small slick apparently emanating from the site where the doomed KS Endeavor rig was drilling. We've seen a small slick repeatedly at this area since the blowout occurred.  Possibly there are some petroleum liquids coming up with the gas, and not completely burning off.  The slick on today's image is about 10 miles long:

Small slick apparently emanating from location of Chevron's Funiwa-1A gas well blowout.  Envisat ASAR image taken February 27, 2012.  Image courtesy European Space Agency.

 [[Location:4.356583,5.784562]]

Small Slick at Platform P-51, Marlim Sul Field, Brazil

 An Envisat ASAR radar satellite image taken on February 23, 2012 shows a small slick apparently emanating from Platform P-51 in the Marlim Sul field of the Campos Basin, about 70 miles offshore:

Envisat ASAR image taken February 23, 2012 showing small slick apparently emanating from location of Platform P-51.  Image courtesy European Space Agency.

Covering 10 square kilometers, this slick represents a spill of about 2600 gallons, assuming an average oil slick thickness of 1 micron.

 [[Location:-22.635572,-40.093169]]

Teri noticed a small slick on today's Envisat ASAR radar satellite image covering the site of Chevron's blowout and fire off the coast of Nigeria. We measure it at about 18.6 kilometers long, extending about 39 square kilometers.  It appears to be very thin.  Assuming the slick is, on average, one micron thick, that amounts to about 9,500 gallons of some oily substance -- possibly unburned natural gas condensate, since this was reported by Chevron to be a gas exploration well that was not creating any oil slick:

Detail from Envisat ASAR image taken February 8, 2012. Location of blowout marked by rig symbol.  Image courtesy European Space Agency.

 [READ MORE]


[[Location:4.356583,5.784562]]

Chevron Blowout and Fire Continues off Nigeria

NASA/MODIS satellite imagery taken yesterday shows that the blowout and fire at a Chevron gas well off the coast of Nigeria continues.  That's 20 days and counting.  It will take weeks to drill a relief well; according to Chevron the Transocean relief rig is on site, and drilling should begin soon.

Chevron "has moved food and supplies to the communities in the area to recognize the help and support that they have given the company."

MODIS-Terra satellite image of Niger Delta showing fire from Chevron offshore well blowout (red spot at center).  Image taken February 5, 2012.  Courtesy NASA/MODIS Rapid Response Team.

   [[Location:4.356583,5.784562]]

Oil Spill from FPSO in Santos Basin, Brazil

Brazil has suffered another oil spill related to FPSO operations, this time in deep water in the Santos Basin. Last week a spill occurred at the Osorio terminal while Campos Basin oil was being offloaded from a shuttle tanker, and fouled the beach near Tramandai. Yesterday, Petrobras reported a spill of about 6700 gallons from the riser pipe of an FPSO in the Santos Basin, forcing them to shut down the country's fifth-most productive oil well. 

[[Location:-25.527500,-43.437833]]