Envisat ASAR radar image taken December 6, 2011. Image courtesy European Space Agency - click for larger version.

The radar satellite image above, taken on December 6, 2011, shows a very small slick originating near the location of Transocean's SEDCO 706 drilling rig that was installing Chevron's failed well. The slick is about 7.3 miles long and a few hundred yard wide, comparable to the slicks created by natural oil seeps in the Gulf of Mexico.  Wind conditions were good for slick detection at the time, blowing at about 10 knots (5 meters per second).  Several other small slicks are visible near a cluster of oil platforms (bright spots) about 50 miles south of the SEDCO 706.  This is within the southern Campos Basin, and these slicks may be the result of minor spills or leaks from platforms, pipelines, or vessels operating in one of the many offshore fields in the region. [Read more...]
 
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