MMS reports on Hurricane Ike damage assessments

Offshore staff

NEW ORLEANS -- Twenty-eight of the 3,800 offshore oil and gas production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico have been destroyed by Hurricane Ike, according to the Minerals Management Service (MMS). Several other platforms have been reported as significantly damaged; information on those facilities is being compiled and will be released shortly.

Initial estimates are that the destroyed production platforms produced a total of 11,000 b/d of oil and 82 MMcf/d of gas. The damage has been reported through over-flights by MMS, the oil and gas industry, and the US Coast Guard.

Additional damage reported includes three jackup drilling rigs destroyed and one jackup drilling rig with extensive damage. In a separate matter, two drilling rigs that had been reported drifting on Sept. 13 have been secured by tugs.

Early reports indicate that there is some pipeline damage. The full extent of damage will not be available until operators are able to test the systems.

MMS has been conducting helicopter fly-overs to investigate reports of oil spills/sheens. While it is too early for definitive reports, there was one reported sheen as of Sept. 15, estimated to be 9 bbl; subsequent investigations showed that the sheen had dissipated.

09/16/2008