I have been informed by a friend with on site knowledge of the matter of a significant incident that occurred on a deepwater drilling rig in late-October. The drilling rig was working for Petrobras offshore Brazil in the Santos Basin.
Details on this incident follow, but I haven't identified the rig yet; if anyone has knowledge of the name of the rig and owner, please post in the comments section, and I'll update this post as I learn more.
My contact close to the location indicates that the rig's top drive shaft sheared just as the crew was preparing to land the BOP on a well head to commence drilling operations.
Fortunately for Petrobras and the contractor, the BOP was not positioned directly above the well head. Had it been, this could have been a much more devastating incident and resulted in a spill and leakage from the sea floor.
As shown in the below image, the BOP is presently sitting on the sea floor, and the riser has fallen to the floor as well. Sources indicate that BOP recovery is possible with the right tools, but it is unclear if the required equipment is in country. If it needs to be mobilized, the time table for recovery could double or triple depending on availability.
Subsea images of BOP on sea floor
Unfortunately the riser cannot be recovered as it is beyond repair even if lifted from the sea floor. A complete riser package for a deepwater floater runs about $40mm for a rig like this one (installed with all the bells and whistles). More importantly, lead times are up to a year and half for a new package, so hopefully the contractor has spares that can be deployed on this unit (unconfirmed at this point).
As far as the topsides, significant repairs will be required as the damage from this incident was fairly extensive. I've posted a pictorial account of the damage below. I plan to post updates here on Oilpro as I learn more about this developing situation, including when and where the rig will be mobilized for repair. Stay tuned...
The rig's moon pool incurred significant damage
Riser handling apparatus was ripped apart
Pictured left - sheared shaft; pictured right - broken axle
Damage around the site of top drive shaft shear and fall
Reels stand empty after unloading lines to the sea floor
http://oilpro.com/post/1372/santos-basin-offshore-drilling-rig-incident
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