Reuters 1 Nov 09;
SYDNEY, Nov 1 (Reuters) - An oil rig operated by a unit of top Thai energy firm PTTEP in the Timor Sea, which has been leaking for 10 weeks, caught fire on Sunday, officials said.
The West Atlas rig operated by PTTEP Australasia, a unit of PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) PTTE.BK, started leaking on Aug. 21 and efforts to stop the leak have failed.
PTTEP finally stopped the leak on Sunday, but as it was trying to fill the hole with heavy mud, the West Atlas rig and Montara wellhead platform caught fire, said Australian officials.
All workers were safe and were being evacuated from the rig, more than 200 km (125 miles) off the northwest Australian coast.
"Current operations are focused on reducing the intensity of the fire," said Australian Resources Minister Martin Ferguson.
"Some of the world's leading experts are working to fix the leaking well and respond to this latest problem," he said in a statement.
Ferguson said the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority had been called out to help fight the fire and that Geoscience Australia and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority were on standby.
The leaking rig was due to start commercial operations this month.
The Montara field could be one of the main sources of profit for PTTEP in the second half of this year as many analysts expect higher output from new oil and gas fields to boost its sales.
PTTEP plans to produce about 35,000 barrels of oil per day from the Montara field, which should boost its 2009 petroleum sales to 240,000 bpd.
Montara is the flagship in the exploration and production business for PTTEP and which is involved in about 40 oil and gas exploration and development projects in 14 countries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
The Australian government on Saturday released a report saying birds and marine species were at risk from the oil spill, but it said the full impact could not be immediately determined.
"This spill has been a disaster from the outset," Australian Greens Senator Rachel Siewert said on Sunday.
"Coupled with the environmental impacts of the oil entering the ocean, the potentially hazardous effects of the dispersants being used and the threat to fisheries both here and in Indonesia, now we have a fire on our hands." (Reporting by Michael Perry; Editing by Dean Yates)
Fire on leaking oil rig off Australian coast
AFP Google news 1 Nov 09;
SYDNEY — Australian authorities were Sunday ordered to help extinguish a fire which broke out on a leaking oil rig that has been pumping thousands of barrels of oil into the Timor Sea for months.
Energy Minister Martin Ferguson directed the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority to "extend every possible assistance" to respond to the blaze on the West Atlas rig off Australia's northwest coast.
Australia's Maritime Safety Authority will also support efforts to quell the fire on the drilling rig which has been spewing up to 400 barrels of oil into the ocean each day since August 21, he said.
"Fire broke out on the West Atlas drilling rig and the Montara wellhead platform after the West Triton successfully intercepted the leaking well this morning," Ferguson said.
"Well kill operations were under way at the time, but have now been suspended.
"Current operations are focused on reducing the intensity of the fire."
The rig's Thai-based operator, PTTEP Australasia, said specialists had finally succeeded in the first stage of plugging the well at 9:30 am (0130 GMT) after weeks of failed attempts.
"They had not actually stopped or killed the leak... and then unfortunately the fire broke out," a company spokeswoman told AFP.
PTTEP said all 113 personnel working on the West Triton rig at the isolated site some 250 kilometres (155 miles) offshore had been reported safe and non-essential staff were being evacuated. No workers have been on the West Atlas since it began leaking.
The company gave no indication of the severity of the blaze but said a fire-fighting vessel, the Nor Captain, had sprayed water onto the fire but had now moved two nautical miles off the rig.
"Seawater is also being pumped down the relief well from the West Triton rig in an effort to 'wet' the gas and help bring the fire under control," PTTEP said in a statement.
The rig's operators have been struggling for weeks to stop the leak, which environmentalists fear poses long-term risks to the area's wildlife.
"The government remains deeply concerned about this incident," Ferguson said in a statement.
"From day one our top priorities have been the safety of people and the protection of the environment. Stopping the flow of oil and gas safely and as soon as possible remains our prime objective."
On Friday, a biologist commissioned to carry out an Australian government survey of the West Atlas drilling rig found that the massive spill posed an immediate risk to dozens of marine species.
"It is possible that species that are dying or dead and lying in oil-affected water may not stay afloat for long periods of time, making it unlikely that we would find large numbers of dead animals," James Watson wrote.
The operation to stem the leak has involved PTTEP towing the West Triton rig from Singapore to the site, a process which took five weeks, to drill down some 2.6 kilometres under the seabed to the source of the emissions.
Specialists then had to intersect a casing 25 centimetres in diameter using sophisticated electro-magnetic ranging tools, before they could begin plugging the leak with heavy mud.
PTTEP has said it will meet the full costs of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority's clean-up operation but conservation groups have been critical of the response to the oil spill.
Australia oil well catches fire
BBC News 1 Nov 09;
An oil well at the centre of a massive spill in the Timor Sea off the north west coast of Australia is on fire.
The company which runs the well, PTTEP Australasia, said the fire broke out as it made another attempt to plug a leak deep underwater at the West Atlas rig.
Engineers have been struggling for more than 10 weeks to stop the leak which is spewing gas and oil at an estimated 400 barrels a day.
All workers were reported safe and were being evacuated from the installation.
A director of the company, Jose Martins, said the only way to stop the fire was to plug the leak.
"The measures which we have been able to take so far can only mitigate the fire. They will not stop the fire.
"The best way to stop the fire is to complete the well-kill and stop the flow of gas and oil at the surface from the H-1 well, cutting off the fuel source for the fire."
Australian Resources Minister Martin Ferguson said in a statement that some of the world's leading experts were working to fix the leaking well and respond to this latest problem.
Mr Ferguson said the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority had been called out to help fight the fire and that Geoscience Australia and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority were on standby.
But an opposition spokesman, Greg Hunt, accused Environment Minister Peter Garrett of doing nothing to stop the oil leak.
"Ten weeks of complacency, 10 weeks of drift, 10 weeks of inaction from Mr Garrett," he said.
"In the absence of action... the prime minister must step in and convene a national environmental emergency task force within the next 24 hours."
