Tech | December 20, 2011 | 10 comments

Shell spills 13,000 gallons while drilling near Deepwater Horizon site

source: http://blog.al.com/live/2011/12/shell_spills_7000_gallons_of_o.html

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JanforGore
Shell International spilled 13,000 gallons of oil and drilling fluids into the Gulf on Sunday while drilling an exploratory well near the site of last year's Deepwater Horizon accident, according to a federal report on the spill.

The area where the well was being drilled is about 20 miles from the site of the BP oil spill. Shell is working in water more than 7,000 feet deep. The well was being drilled by the Deepwater Nautilus, according to federal records. That rig is owned and operated by Transocean, the company that owned the Deepwater Horizon rig.

While a report Shell filed Monday morning with the National Response Center states that the company spilled 7,560 gallons of oil and 5,829 gallons of synthetic drilling fluids, company spokesperson Kelly op de Weegh said late Monday afternoon that no oil was spilled.

"Shell can confirm it has a loss of (13,398 gallons) of drilling fluid from a booster line, which provides additional drilling fluids and is separate from the wellbore itself," read an emailed statement op de Weegh sent Monday afternoon. "The leak was isolated, stopped and remedial action has been approved... which includes temporarily abandoning the well, pulling the riser and making appropriate repairs."

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement dispatched inspectors to the scene Monday, according to a spokesperson.

The National Response Center report lists "equipment failure" as the cause of the spill. The report states that the release was caused by "a leak in the boost line," and describes the fluid spilled as a mix of drilling mud and "base oil."

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10 comments // Shell spills 13,000 gallons while drilling near Deepwater Horizon site

  • mii
    • +1
      mii  

    • They probably spilled more than they are willing to admit.
      The whole planet is being recklessly poisoned before our
      eyes and we seem helpless to stop it.

    • 5 months ago
  • rerushg
    • 0
      rerushg  

    • I figure there will be no fine on this one. Since there's nothing left to kill or otherwise fuck up out there this will get the "no harm, no foul" ruling. Play on.

    • 5 months ago
  • Anonmaly
    • +1
      Anonmaly  

    • Well female fish are already growing testes out there due to mutations brought on by oil or dispersants.... Maybe now the male fish can grow some egg sacks, and life will just go on...

      I would like to be the first to say Thank You Obama, this is some wonderful change.....

      (um yeah he could have put a halt to all this insane drilling, and many wanted him to, but hey greed is "good"?....)

    • 5 months ago
  • CalgarC
    • +4
      CalgarC  

    • do the oil companies hold contests on this shit or something... the winner gets the next haliburton contract or something??

    • 5 months ago
  • JanforGore
  • CaduceusVino
  • JanforGore
    • +4
      JanforGore  

    • http://www.eenews.net/public/Greenwire/2011/12/19/2

      In a sign that the Obama administration is willing to clear the regulatory decks for oil drilling in Alaska's remote Arctic waters, the Interior Department on Friday gave a conditional green light allowing Royal Dutch Shell PLC to explore for oil this summer in Alaska's Chukchi Sea.

      More than 20 years after sinking its first exploratory well in the Chukchi, only to later abandon the project, Shell is seeking to reopen drilling in the nation's northern-most federal waters. The campaign has already had a colossal price tag. So far, Shell officials say they have sunk $4 billion in the project, including $350 million to build two of their own ice-breaking ships.

      If exploration is successful, it will take 10-12 years before Shell can begin producing oil. During that time, the company would have to build a new ice-resistant drilling facility, install 100 miles of subsea pipeline from the pumping rig to the tiny community of Wainwright and construct a 500-mile pipeline from the shoreline to the beginning of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline in Prudhoe Bay.
      ____

      In 10-12 yrs we will already have gone beyond the point of no return. I just can't see how any adminsitration can have credibility regarding climate change while allowing this. This is the Republican platform.

      So what happens when there is a big spill in this last of pristine places? No big deal?

    • 5 months ago
  • JanforGore
  • WakeUpPeople
  • JanforGore
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