Divers Work to Bolster Oil Infrastructure in Gulf
By BRIAN BASKIN – Wall Street Journal
May 9, 2007; Page B3E
HOUSTON -- Above the waves, oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico has almost
returned to normal, nearly two years after the devastating 2005 hurricane season. But
deep below the surface, teams of divers are still working around the clock to steel aging
infrastructure against the next storm.
One of the biggest efforts involves permanently sealing nonproducing wells, which can
pose an environmental threat when a storm rips apart connecting pipelines and platforms.
The industry is expected to plug more than 1,000 wells in the Gulf of Mexico in 2007,
from an average of 591 a year between 2003 and 2005, said Neil Crawford, general
manager of applied technologies at Tetra Technologies Inc., a Woodlands, Texas-based
company that specializes in hurricane cleanup.
"I really think the industry thought these were safe," he said. "Not many people had any
experience in downed platforms until [Hurricane Ivan] in 2004."
Wells can sit idle for years, while producers wait for the price of oil or gas to rise to a
point where it becomes economical to restart production. Many of these wells became
liabilities for their owners after Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
in 2005 sank platforms across the region.
Downed platforms -- more than 100 in 2005 alone -- could often be left where they fell,
serving as manmade reefs. But the damage forced an expensive effort to send divers into
the tangle of machinery to prevent connected wells from releasing pent-up oil and gas.
Producers are now hoping to avoid a repeat in future storm seasons by pre-emptively
plugging hundreds of wells. They calculate that the expense of insuring wells -- and
government pressure to reduce threats to the environment -- is more costly than future
profits from restarting production, Mr. Crawford said.
"It's all about mitigating that risk," Mr. Crawford said, speaking to a gathering of the
Society of Petroleum Engineers in Houston.
The work is dangerous, with divers sometimes forced to blindly feel their way hundreds
of feet below the surface, through infrastructure that could collapse at any time. If a diver
comes in contact with oil or gas, it can make even routine surfacing and decompression
dangerous.
Cleanup is further complicated by the lack of information available about many wells
slated to be plugged.
"The best records are on the platform, and if the platform is downed," so are the records,
Mr. Crawford said.
Some of the biggest challenges remain. One platform, toppled by Hurricane Ivan in 2004,
was later buried by a mudslide. At some point, divers will need to take care of that mess,
Mr. Crawford said.