RIO DE JANEIRO, Mar. 16- Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) officials said the heavily damaged P-36 platform was listing and might sink, although it was too early to tell.
Two explosions killed one person, seriously injured two, and left at least 10 people missing. Touted as the world's biggest platform of its kind upon its arrival off Brazil a year ago, the P-36 was being used to produce the giant Roncador field in the Campos basin, 120 km off Rio de Janeiro.
Petrobras president Henri Philippe Reichstul said, "This is a very serious accident, the platform turned over on one side. We do not know the causes of the explosions." He later said the platform was listing 36(.
Fernando Carvalho, president of the North Fluminense Workers Union, said, "The explosions damaged one of the platform's columns and the personnel were removed not just because of the blaze but because of the risk that the platform could sink."
A source told OGJ Online, "The P-36 is 1 km above the sea bed, at which depth it would be next to impossible to recover" (if it sank).
No spill resulted immediately following the blasts but five ships were positioned nearby to retrieve any oil that might spill, Reichstul said, adding that all wells have been sealed.
A brigade of 200 firefighters and seven ships managed to control the blaze around the platform Thursday, Petrobras executives said. The rig had a crew of 175 people.
Luis Cabral, a top Reichstul aide told OGJ Online, "The sky has fallen on our heads."
The P-36 platform had a crude oil capacity of 180,000 b/d and a gas capacity of 7 million cu m/d. It had been producing 80,000 b/d and 1.3 million cu m/d of gas. The platform weighs 31.400 tonnes and is 40 stories high.
P-36-a semisubmersible drilling-production platform-was the first permanent production system for Roncador field. Phase 1 of the Roncador development called for development of the northern and eastern areas with 21 wells. Aside from the P-36 host unit, a processing plant would be connected via flexible flow lines to the 21 subsea producers and 5 water injectors, and production would be transferred to the P-47 floating storage and offloading unit via three export lines, two umbilicals, and one SCR.
Rocador production had been expected to peak this year. Total investment for Roncador was estimated at $2 billion.
The Campos basin produces 80% of Brazil's 1.5 million b/d of crude output. Roncador has estimated reserves of 3 billion bbl.
