Oil platforms (construction)
Introduction
Deepwater Horizon was an ultra-deepwater rapid positioning semi-submersible oil platform[2] built in 2001 and located in the Gulf of Mexico, shared by the United States, Cuba and Mexico. It sank on April 22, 2010 as a result of an explosion that had taken place two days earlier, causing the largest oil spill in history,[3] estimated in tons of crude oil.
The second damage affected the marshes of the mouth and delta of the Mississippi, extending to the Louisiana area and other sectors of Florida and Cuba.
The purpose of the Deepwater Horizon tower was to drill oil wells in the marine subsoil, moving from one place to another as required. Once drilling was completed, extraction was carried out by another team. Deepwater Horizon was owned by Transocean and had been leased to BP until September 2013. In September 2009 it drilled the deepest oil well in history.
As a result of the accident, eleven staff members lost their lives.
Along with the sinking of the Petrobras 36 platform in 2001 with the same number of deaths, it has been the worst tragedy on an oil platform in the Atlantic Ocean since the explosion of the British Piper Alpha platform in 1988, which caused 167 deaths.[4].
Description
Deepwater Horizon Plaquemines, Louisiana, was one of the largest deepwater drilling rigs.[7] It could operate in waters up to 2,400 m deep[7] and had a maximum drilling depth of 9,100 m.[8] The tower could accommodate a crew of up to 130 members.[8].
The platform could be towed to the drilling position, where tanks on their pontoons and columns were ballasted.[9]
History
Originally designed for R&B Falcon, Deepwater Horizon was built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan, South Korea.[5] Construction began[10] after Transocean's purchase of R&B Falcon.[11] It was the second oil rig built in a class of two, although the Deepwater Nautilus, its predecessor, did not have dynamic positioning. After arriving in the Gulf of Mexico, Deepwater Horizon was used under contract by BP Exploration. Their work included drilling oil wells in the Atlantis and Thunder Horse fields, a 2006 discovery in the Kaskida field,[12] and the Tiber field in 2009.[13] On September 2, 2009, drilled in the Tiber field, the deepest oil and gas deposit to date, with a vertical depth of 10 685 m and a measured depth of 10,685 m, of which 1,259 m was water.[13][14][15].