AUSTRALIA: Cause of WA oil spill revealed

Cause of WA oil spill revealed
DAVID PRESTIPINO
November 10, 2009 - 6:19AM

An oil spill off the WA coast regarded as one of the worst-ever environmental disasters in Australia was caused by poor decision making and corporate greed, a senior industry source claims.

The man, an installation contractor part of the drilling team at  the West Atlas rig, said it happened after drillers did not cap the associated Montara oil well properly, causing it to burst.

PTTEP Australasia, the company responsible for the spill at its Timor Sea operation, is facing a Senate inquiry into the disaster, which so far has cost $5 million to clean up - and $170 million for the loss of the well - and caused untold environmental damage in the sensitive Kimberley area.

The oil leak was plugged last Tuesday after four previous attempts. Some experts suggested as much as 3000 barrels of crude oil were leaking daily from the Montara well, 200km off the WA coast, since the spill occurred 12 weeks ago.

Thai-based PTTEP said last week it knew the cause of the spill but would not disclose it, but the industry insider said schedule and cost were put ahead of safety and the environment.

The source was working near the West Atlas rig as part of PTTEP’s drilling operation on August 21, the day the leak occurred.

He said he believed six wells were being drilled that morning and the third of those was being drilled when the first well blew.

"They had six wells to drill, which they did to a certain depth, but while they were drilling the third well the first one they drilled blew," the source said.

"This in my opinion was because they were trying to save time so they drilled to a certain depth and did not plug it securely because they did not expect flow.

"The well was not capped properly because they did not expect flow."

"The people on the rig did a great job abandoning," he said.

"If there had been an ignition source early then there could have been casualties."

Though PTTEP and the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority decided to prohibit anyone from accessing the rig after the leak was classified uncontrollable, the situation could have been avoided.

"I believe schedule and cost certainly far outweigh health, safety or environmental impact in importance in the company," the source said.

“This would be a good lesson to them that saving a dollar in the short term can cost many dollars in the long term.

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