Hurricane Ike

[Chaplain]

Brothers and Sisters all,
Almost 3 years ago, a bad hurricane named Rita came through the Gulf and did some major damage to a lot of offshore structures. Of those damaged, 3 were in the field I work in with one of those being 2 platforms ( a dual structure ) with a short catwalk between them. Well one of those structures was knocked over during Rita. The damage to the main structure along with 3 others was in the millions, yes I wrote millions of dollars, not counting the recovery cost of raising the structure that was knocked over.......Now advance to just this past week when another hurricane by the name of Ike, followed almost the same path as Rita. I have found out, but not yet confirmed, that 2 platforms in the field that I work are now underwater with one of those being what was left of the dual structure. I have not heard yet of how much damage is done to my platform or other platforms in the field. It is a sure bet that we will not be flowing any of our platforms for at least a month, until all of the pipelines have been checked for leaks........Please pray for all of those affected by this powerful storm even now that it is no longer here.

 

[:-)]

Thanks for the update, Chaplain.

Good to know you're o.k.

Sorry to hear about the damage.

How is that done in your occupation? If your platform is not working, are you laid off?

 

[:-)]

Thanks for the update, Chaplain.

Good to know you're o.k.

Sorry to hear about the damage.

How is that done in your occupation? If your platform is not working, are you laid off?

 

[Dairyfarmer]

Sorry to here that Chaplain, please keep us informed of what is happening out there. Another problem with Ike is the amount of crops that were destroyed from Texas to Ohio. I know here on our farm the corn that was still in the field we lost about 1/3 of it. Our parents live in Ohio and they haven't started to harvest yet. They tell us some fields have been blown completely down and it is almost impossible to pick it back with the combines. So watch out for higher food prices!


Dairyfarmer

 

[Chaplain]

update---
smiles wrote: How is that done in your occupation? If your platform is not working, are you laid off?

Brother Smiles---sorry for the late reply for we just got our phones back to working late this afternoon. To answer your question, no I am not laid off...at least not yet. they let all of our contract help go and spread out all of the company people whoes platforms are underwater to fill in those spots. We have 2 platforms in our field that are underwater and they believe they were hit by a jack-up rig that broke loose. Heard that there is a total of 48 platforms that are underwater, not counting those like mine that have damage to some degree. I only have minor damage compared to a coupel of others in our field. They will most likely get construction crews to me within the next couple of weeks to do the repairs. That should only take about a month and a half. Once they are finished, then it will depend on the pipelines, whether or not I can start flowing my oil and gas into them, that will determine when I bring my production back on. ................SO.....to echo what Brother Dairyfarmer said about food cost.....look for gas prices to go up due to all of the production of oil that will be shut in for the near future.

 

[:-)]

Sorry about your losses, Brother Dairyfarmer ... I know that must hurt.

Hope even with that loss that you've got enough for your needs.

 

[:-)]

Chaplain, glad to hear that you've not been laid off. Hope it'll stay that way!

Sounds like a tremendous amount of work to be done to get everything back to production.

 

[Chaplain]

Brother smiles,
I am back home and yes, it will be a lot of work to bring production back on. One of the platforms underwater in my field may be laying on top of all of the underwater valves for both the oil and gas pipelines. This will cause a delay in checking out the pipeline for leaks and will effect a number of platforms. The 2 platforms that are underwater were connected with another one which was connected to a different platform all together. The oil from the first 3 all flowed to the 4th platform. Now with 2 structures underwater the 1 remaining producing platform will have to wait until the various partners in this field decide on what they will do. My Company is already transferring people to other areas in order to keep us all working. I will most likely stay where I am at due to the fact my platform has minor damage compared to some others.

Of the 48 structures known to be underwater, I have heard that 34 belong to Chevron. Those guys will be really hurt by this as I am sure many will be laid-off. The ripple effects of this hurricane will be felt for some time to come, not only here in the oil field but across the rest of the country as well.