Petrobras 36 Oil Platform

The Petrobras 36 Oil Platform (P36) was the largest floating production platform in the world prior to its sinking March 20 2001. It was owned by Petrobras, a semi-public [ [http://www2.petrobras.com.br/ri/ing/InformacoesAcionistas/ComposicaoCapitalSocial.asp Petrobras - Investor Relations ] ] Brazilian oil company headquartered in Rio de Janeiro. The cost of the platform was US$350 million.

It was built at Fincantieri's Genoa yard in 1995 as a semi-submersible drilling rig. The 33,000 metric tonne (36,300 short ton) rig was converted in Canada to the world's largest oil production platform.

'P36' was operating for Petrobras on the Roncador Field, 130 km (80 miles) off the Brazilian coast, producing about 84,000 barrels of crude per day.

In the early hours of March 15, 2001 there were two unexplained explosions in the aft starboard column. At this time there were 175 people on the rig and 11 were killed. Following the explosions, the rig developed a 16-degree list, sufficient to allow down-flooding from the submerged fairlead boxes.

Salvage teams tried over the weekend to save the platform by pumping nitrogen and compressed air into the tanks to expel the water, but they abandoned the rig after bad weather.

The platform sank on March 20, in 1200 meters (3,900 feet) of water with an estimated 1,500 metric tonnes (1,650 short tons) of crude oil remaining on board.

Some argued that Petrobras has been lax in its safety and environmental standards as it attempted to increase production and cut costs.

Also relevant is the fact that this was one of the platforms awarded to German Efromovich's company Marítima, despite the fact that it had no prior experience of platform construction.

In 1994 Marítima was a small company providing diver services to Petrobras, operating out of a house at the foot of a slum on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. One year later Efromovich's small company, with total assets amounting to less than U$1 million, was awarded contracts worth billions. To impress his clients, Efromovich would schedule meetings at the Sheraton Hotel, in Copacabana. Two hours before the meeting, he would take a bus from the cheap hotel where he was staying clear across the city to the Sheraton, to pretend he was staying there.

Petrobras was under a deadline established by the Brazilian oil sector regulator ANP to begin producing from as many fields as possible before losing its monopoly, and therefore issued an invitation with a clause establishing a deadline of 18 months for completion.

Although the other bidders, with proven expertise, said this deadline was too short, Marítima claimed they could deliver the platform on schedule and also submitted the lowest bid. They failed do deliver the platform on time, however, partly because the project was subcontracted to a Canadian shipyard on the banks of a river that, unbeknownst to Marítima, froze over every winter. They were forced to transfer the platform to another shipyard. [http://veja.abril.com.br/011299/p_184.html]

See also

* Industrial disasters

References

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1233083.stm BBC article]
* [http://www.bluestarline.org/farstad/p36.html Sinking of the Petrobras P-36] Photographs of the platform's sinking.
* [http://www.sustainability.com/developing-value/details.asp?bcid=128&sfid=3&bsid=3 SustainAbility case study] Costs of the sinking.
* [http://www.offshore-technology.com/projects/roncador/ Petrobras Oil Rig] Project with images on the P-36