By Rhodri Morgan
A gigantic oil rig performing sub-sea drilling for UK supermajor BP has malfunctioned in bad weather, reports suggest.
Upstream Online has said that the semi-submersible rig known as Ocean GreatWhite, “unintentionally” dropped its riser to the seabead and subsequently lost it amidst bad weather.
A riser is a large-diameter pipe that helps transport mud taken from the sea bottom to above the surface.
The rig’s operator Diamond Offshore Drilling told the publication that it is “too early to tell” what the financial losses could be as the rig will likely “remain on downtime for a long time”.
Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. is an offshore drilling contractor headquartered in Katy, Texas, United States and operate 15 drilling rigs globally including 11 semi-submersible such as Ocean GreatWhite and four drillships.
The incident occurred while the rig, which was not engaged in drilling operations at the time of the incident on 1 February, was located approximately 200 kilometres west of the Shetland Islands.
BP and Diamond Offshore Drilling have been contacted for comment.
The news comes as above surface, the rig’s operator beat analyst forecasts for fourth quarter profits and announced a bumper share buyback programme after the publication of its 2023 results.
