What went wrong on Piper Alpha?
An explosion and resulting oil and gas fires destroyed Piper Alpha on 6 July 1988, killing 167 men, including two crewmen of a rescue vessel; 61 workers escaped and survived. Thirty bodies were never recovered. The total insured loss was about £1.7 billion, making it one of the costliest man-made catastrophes ever.
What was the main contributor in the 1988 Piper Alpha incident?
Water alone would not have put the oil fires out (and with gas fires one should not even attempt to do so) but it might have cooled the structure and pipelines and have prevented — or at least significantly delayed — the gas line rupture which was the major escalating factor in the Piper Alpha disaster.
How much oil did Piper Alpha Produce?
Piper Alpha was once Britain’s biggest single oil and gas producing platform, bringing more than 300,000 barrels of crude a day – 10% of the country’s total – from below the seabed 125 miles north-east of Aberdeen.
How many oil rigs are in the North Sea?
184
This statistic depicts the number of offshore rigs worldwide as of January 2018, sorted by region. At that point, there were 184 offshore rigs in the North Sea….Number of offshore rigs worldwide as of January 2018 by region.
| Region | Number of rigs |
|---|---|
| North Sea | 184 |
| Gulf of Mexico (U.S.) | 175 |
| Persian Gulf | 159 |
| Far East Asia | 155 |
How long did the Piper Alpha investigation take?
At the height of the event, natural gas was being burned on Piper Alpha at a rate equivalent to the natural gas consumption rate of the entire United Kingdom. It took over three weeks for the fires on the remains of the rig to be put out by a company specialized in controlling runaway oil wells.
Why does an oil rig have a flame?
The flame at the top of an oil rig is an iconic image for the Oil & Gas Industry, yet few people understand why companies choose to burn natural gas. By burning excess natural gas, flaring protects against the dangers of over-pressuring industrial equipment.
When did the Piper Alpha oil rig explosion happen?
It began production in 1976, initially as an oil-only platform but later converted to add gas production. An explosion and resulting oil and gas fires destroyed Piper Alpha on 6 July 1988, killing 167 people, including two crewmen of a rescue vessel; 61 workers escaped and survived.
Where was the Piper Alpha oil platform located?
Cullen Inquiry. Piper Alpha was an oil production platform in the North Sea approximately 120 miles (190 km) north-east of Aberdeen, Scotland, that was operated by Occidental Petroleum (Caledonia) Limited. It began production in 1976, initially as an oil-only platform but later converted to add gas production.
Who was the owner of the Piper oil rig?
It was owned by a consortium of foreign companies including Texaco and operated by Los Angeles-based Occidental, which sold off its UK interests soon after the disaster to concentrate on the US and Middle East. Oil was discovered at the Piper field in 1973 and was brought on stream three years later.
What was the total loss of Piper Alpha?
Only 61 workers escaped. 30 bodies were never recovered. The total insured loss was about $3.4 billion, and at the time of the disaster, the platform accounted for approximately ten percent of North Sea oil and gas production.