new oil leak in the Gulf of Death

[ensho]

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php


A potential oil leak at a Chevron oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico has led the oil major to shut down its Main Pass pipeline network near Louisiana, the company said on Tuesday. The company also shut a related pipeline, known as Cypress, which is fed by the Main Pass system, Chevron said in a statement, without saying how much oil is transported on the lines. Chevron did not say whether any oil spill had been discovered. The Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator's Office, which deals with spill responses in the state, said it had not yet been informed of any oil spill. The Cypress pipeline feeds the Empire crude terminal in Louisiana, delivery point for Heavy Louisiana Sweet crude. The Empire terminal was still operating, a trade source said. Empire, located in Southern Louisiana on the Mississippi River, can handle up to 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude although normal rates are closer to 230,000 bpd to 275,000 bpd, according to Chevron's website. The Main Pass 299 area
is a block located in shallow water offshore southeastern Louisiana, and has been the site of drilling for oil, gas and sulfur. It was not immediately clear how much oil is produced in the area. Chevron has two platforms in the offshore area, according to the company's website. "Chevron Pipe Line shut down the Main Pass System this morning to investigate a potential leak from a connecting riser on MP 299 lateral," the statement said. "Correspondingly, Cypress Pipeline System was shut in because Main Pass is the only connecting pipeline system currently providing volumes into Cypress." In a filing made with the National Response Center, Chevron said it shut an offshore crude pipeline after a leak related to an equipment failure. BP's Macondo well, which released more than 4 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico due to a spill in 2010, was also located off the southern Louisiana coast. Chevron Pipe Line Company is an indirect wholly owned
subsidiary of Chevron Corporation.

and update

Chevron has also shut its Cypress line, the company said. About 15,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil production was shut in due to the pipeline leak, Chevron said. The company said late on Tuesday it will resume partial production within 24 hours. Chevron did not reply to several requests for additional information about the leak and its operations in the Main Pass Area. Carol Fagot, a spokeswoman at the Federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE), said the agency was "aware of the report and looking into it," without offering further details. Both the U.S. Coast Guard and the Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator's Office said they had not been informed of a leak off the coast. Chevron has two offshore platforms in the Main Pass 299 block, according to the company's website. The site is located in shallow waters about 40 miles east of Venice, Louisiana, and has produced heavy oil, natural gas and sulfur, according to government records.
Chevron said the leak was from a 10-inch riser pipelines in Main Pass Block 299. Riser pipelines normally carry crude from the seabed to production platforms. Chevron also shut its line known as Cypress since "Main Pass is the only connecting pipeline system currently providing volumes into Cypress," the company said. The Cypress pipeline feeds a crude terminal known as Empire on the Mississippi River in Louisiana, delivery point for cash crude Heavy Louisiana Sweet. Empire usually handles between 230,000 and 275,000 barrels a day, Chevron's website said. The Empire terminal was still operating, a trade source said, although it wasn't clear whether flows into the terminal had been disrupted. The Gulf of Mexico was the site of the worst-ever U.S. offshore oil spill last year when BP's Macondo well released more than 4 million barrels of crude from a blown out well offshore Louisiana.
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[NightWatcher]

1. It's such a pretty day here in the Gulf off Alabama's Dauphin Is.

The ugliest scene is at night with dozens of wells and pump stations lighting up the water with their yellow lights and exhaust gas fires.