Timor Sea rig fire burning-off polluting oil
Updated
The company responsible for an oil leak and fire in the Timor Sea off Australia's north coast says it will now attempt to kill the leaking well today. The Montara wellhead platform is still burning.
The company was trying to stop a leaking oil well on Sunday when a gas fire started - surrounding the West Atlas rig with flames. But the high-intensity blaze apparently has a silver lining with the company saying the fire is burning off the oil which otherwise would have been going into the ocean.
Environmentalists, meanwhile, have criticised the Australian Government's plans for an inquiry. While the government says it will be independent, full and open, The Worldwide Fund for Nature says it isn't expecting much.
Presenter: David Weber
Speaker: Jose Martins, Chief Financial Officer of PTTEP Australasia; Paul Gamblin, Worldwide Fund for Nature
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DAVID WEBER: PTTEP is hoping to use its West Triton rig to pump a heavy density mud mixture into the leaking well.
The company's chief financial officer Jose Martins.
JOSE MARTINS: The fire is out of control. What we're trying to do is to stop it by injecting heavy mud into the relief well. That is the best option and we have the world's best working on that.
DAVID WEBER: The company has prepared about 4,000 barrels of the mixture. Mr Martins says there simply wasn't enough to do the job yesterday. He says it should be possible to extinguish the fire soon after the mud goes in.
JOSE MARTINS: Once we get rid of the source, the fuel for the fire, then obviously we can bring in the fire-fighting equipment and hopefully control the fire that way, so as soon as we can do that.
DAVID WEBER: Just to clarify you said that the oil is actually burning off and not going into the ocean?
JOSE MARTINS: From I... we've got vessels in the area and they've been travelling nearby and most of the oil would appear to be burning in the fire.
DAVID WEBER: Mr Martins has asserted that PTTEP will cooperate with the inquiry announced by the Federal Government.
JOSE MARTINS: It's very unfortunate. The incident is regrettable. It should never have happened in the first place and our priority now is to try and stop the well from burning and from flowing. There will be an inquiry, a government inquiry. There are already investigations underway from the regulatory authorities. We'll cooperate fully with the inquiry.
DAVID WEBER: But the World Wildlife Fund is sceptical as to whether the inquiry will be worthwhile.
WWF's Paul Gamblin.
PAUL GAMBLIN: The inquiry may not be unfettered. It may not provide the opportunity for the real causes of this accident to be heard and to be provided publicly so it may well be that something like a royal commission, if not a royal commission itself, is required so that we can better prepare for what might happen down the track as this industry builds up in the region.
DAVID WEBER: You think the inquiry itself may be hobbled to avoid certain outcomes?
PAUL GAMBLIN: It is always a concern with inquiries that they aren't open enough to really have the scope to look at what the real issues are and so in this case we want to see all information put on the table absolutely transparently. This is a crisis of international importance now.
