Labor union claims Petrobras knew P-36 had problems

March 23, 2001
The Nation Oil Works Union (FUP) has released internal Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) documents that FUP says shows Petrobras knew of problems with the P-36 platform before it exploded and sank. The platform, a converted semisubmersible rig, sank Tuesday in 1,350 m of water at giant Roncador field in the Campos basin.


By an OGJ Online Correspondent


RIO DE JANERIO, Mar. 23�The Nation Oil Works Union (FUP) has released internal Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) documents that FUP said shows Petrobras knew of problems with the P-36 platform before it exploded and sank.

The platform, a converted semisubmersible rig, sank Tuesday in 1,350 m of water at giant Roncador field in the Campos basin, 80 miles off Rio de Janeiro (OGJ Online, Mar. 20, 2001).

Three explosions racked the platform Mar. 15, killing 10 people. On Thursday, the death toll rose to 11 with the death of a worker who was hospitalized with severe burns suffered in the blasts.

Fernando Carvalho, a FUP director, said Thursday irregularities existed with the placement of a drainage tank inside a tower, resulting in improper venting from the accumulation of water and oil left over from petroleum production.

"Drainage tanks cannot be confined in a column because if an explosion occurs the gas will have no escape route," Carvalho said.

Police from the city of Macae, next to the Campos basin, said they would request the original Petrobras documents in their investigation of the FUP allegations.

Rio de Janeiro federal prosecutors also said they would investigate whether there had been negligence on the part of Petrobras executives.

The platform was insured for $500 million but the cost of the lost production could cost Petrobras about $450 million this year, company executives estimated.

The P-36 was projected to produce 90,000 b/d of crude by Dec. 31 and was due to process 180,000 b/d in 2004. At the time of the blasts, it was producing 84,000 b/d of light, 31�-gravity, oil.

Wagner Victer, Rio de Janeiro's state energy secretary, estimated Rio de Janeiro and Espirito Santo states will lose $65 million (US) in royalties this year. That figure could change with fluctuations in crude prices and currency exchange rates. Campos basin is off both Rio de Janeiro and Espirito Santo.