Another oil leak from offshore oil platform #23051 in the Gulf

skytruth.org
Routine Gulf Monitoring - Here's Why We Need It
Three days ago we blogged about a possible small, but persistent, leak from offshore oil platform #23051 in the Gulf of Mexico, not far from the ongoing Deepwater Horizon spill. We asked for confirmation from anyone who might happen to be in the vicinity. Ask, and ye shall receive:

Photograph taken 6/5/10 of apparent oil leak in the vicinity of Platform 23051, courtesy J Henry Fair. Semisubmersible drill rig in foreground; workboat at left where the plume originates at the surface. Note a second plume apparently originating from platform in the background at upper right; this may be Platform 23051 (not yet confirmed).

Professional photographer J Henry Fair flew over the site yesterday using the MMS platform location in our blog post, and took photos of what he found. Here are the two he sent us today. There is an obvious plume of oil in the water next to a semisubmersible drill rig. J Henry identified it as the Ocean Saratoga rig (nice picture here), owned by Diamond Offshore.

The May 17 rig status report available on Diamond Offshore's website (which prominently features a photograph of Senator Mary Landrieu, with the caption "Credit where credit is due") shows the Ocean Saratoga is currently under contract to drill for the same company that owns and operates Platform 23051. The platform may be the one visible in the background of the photo above, apparently trailing another oily-looking plume. So it's possible that we've actually discovered two separate leaks or spills in the same vicinity.

A closer look at the semisubmersible rig, work boat, and apparent plume of oil near the location of Platform 23051 in the Gulf of Mexico, taken June 5, 2010. Photo courtesy J Henry Fair.

J Henry described the workboat at the end of the oil plume as "churning the oil" as if to disperse it more quickly. It's unclear from these pictures if the workboat is itself the source of this oil plume, or if indeed it's motoring around where an oil plume is emerging at the ocean surface in an attempt to break it up. In any event, this spill is certainly large enough to require reporting to the Coast Guard.

Other than us - is anybody watching what's going on out there?

This is why we think America needs publicly transparent, routine satellite monitoring wherever we allow offshore oil and gas drilling.

We'll never know how much oil is leaking into The Gulf of Mexico

Image by Toban Black via Flickr

Kathlyn Stone
Honestly, how much oil is leaking into the Gulf?

We don’t have a clue.

For two weeks oil has been leaking into the Gulf of Mexico from the BP (“Beyond Petroleum,” formerly British Petroleum) offshore well following an oil rig explosion.

The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) experts estimate that 5,000 barrels a day of oil are spilling into the gulf, up from officials’ initial estimates of 1,000 barrels.

Independent experts such as Ian D. MacDonald, an oceanography professor at Florida State University, suggest the leak volume could be 25,000 barrels a day, much higher than official estimates.

But the truth may be more than what those responsible want us to hear. BP believes the leak could be as high as 60,000 barrels a day, according to a New York Times report on what a BP executive told Congress members at a closed-door briefing this week.

PBS NewHour created a meter showing how much oil may have leaked into the Gulf based on each estimate. Go ahead and enter your figure. It's anyone's guess.