The NewsRoom
Release #3139
Date: September 17, 2004

On a normal day in the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf 4,000 platforms, 33 thousand miles of pipeline and between 25 thousand and 30 thousand workers are involved in the production of offshore oil and natural gas.

A day and a half after Hurricane Ivan’s assault on the Gulf of Mexico, preliminary damage assessments reported by industry indicate the following: 

5    Mobile Offshore Drilling Units (MODU) were adrift.  All have been located.  One MODU was reported to be leaning about 3 degrees.  Companies are in the process of reoccupying these facilities to assess the damage onsite. 

4    Fixed platforms are reported missing (presumed sunk).

1    Fixed platform is reported as leaning.

1    Rig installed on a SPAR is missing.

1    Platform rig derrick was seen leaning over the edge of the SPAR on which it was installed.

3    Pipelines leaks were reported  – 1 resulted in a fire which is now burned out.

Damage inspections will continue, including underwater searches, which may reveal additional impacts.

We have no reports of any injuries, fatalities or significant pollution to date.

The Minerals Management Service is the federal agency in the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages the nation’s oil, natural gas, and other mineral resources on the Outer Continental Shelf in Federal offshore waters.  The agency also collects, accounts for, and disburses mineral revenues from Federal and American Indian lands.  MMS disbursed more than $8 billion in FY 2003 and more than $135 billion since the agency was created in 1982.  Nearly $1 billion from those revenues go into the Land and Water Conservation Fund annually for the acquisition and development of state and Federal park and recreation lands.

Media Contacts:
   Curtis Carey
   Nicolette Nye
   202-208-3985

MMS: Securing Ocean Energy & Economic Value for America
U.S. Department of the Interior