Ordeal by Oil

Ever since oil drilling got under way in the North Sea back in the early 1960s, the nations that surround this stormy body of water have lived in dread of an environmental accident. Last week their worst fears were realized. As a team of specialists worked desperately to shut off the flow, oil spewed from a blown-out well in the Norwegian Ekofisk concession at a rate of some 4,000 tons a day. The spill drifted generally eastward in a slimy slick 32 kilometers (20 miles) long that not only threatened the coasts of Scandinavia but also seemed likely to affect the future of the offshore oil program.

The problem began as workers were performing maintenance operations on a well at Phillips Petroleum Co.'s Platform Bravo, a stilt-legged rig some 280 kilometers (175 miles) southwest of Norway. Usually crews conduct these periodic "workovers" by closing the valves on the "Christmas tree," or top part of the well, pumping heavy mud down the well shaft to force the oil back to its underground reservoir, and then sealing the well with a cap called a blowout preventer. This time, as the crew worked to fasten the blowout preventer, pressure in the well unexpectedly built up and blew out the temporary plug. A few seconds later the well itself let go, sending a fountain of mud, oil and highly flammable natural gas 60 meters (197 ft.) into the air. The 112 workers on the platform were evacuated.

Costly Accident. Efforts to control the runaway well began within minutes. The Seaway Falcon, a specially designed fire-fighting ship already on station in the Ekofisk complex, rushed to the well and began spraying it with 8,000 tons of sea water an hour to prevent it from catching fire. Other ships, dispatched by a crisis control center in Stavanger, Norway, stood by to help, while aircraft were warned to stay clear of the area. A small fleet of recovery ships deployed booms to contain the oil so it could be collected, but their work was hampered by heavy seas. Two American experts, Asger ("Boots") Hansen and Richard ("Toots") Hatteberg, flew in from Texas to try to cap the well, and encountered more problems than they had expected. High winds stymied their earliest attempts to get aboard the platform; later a potentially dangerous gas buildup around the wellhead forced them to retreat temporarily. Using brass tools to avoid striking sparks that could ignite the gas, the Americans made four unsuccessful attempts to shut off the flow. At week's end--bolstered by the arrival of their boss, famed oilwell troubleshooter Paul ("Red") Adair--they finally capped the well with the aid of new heavy-duty valves flown in from California.

The blowout had been costly. All told, more than 20,000 tons of oil had spilled into the sea, threatening the fragile spawning grounds of herring, mackerel and other species that provide rich catches for fishermen in the area. During the capping operation, the entire Ekofisk complex, which normally produces 40,000 tons of oil a day, was shut down, costing both Phillips and the Norwegian government a bundle in lost revenues and taxes. Both the Norwegian and British governments have been hoping to expand drilling activities in the North Sea sectors under their control. Now that the inevitable accident has occurred, they may have trouble persuading voters to go along with their plans.

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