Is there anything left of Piper Alpha?
The remains of Piper Alpha were toppled into the sea on 28 March 1989. Of the 226 people on board that night, only 61 survived. Of the deceased, 109 died from smoke inhalation, 13 by drowning, 11 of injuries including burns. In 4 cases, the cause of death could not be established, and 30 bodies were never recovered.
Who was responsible for Piper Alpha?
Occidental Petroleum
Owned by Occidental Petroleum, Piper Alpha began production in 1976 at the Piper oil field, which is owned by the OPCAL joint venture (JV). It was initially constructed as an oil production platform and later added with a gas recovery module to facilitate gas production. Piper oil field produced oil from 36 wells.
What was the cost of the Piper Alpha disaster?
LONDON — At around $1 billion, the Piper Alpha North Sea oil rig disaster may well be the world’s biggest energy insurance loss, easily overtaking the expected $300 million cost of the Enchova platform blowout off Brazil this year, London insurance analysts said Friday.
How many people survived the Piper Alpha?
61 surviving
Of the 226 people on board the platform, 165 were killed with only 61 surviving. There were also another two casulties from one of the rescue vessels.
What went wrong Piper Alpha?
After 180 days of proceedings, it released its report Public Inquiry into the Piper Alpha Disaster (short: Cullen Report) in November 1990. It concluded that the initial condensate leak was the result of maintenance work being carried out simultaneously on a pump and related safety valve.
Who survived the Piper Alpha?
Joe Meanen
Joe Meanen survived Piper Alpha by jumping 175ft from the burning platform. It is said it took Mr Meanen seven seconds to hit the water, such was the height he jumped.
How much oil did Piper Alpha Produce?
Piper Alpha was once Britain’s biggest single oil and gas producing platform, bringing more than 300,000 barrels of crude a day – 10% of the country’s total – from below the seabed 125 miles north-east of Aberdeen.
Where is Piper Alpha now?
Piper oilfieldPiper Alpha / Location
What did we learn from Piper Alpha?
Lesson: Personal safety and process safety do link together; however, in process safety, the emphasis is on the prevention of high-risk, large scale catastrophic events that though thankfully rare, could have devastating consequences.
Could Piper Alpha been prevented?
Water alone would not have put the oil fires out (and with gas fires one should not even attempt to do so) but it might have cooled the structure and pipelines and have prevented — or at least significantly delayed — the gas line rupture which was the major escalating factor in the Piper Alpha disaster.
How could the Piper Alpha disaster been prevented?
Disabling of safety critical systems by explosion. The firewalls on Piper Alpha could have stopped the spread of a fire. They were, however, not built to withstand an explosion. The initial blast blew the firewalls down.