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Old 12-30-2017, 04:03 PM
mmartin798 mmartin798 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tsofian View Post
That depends on the time period. Before 1990 there might be fewer and less in dept inspections. WE know from the Deepwater Horizon incident that the inspections, even of the mobile platforms were shoddy.

This isn't a floating platform, but is a fixed one. There are a lot of these out there http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-sp...nd_gas_we.html
I don't mean to be overly pedantic, but in this case it make a big difference with regard to characteristics and descriptions of different platform types. The numbers are also important since there is a vast discrepancy between oil well and drilling platform.

Just to be clear, the assumption here is that the team is in a fixed platform. I am in total agreement that the team is in a fixed platform. So now, what is a fixed platform and what are its characteristics? A fixed platform has an underwater steel jacket that is firmly anchored to the floor by steel piles that themselves are over 100 ft long. The jacket extends above the sea level by a height greater than the expected wave height from storms and the platform is built on the jacket at this height and above. Once completed, baring structural failure of the jacket, the fixed platform will not move, rock, twist or in any way show movement from storm and surge. This is how they are designed to work.

As for the number of platforms that exist, that number is much smaller than the number of wells drilled. From a report written in 1997 forecasting the number of fixed structures in the Gulf of Mexico, since the first offshore structure was built in the Gulf of Mexico in 1942, there have been a total of 5,561 fixed structures installed. During that same period about 1,645 platforms were removed, leaving 3,916. There is not a one-to-one correlation to the over 27,000 wells and the number of platforms. The report also showed the trend was more platforms being removed than being built, leading to a decline in their numbers to about 3,000 in 2017. With the time to asteroid discovery to impact being just over a year, it is unlikely the number would be any higher.

The other consideration is that the average lifespan of a platform before it is removed and recycled is less than 20 years. So the platform in question should be built and operational by 1998. That will tell you where your should limit the gear to if the bolt hole is sealed into the jacket.
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