Major oil leak in Gulf of Mexico

April 27th, 2010 - 9:44 pm ICT by Pen Men At Work  

April 27, 2010 (Pen Men at Work): A considerable oil spill was threatening in the Gulf of Mexico as the US Coast Guard officials corroborated on Saturday that the well at the location of an oil rig disaster was leaking.

Petty Officer John Edwards mentioned to CNN that 1,000 barrels of oil - about 168,000 litres - were oozing from at least two places on the floor of the Gulf under the location.

One of the leaks was at the actual well site, while a second leak was from a pipe linked to the well. The Coast Guard has been utilizing robotic cameras to rummage around the area and, until Saturday, had unearthed no proof of a leak.

The Deepwater Horizons rig was punched on Tuesday night by an explosion, leaving it in flames until it sunk on Thursday. The reason of the explosion on the rig, owned by Swiss drilling contractor, Transocean Ltd, had not been determined.

The search has been suspended for 11 missing crew members. Another 115 crew members were evacuated. 17 were injured in the blast.

The rig sunk about 84 kilometers south-east of Venice, Louisiana. The explosion took place as the rig was finished drilling a 6,000 meter exploratory well for the British oil giant BP. The company was jostling to work out how to fasten the well off on the sea floor. This data was mentioned by the Chronicle.

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