Rig salvage work off Angola LNG to start in Q2

Salvage work to remove a capsized drilling rig lying in shallow waters off Angola's new liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant is due to start in the second quarter, Italian oil services firm Saipem said.

The capsize of Saipem's Perro Negro 6 occurred last summer during efforts to bore a tunnel below an underwater canyon for a gas pipeline that would feed the liquefaction facility.

Saipem has awarded the salvage operation to an as-yet unidentified company, a spokesman said.

"The activities will start in the second quarter following the customary authorisation from local authorities," the spokesman said.

The disaster killed one person and cut off feedgas from Chevron-operated blocks 0 and 14, which were to be linked to the plant this year via the canyon tunnel.

Supplies from Chevron fields were expected to add 170 million cubic feet of gas per day to the plant, which is struggling to raise output.

Photographs of the wreck, seen by Reuters, show the Perro Negro 6 lying sideways, half-submerged in the Atlantic.

 

By Oleg Vukmanovic