# South Baker-Rig Killer



## Empty Pockets CC (Feb 18, 2009)

I noticed a rig near South Baker on one of the satellite imagery sites. It says something to the effect of temporary abandon ops. Does anyone know if we are losing one or both of our South Baker rigs? It looks like a "rig killer" is parking near that area right now...Anyone know? That would be a terrible blow to the fisherman out of Port Aransas!


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## TeamJefe (Mar 20, 2007)

bump 

from another concerned Port A fisherman


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## saltaholic (Feb 19, 2005)

Whatever happened to the rigs to reefs program???


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## Captain (Feb 18, 2006)

saltaholic said:


> Whatever happened to the rigs to reefs program???


The 'Rig Killer" got it also.


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## GulfCoast1102 (Dec 30, 2013)

saltaholic said:


> Whatever happened to the rigs to reefs program???


Scrap metal contractors don't make any money off of Rigs to Reefs.


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## Wishfulthinking (Mar 10, 2012)

I heard one of Baker rigs is up for removal and falcon


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## capt mike (Sep 8, 2005)

the bad news is both s baker rigs are being removed and not reefed in place. The good news is that they are being towed to the n baker site rather than scrapped . Had we been given more notice, we might have been able to get a reef site permitted at s baker. Now we have nothing from n baker to southern . Gotta love those freaking feds .


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## saltaholic (Feb 19, 2005)

Wishfulthinking said:


> I heard one of Baker rigs is up for removal and falcon


Don't think Falcon is being removed, still plenty of production going on out there.


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## hilton (Jan 28, 2008)

Falcon is a pump station for the deepwater rigs such as Boomvang, Nancen and Hoover. I highly doubt it will be going anywhere.


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## perryo (Nov 15, 2006)

Hope they use a "non explosives" technique to remove them since they are next to a natural reef. If they use explosives the potential is to cause harm to the reef dwellers. Does anyone know how they plan to remove them? They definitely should be reefed in place. It would save money and protect the environment in the immediate area.


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## Empty Pockets CC (Feb 18, 2009)

Falcon is a compressing station for the offshore floating platforms. It pumps minerals up "the shelf", compresses it, and pumps it to shore. 
I think the satellite rig (small rig) at South Baker is toast. It has been sitting idle for awhile now. It still looks like the South Baker (big rig) is still producing gas. .... Gas that isn't worth much and even less if it isn't putting out what it used to... Maybe they can rework it but eventually I think most of our standing rigs will be taken by "the man".


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## capt mike (Sep 8, 2005)

both s baker platforms will be gone by late summer, early fall .For all their rhetoric about transparency and informing " stakeholders" about platform removal plans, BSEE still features cloak and dagger BS that would make the CIA or barry's nsc proud.


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## saltaholic (Feb 19, 2005)

Just another issue recs and cca get worked up about but never put enough skin in the game to affect anything


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## asher (Sep 27, 2011)

As far as the explosives go the way I understand it they have applied for and been granted a permit which allows them to blow the legs if they wish to. Which is, unfortunately, the route they will probably go. Only time will tell.


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## huntfish82 (Oct 27, 2010)

*satellite imagery sites*

Empty pockets cc what satellite imagery sites do you use


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## heli.clay (Sep 1, 2011)

There's so much more to this than "it's BSEE's fault. These govt guys are actually upholding the rules that the OG industry create. How about these company's take care of the structures. Instead, they suck what they can out, and then abandon it. 

I see both sides as a fisherman. I wish they'd leave them all alone. But some of the structures are in insanely awful condition.


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## ptalto (May 27, 2006)

There was an interesting article titled _Reefer Madness_ in the June 14th - 20th Economist on this exact subject.

My favorite comment was from a delusional Greenpeace representative who concedes that, "...in some locations reefed platforms, if non-toxic, may increase marine life. But they [reefed platforms] should be banned anyway, he says, because they save the oil firms money and therefore encourage them to drill more."


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## Empty Pockets CC (Feb 18, 2009)

Update: Was out there Saturday. No rig killer at South Baker. Ripcharts must be incorrect on the rig placement there on their service. I didn't see the stand off platform in the dark when we went by, but the radar picked it up. It lives to be a home and hotspot for another day.


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## reelfast (Aug 25, 2011)

*Decomissioning Platforms in the GOM*



perryo said:


> Hope they use a "non explosives" technique to remove them since they are next to a natural reef. If they use explosives the potential is to cause harm to the reef dwellers. Does anyone know how they plan to remove them? They definitely should be reefed in place. It would save money and protect the environment in the immediate area.


FYI - When explosives are used the FEDS are there with multiple helicopters watching for turtles, etc.... If there is wildlife that is in danger they cannot blow the casings/conductors/platform legs. They have to wait it out.

The other extremely costly way to it is with an abrasive cutting tool (Oceaneering has a few they bought from a Norwegian company).

The abrasive cutting tools costs about $100,000.00 a cut. The explosives are supplied by one man (Billy Poe) in Louisiana. He is an explosives expert and one of only 2 men on the Gulf Coast with a license to use them.

I used to sell abrasive cutting technology. I like it, but dang its expensive!!!!! Only people using it are Shell/Chevron/Exxon... maybe a few others when they have to.

So total abadonment costs for a typical 10 pile platform (just the structure removal) costs about $3.5MM without explosives if you are to haul it in to shore.

If you have a reef permit its waaayyyy less. About $1M. Most of the costs associated with the structure removal is Marine Equipt (tugs/barges/DP boat/heavy lift crane) on a high dayrate for the spread. About $300,000/day.

The FEDS should create an incentive to use abrasives by allowing those who use abrasives to reef the structures in place or nearby,,..... something along those lines would be perfect for everyone,....:cheers:


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## reelfast (Aug 25, 2011)

*wowzer*



ptalto said:


> There was an interesting article titled _Reefer Madness_ in the June 14th - 20th Economist on this exact subject.
> 
> My favorite comment was from a delusional Greenpeace representative who concedes that, "...in some locations reefed platforms, if non-toxic, may increase marine life. But they [reefed platforms] should be banned anyway, he says, because they save the oil firms money and therefore encourage them to drill more."


People like that guy need a frontal lobotomy - :cop: He should be forced to live without petroleum products for a month. Seriously doubt he would be able to.


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## Nice.Try (Dec 31, 2013)

reelfast said:


> FYI - When explosives are used the FEDS are there with multiple helicopters watching for turtles, etc.... If there is wildlife that is in danger they cannot blow the casings/conductors/platform legs. They have to wait it out.
> 
> The other extremely costly way to it is with an abrasive cutting tool (Oceaneering has a few they bought from a Norwegian company).
> 
> ...


~ $20,000 to ~$50,000 per cut depending...


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## reelfast (Aug 25, 2011)

*Conductor Cutting*



Nice.Try said:


> ~ $20,000 to ~$50,000 per cut depending...


$20-50k a cut - depending on how many strings of casing the quality of cement between the strings. Also, they usually make more than one cut... usually 2 cuts per leg.

Also, depends on who the customer is as to what the price will be. Shell and Chevron give them lots of business so they have better pricing.

Explosives on the other hand are CHEAP and can be fast if no turtles are home.

Sometimes it takes 5 hrs to cut one conductor.....

Just sayin'


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## fattyflattie (May 20, 2008)

reelfast said:


> FYI - When explosives are used the FEDS are there with multiple helicopters watching for turtles, etc.... If there is wildlife that is in danger they cannot blow the casings/conductors/platform legs. They have to wait it out. This is true, except the producer is the one footing the bill for the bird. The NMFS girls are cheap but also paid for by producer.
> 
> The other extremely costly way to it is with an abrasive cutting tool (Oceaneering has a few they bought from a Norwegian company). The bought/absorbed Norse Cutting. There are three other prominent abrasive severing companines.
> 
> ...


 There are incentives, but not as much as scrap pays. Also, if they didnt take a cut, I think more of the producers would consider it.

As someone who has removed somewhere in the neighborhood of 75 platforms over the last 5 years, please see responses in red.


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## Nice.Try (Dec 31, 2013)

reelfast said:


> $20-50k a cut - depending on how many strings of casing the quality of cement between the strings. Also, they usually make more than one cut... usually 2 cuts per leg.
> 
> Also, depends on who the customer is as to what the price will be. Shell and Chevron give them lots of business so they have better pricing.
> 
> ...


 I have been a part of taking down platforms just about every way possible. Cut charges are done based on the conductor or pile not how many cuts it takes on that conductor or pile. You are correct though the price varies based on water depth, number of strings etc. If you want the most current cut prices shoot me a PM but I must say they are nowhere near 100k a cut.


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## Nice.Try (Dec 31, 2013)

fattyflattie said:


> There are incentives, but not as much as scrap pays. Also, if they didnt take a cut, I think more of the producers would consider it.
> 
> As someone who has removed somewhere in the neighborhood of 75 platforms over the last 5 years, please see responses in red.


Well said...


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## Cutter (Jun 23, 2004)

Empty Pockets CC said:


> Update: Was out there Saturday. No rig killer at South Baker. Ripcharts must be incorrect on the rig placement there on their service. I didn't see the stand off platform in the dark when we went by, but the radar picked it up. It lives to be a home and hotspot for another day.


We never indicated that there was a "Rig Killer" at S. Baker. That was declared by you.

There was a vessel doing temporary abandon operations in the area, and that is what was published on the map. Oil companies will temporarily plug and abandon a well for a variety of reasons.


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## Empty Pockets CC (Feb 18, 2009)

Hey man, there was no rig where your service indicated it was. Period. Just letting you know. Next time I'll keep my mouth shut and not renew my service with y'all next year. I'll use Hilton's exclusively instead. There was nothing there except for the big platform and small platform. No "temp abandon ops" going on there. I said your placement of the rig your service indicated was there is incorrect. I was letting fellow fisherman know that a rig killer was not spotted by me while I was out there on Saturday so back off. 
Lesson learned, next time I'll keep my mouth shut and let you be wrong about what is where. You just lost my business. Whatever.


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## reelfast (Aug 25, 2011)

Empty Pockets CC said:


> Hey man, there was no rig where your service indicated it was. Period. Just letting you know. Next time I'll keep my mouth shut and not renew my service with y'all next year. I'll use Hilton's exclusively instead. There was nothing there except for the big platform and small platform. No "temp abandon ops" going on there. I said your placement of the rig your service indicated was there is incorrect. I was letting fellow fisherman know that a rig killer was not spotted by me while I was out there on Saturday so back off.
> Lesson learned, next time I'll keep my mouth shut and let you be wrong about what is where. You just lost my business. Whatever.


Sometimes we have to pull the rig off location during TA/P&A ops. I wouldn't bash them that bad... just sayin'. Those ops can start and stop at a moments notice. They could demob the whole spread in less than 24 hrs.


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## Fired Up (May 29, 2013)

*how about the Cervesa's*

How long will they be in play?


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## donf (Aug 8, 2005)

Nobody is making any money on the decommission of these rigs. The cleanup. The tow, the millions of dollars of cut up. Yield is nothing against the carbon scrap price of .08 a lb. 
reef em in place ! 
Vote Republican !


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## reelfast (Aug 25, 2011)

donf said:


> Nobody is making any money on the decommission of these rigs. The cleanup. The tow, the millions of dollars of cut up. Yield is nothing against the carbon scrap price of .08 a lb.
> reef em in place !
> Vote Republican !


Cant reef them in place every time. You need the structure to penetrate the sunlight column of water, therefore you have a bunch of them piled up in one location here and another location there. Usually in 200' of water. If we reefed all the deep structures in their current place (1000'- 2000' 3000') then it would lay in darkness with no life. The life is at eh first 80' near surface.

Make sense?


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## ma1204 (Jul 23, 2011)

I believe the reef them in place program only removes a portion of the super structure. Regs say that there can be no part of the structure within either 50' or 80' of the surface so that it does not pose a threat to marine traffic. I may be wrong on that but if you were going to reef it by laying it over you mind as well remove it period, you would have to go through the same procedure. There are no free standing rigs in 1,2, or 3k feet of water they are either spars or drill ships which can be easily moved around. No scraping those guys.


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## reelfast (Aug 25, 2011)

ma1204 said:


> I believe the reef them in place program only removes a portion of the super structure. Regs say that there can be no part of the structure within either 50' or 80' of the surface so that it does not pose a threat to marine traffic. I may be wrong on that but if you were going to reef it by laying it over you mind as well remove it period, you would have to go through the same procedure. There are no free standing rigs in 1,2, or 3k feet of water they are either spars or drill ships which can be easily moved around. No scraping those guys.


*au contraire! *

Bullwinkle is a 1,736 feet tall, pile-supported fixed steel oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. Of the total height, 412.1 meters (1,352 ft) are below the waterline. It is located in Manatee Field, approximately 160 miles southwest of New Orleans


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## GulfCoast1102 (Dec 30, 2013)

reelfast said:


> *au contraire! *
> 
> Bullwinkle is a 1,736 feet tall, pile-supported fixed steel oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. Of the total height, 412.1 meters (1,352 ft) are below the waterline. It is located in Manatee Field, approximately 160 miles southwest of New Orleans


That is quite a structure right there!!


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## reelfast (Aug 25, 2011)

GulfCoast1102 said:


> That is quite a structure right there!!


Indeed it is, and its not the only one. I've been plugging wells in the GoM since 2005. We have lots of iron left everywhere that could make great reefing material. Hopefully we can keep dragging them closer in around 200' and continue to reef them all over the coast (closer in) so rec fishermen in something smaller than a 42' Viking can access them!


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## reelfast (Aug 25, 2011)

Bullwinkle headed out of TX to its home in Green Canyon 155!


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## yakfisher (Jul 23, 2005)

reelfast said:


> Bullwinkle headed out of TX to its home in Green Canyon 155!


Wow..nice blast from the past! The sheer scale of that thing was amazing


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## Lippy (Mar 22, 2011)

That pic brings back some memories. Thanks for sharing!


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## Fired Up (May 29, 2013)

how would you like to be in one of tugs up underneath that thing...


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## GulfCoast1102 (Dec 30, 2013)

Fired Up said:


> how would you like to be in one of tugs up underneath that thing...


No joke! You know they were all thinking "If this SOB rolls, we're all gonna die!"


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## Jolly Roger (May 21, 2004)

reelfast said:


> Cant reef them in place every time. You need the structure to penetrate the sunlight column of water, therefore you have a bunch of them piled up in one location here and another location there. Usually in 200' of water. If we reefed all the deep structures in their current place (1000'- 2000' 3000') then it would lay in darkness with no life. The life is at eh first 80' near surface.
> 
> Make sense?


Lots of grouper in 700-1000s of feet of water on structure. Deep water rigs like tequila should be reefed in place.

I have fished fixed platforms in 1000'+ of water in the gulf still some out there


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