Fishermen film oil slick damage
RAW VISION: Footage released by Greens Senator Rachel Siewert and shot by Indonesian fishermen allegedly shows damage from the Montara oil leak.
An oil spill off the WA coast regarded as one of the worst-ever environmental disasters in Australia was caused by poor decision making and corporate greed, a senior industry source has claimed.
The man, an installation contractor part of the drilling team at the West Atlas rig, said the spill happened after drillers did not cap the associated Montara oil well properly, causing it to burst.
PTTEP Australasia, the company responsible for the Timor Sea operation, is facing a Senate inquiry into the disaster, which so far has cost $5 million to clean up and caused untold environmental damage in the sensitive Kimberley area.
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The West Atlas Oil Spill
The massive fire that engulfed the West Atlas rig last week after workers tried to plug an oil leak. Photo: supplied
The oil leak was plugged last Tuesday after four previous attempts.
Some experts suggested as much as 3000 barrels of crude oil were leaking daily from the Montara well, 200 kilometres off the WA coast, since the spill occurred 12 weeks ago, although PTTEP says 400 barrels were probably leaking a day.
Thai-based PTTEP said last week it knew the cause of the spill but would not disclose it, but the industry insider said schedule and cost were likely put ahead of safety and the environment.
The source was working near the West Atlas rig as part of PTTEP’s operation on August 21, the day the leak occurred.
He said he believed six wells were being drilled that morning and the third of those was being drilled when the first well began to leak.
"They had six wells to drill, which they did to a certain depth, but while they were drilling the third well the first one they drilled leaked," the source told WAtoday.
"This in my opinion was because they were trying to save time so they drilled to a certain depth and did not plug it securely because they did not expect flow."
He said the situation for the next few hours that morning after the West Atlas crew evacuated their rig at 6am and were forced to board his nearby boat was extremely volatile and it was lucky no one was killed.
"The people on the rig did a great job abandoning," he said.
"If there had been an ignition source early then there could have been casualties."
PTTEP and the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority decided to prohibit anyone from accessing the rig after the leak was classified uncontrollable just after 6am.
"I believe schedule and cost certainly far outweigh health, safety or environmental impact in importance in the company," the source said.
"This would be a good lesson to them that saving a dollar in the short term can cost many dollars in the long term.
"I certainly don’t think this incident was unlucky."
Although the spill has resulted in considerable environmental damage, PTTEP's environmental assessment of the area did not highlight it as particularly sensitive, as the field is "in the middle of nowhere with not much coral life".
PTTEP Australasia refused to reveal the cause of the leak because of the ongoing Senate inquiry but told WAtoday.com.au it welcomed the opportunity for all facts to be placed on public record.
The company has undertaken to cover the clean up of the spill, which has so far cost around $5 million, while it estimates the overall cost to it has been $170 million for the loss of the well, with the cost set to increase once the damage to the rig is evaluated.
The drilling rig, which was ruined after it caught fire last weekend, is estimated to be worth $250 million and the topside (platform) around $16 million.
