58 gulf oil rigs damaged or lost

Hurricane Katrina damaged or displaced an estimated 58 Gulf of Mexico oil platforms and drilling rigs, according to the American Petroleum Institute.

Among those, 30 rigs and platforms have been reported lost. No company breakdown was available, said Tim Sampson, an API spokesman.

One of the more significant reported losses of platforms or rigs came from Houston-based Apache.

Yesterday, Apache said it lost eight platforms that produce 7,158 barrels of oil and 12.1 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.

That’s about 10% of the lost oil production and 2% of the shut-in gas reported earlier this week, said company spokesman Bill Mintz.

Earlier in the week, Diamond Offshore Drilling’s Ocean Warwick was found about 60 miles from its original position near Dauphin Island off the coast of Alabama. A picture of the displaced rig found its way on Internet sites and newspapers worldwide, creating one of many indelible images of Katrina’s strength.

Diamond also had another rig, Ocean Voyager, break from its moorings, but tug boats were bringing it to shipyards for further assessment, said company CFO Gary Krenek.

“We’ve boarded the rest of the rigs,” Krenek said. ”There is some minor damage, but nothing near the extent as the Voyager or the Warwick.”

Also, earlier in the week, Shell Oil reported heavy topside flooding to its Mars platform.

Sampson said even with these reports, it’s still too early to gauge damage in the Gulf.

“It could still be the end of next week before we get pipeline damage,” he said. “You still have to do things like pressure-test the lines.”