Transocean rig in Madura Strait damaged by gas blowout

Transocean Sedco Forex Inc., the world's biggest offshore driller, said on Friday one of its rigs was damaged by a gas blowout while drilling in Sampang, the Madura Strait, off shore East Java for Australia's Santos Ltd, Reuters reported.

Transocean said all 92 crewmen aboard the jackup rig Trident IX were evacuated without injury to a service vessel. It said it expected insurance to cover the cost of the damage, which appeared to be limited to the drill floor area.

The incident, which occurred on Thursday in the Madura Straits, offshore East Java, was caused by an uncontrollable release of natural gas, which subsequently ignited.

Transocean said it would assess the damage when personnel were able to board the rig again. It said it could not estimate the rig's downtime until damage assessment was completed.

Separately, K. Silaen, the spokesman for an agency responsible for the operation of Pertamina's foreign production sharing contractors, told Bisnis Indonesia that the incident occurred at the Anggur I oil well when the drilling reached at the depth of 585 meters.

Efforts are continuing to end the gas blowout, he said. (*)