Ecological Disaster Looms In Brazil

The world's biggest offshore oil rig, hit by explosions that apparently killed 10 people, may sink in the next two days, the rig's Brazilian owners said Friday, raising fears of environmental damage.

The rig is located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Rio De Janeiro. Its 40-story deck is now dipping into the water.

Federal petroleum giant Petrobras was weighing the risks of trying to go aboard to prevent a spill of the 400,000 gallons of oil on board.

"We want to be sure it won't sink suddenly, and that if experts go aboard there is no risk," said Irani Varela, the company's director of security.

Three explosions Thursday killed one worker and left nine other missing and presumed dead.

The blasts also damaged a pillar supporting the rig 75 miles off the Atlantic coast. The rig was the top producer in the rich Campos Basin, 120 miles northeast of Rio, which accounts for most of the 1.5 million barrels Brazil produces daily.

Petrobras said 164 people were ferried to safety. One worker died of burns and another was hospitalized in serious condition. Nine others were missing and presumed dead, Varela said.

The rig was listing at a 30-degree angle and had sunk between 20 and 40 inches since Thursday, he said, adding that it had not tilted any further and there was still a chance to save it.

"We are working to recover it," Varela said. "We are trying to remove part of the water (from flotation tanks) so it will return to a horizontal position."

But Petrobras Chief Executive Henri Philippe Reichstul was more pessimistic, saying the rig could sink within 48 to 72 hours.

"Our efforts continue but the platform is sinking more and more," Reichstul said at a news conference.

He also told reporters the possibility of finding any of nine missing workers alive after Thursday's blasts was "very remote. Petrobras is in mourning," he said.

Thirteen ships with floating anti-oil barriers were stationed around the rig, he said. Some 400,000 gallons of crude oil and diesel fuel were still aboard and could spill into the sea if the rig sinks. Workers were pumping nitrogen into the damaged hull of the platform to keep it afloat.

Reichstul said Thursday there was no spill from the accident and that all the undersea oil and gas wells had been sealed.

"If the rig sinks there is the distinct possibility that some or all of the 21 pipelines could rupture," said Argemio Pertence, director of the Association of Engineers who worked for Petrobras for 25 years. "It would be a catastrophe."

He said that if it does not sink there is virtually no risk of environmental damage. No spills have been reported so far.

The P-36 rig could produce up to 180,000 barrels of crude oil per day, making it the world's biggest platform, but after starting operations last year, it was only pumping out 80,000 barrels daily, or 5 percent of Brazil's total output.

For their part, environmentalist said they were not convinced by company assurances that damage could be limited.

"Our worry is that the oil will head to the coast," said Delcio Rodrigues of Greenpeace. The rig is 78 miles off the shore of Rio state and if the oil were to drift toward land it would contaminate a precious mangrove region.

One worker was in a hospital with severe burns and doctors described his condition as "very serious" Friday.

Petrobras lamented the incident in a statement printed in leading newspapers: "It was an accident of serious proportions and particularly painful as it involves the loss of human lives."

Public outrage mounted against Petrobras, which has had two major oil spills and a series of accidents in which 81 workers died in the last three years. In 1984, 36 people were killed in a platform explosion and fire.

Oil workers at Reduc, one of the country's biggest refineries, held a two-hour protest wearing black arm bands before punching in for work and employees at another refinery held a moment of silence for the victims of the explosion.

"I don't know if I'll be able to go back to work," said a platform worker in Macae, where Petrobras' heads up offshore operations for Rio state. "I've always known that there is a constant risk but this just makes you think again."

Workers accuse Petrobras of outsourcing work to inexperienced workers to cut costs, thus putting employees at risk and endangering the environment.

In January 2000, a Petrobras pipeline in Rio's scenic bay ruptured. The 340,000-gallon spill coated scores of marine birds and fish. The oil giant dumped more than four times as much crude into a major river six months later.

All production was halted at P-36 and Petrobras said it could lose $50 million a month with the rig out of operation. Oil imports would then rise, hurting Brazil's fragile trade balance.