Thunder Horse platform lists after storm

A spokesman for BP said on Wednesday that it is too early to tell how the damage to it’s Thunder Horse drilling platform from Hurricane Dennis will impact the schedule for getting the new platform into production.

Before the mishap, BP expected the platform to begin production late this year and to produce up to 240,000 barrels of oil daily.

The spokesman would not venture a guess as to how long it might take to right the platform, which was discovered to be listing by 20 degrees by a passing ship on Monday.

Crews were able to board the platform on Tuesday to restore power and send data from on-board recorders to shore to begin the determination of just what happened and how long it will take to repair.

Robots were used to examine the hull of the rig, which was found not to have any damage.

The company also said that there was no sign of pollution in the water.

The platform, which was evacuated ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Dennis on Friday, is located in 6000 feet of water in the Gulf of Mexico around 150 miles southeast of New Orleans.

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