Scots oilmen drilling off flashpoint Falklands insist: It's just another job

THEY are at the epicentre of the most explosive diplomatic row between Britain and Argentina since the Falklands War of 1982.

But for members of the predominantly Scottish crew of the Ocean Guardian, their contract to begin exploration drilling that could herald a new oil boom in the South Atlantic is "just another job".

As tensions continued to rise yesterday and the diplomatic wrangle switched to the United Nations, the team on the Ocean Guardian spent a third day drilling their first exploration well some 60 miles north of the Falkland Islands.

The 80-strong crew on board the semi submersible drilling rig, operated by Aberdeen-based Diamond Offshore Drilling (UK), arrived in the Falklands' territorial waters earlier this month and began drilling the first of seven wells in the area on Monday, on behalf of British oil company Desire Petroleum.

John Atkinson, the director of contracts and marketing with Diamond Drilling, declined to be drawn into the political furore surrounding Ocean Guardian's arrival in the waters of the South Atlantic.

He told The Scotsman: "For reasons you can understand, we cannot make a comment (about the political situation]. To me, it's something that doesn't exist."

He insisted: "It is just another job. The logistics – the time to fly our employees out there and back – is probably slightly longer than they might be used to.

"But we have people working off New Zealand and off Australia, and it probably takes as long to get there, if not longer.

"It's absolutely standard drilling conditions and standard operating conditions."

Mr Atkinson said the crew, 70 per cent of whom were based in Scotland, were veterans of the often rugged conditions in the northern North Sea and that operating in the waters of the South Atlantic during the southern hemisphere's summer would not pose any special challenges.

The massive rig they are working on was built in 1985 at the Scott Lithgow yard on Clydeside, and the crew will be operating a normal four-week-on and four-week-off rota during the contract, which is expected to last until the end of September.

During crew changes, the oilmen will be flown from the rig by helicopter to Port Stanley on the Falklands and then board a scheduled flight back to the UK.

Satellite telephone communications and the internet will also allow the workers to keep in regular contact with their families back home while they are on the Ocean Guardian.

Mr Atkinson said: "Like any company, we have to look after the welfare of our people, but there is no reason to do anything over and above what we normally do."

The Ocean Guardian is capable of drilling in water depths of up to 2,000ft and drilling to a depth of up to 25,000ft.

At the moment, the rig is operating in slightly less than 1,500ft of water and the initial well being drilled in the seas around the disputed island archipelago has an estimated target depth of about 11,500ft.

The British Geological Survey has estimated the waters of the Falklands basin may contain up to 60 billion barrels of oil – equivalent to one of the large oilfields in Saudi Arabia.

STANDARD OPERATING CONDITIONS

THEY are at the epicentre of the most explosive diplomatic row between Britain and Argentina since the Falklands War of 1982. But for members of the predominantly Scottish crew of the Ocean Guardian, the contract to begin exploration drilling that could herald a new oil boom in the South Atlantic is "just another job".

The team spent a third day yesterday drilling its first exploration well, 60 miles north of the Falkland Islands.

The 80-strong crew on board the semi-submersible drilling rig, operated by Aberdeen-based Diamond Offshore Drilling (UK), arrived in the Falklands' territorial waters earlier this month and began drilling on behalf of British oil company Desire Petroleum.

John Atkinson, the director of contracts and marketing with of Diamond Drilling,

told The Scotsman: "We cannot make a comment (about the political situation]."

He added: "It is just another job. The logistics – the time to fly our employees out there and back – is probably slightly longer than they might be used to. But we have people working off New Zealand and off Australia, and it probably takes as long to get there, if not longer. It's absolutely standard operating conditions."

Mr Atkinson said the crew, 70 per cent of whom were based in Scotland, were veterans of the northern North Sea and that operating in the waters of the South Atlantic during the southern hemisphere's summer would not pose any special challenges.