MUMBAI, Nov 17: In a second mishap that occured at the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) offshore installations at Bombay High within a month, the spudcan (leg) of Sagar Lakshmi, a jack up platform, broke while being shifted late this evening.

According to ONGC sources, the platform was being shifted from the Panna field (used by Reliance-Enron) to B-173, when the spudcan snapped. The platform is now precariously afloat, but repairs will not be possible till morning. ``A complete pre-repair damage survey will have to be carried out with the help of divers, and this can be done only in the morning,'' sources added.

They said that repairs of this nature would cost about Rs 30 crore, and about 25,000 barrels of oil would be lost per day.

ONGC PRO, E Mohan Reddy, maintained that there was ``absolutely no cause for concern.'' ``The damaged part will be brought to the docks for repairs and once that was done, the platform will be shifted. There is no danger in it remaining afloat,'' he said. Denying that the damage would result into major losses, Reddy said, ``The production capacity of the platform was negligible and the losses won't be very high as no oil is being wasted or flowing out into the sea.''

Last month, the oil well B-24-2 began releasing a massive gas jet after high pressure in the well could not be maintained.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.