The IXTOC I was being drilled by the SEDCO 135, a semi-submersible platform on lease to Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX). By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. The Mexican-owned oil company Pemex was drilling in the southern Gulf of Mexico when the rig blew out. The water depth at the wellhead site is about 50 m (164 feet). Initial Notification: On June 3, 1979, the 2 mile deep exploratory well, IXTOC I, blew out in the Bahia de Campeche, 600 miles south of Texas in the Gulf of Mexico. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox.
Contact | Site Map | Support WHOI Research, Location: Bay of Campeche, Gulf of Mexico, Testimony to the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, Preliminary Results from the September 1979 Researcher/Pierce Ixtoc-I Cruise (pdf), Ixtoc I Oil Well, Cruise Summary and Report (pdf).
On 3 June 1979, the well suffered a blowout resulting in one … Location: Bay of Campeche, Gulf of Mexico
Date: June 3, 1979 to March 23, 1980, Copyright ©2007 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, All Rights Reserved, Privacy Policy. …area in mid-1979, when the Ixtoc 1 well blew out and released an estimated 3,000,000 barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, some of which washed up onto beachfronts in Texas, 600 miles (965 km) away, before the well was finally capped early the next year. The oil slick spread to … Ixtoc I was an exploratory oil well being drilled by the semi-submersible drilling rig Sedco 135 in the Bay of Campeche of the Gulf of Mexico, about 100 km (62 mi) northwest of Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche in waters 50 m (164 ft) deep.
Ixtoc (ISH-tok) 1 was an exploratory oil well being drilled in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico by Mexico’s government-owned oil company Pemex in 1979. The IXTOC oil spill in 1979 was one of the world’s largest oil spills. An estimated 3.5 million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf over nine months. On June 3, circulation of drilling mud to the well failed, causing a blowout, explosion, and fire that resulted in the destruction and sinking of the rig. …area in mid-1979, when the Ixtoc 1 well blew out and released an estimated 3,000,000 barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, some of which washed up onto beachfronts in Texas, 600 miles (965 km) away, before the well was finally capped early the next year. Announcing our NEW encyclopedia for Kids. Problems or questions about the site, please contact webdev@whoi.edu The Mexican….