Pemex: Oil Leak Will Take Weeks to Fix

A platform leak that has spilled thousands of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico will take several more weeks to repair, state oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos said Wednesday.

Since a drilling rig slammed into a production platform Oct. 23, killing at least 21 workers, a total of 11,700 barrels of oil _ about 420 a day _ have seeped into the gulf, Pemex's assistant director for exploration and production Pedro Silva Lopez told reporters invited to fly over the site with company and environmental officials.

Pemex had previously estimated the spill at nearly 13,000 barrels.

The company began dismantling the rig several days ago to gain better access to the platform, which has been consumed by a series of fires, but Silva said officials are not sure now if that will work.

Pemex is now considering a plan to drill into the seabed and install a pipeline to block the damaged well, he said. Controlling the spill is expected to take at least 20 to 30 more days.

Pemex has promised both internal and external investigations of the accident, caused when high waves whipped up during a storm hit a drilling rig operated by a subcontractor, sending a boom crashing into the platform's valve assembly.

Eighty-five workers and rescue personnel abandoned the platform and rig after the accident. Most dove into small fiberglass lifeboats, some of which broke and swamped. Sixty-three workers were plucked from the water by passing ships, 21 were found dead and one remains missing.

Silva said at least two beaches in the Gulf coast states of Tabasco and Campeche have been affected by the oil spill, but the full extent of the damage has not yet been determined.