Petrofac, the operator of the platform in the spotlight - thanks to last week's deadly helicopter accident off of the Dubai coast - has said production remains halted, as of Sunday.
The human cost of the tragedy was seven lives. So far, the families of all but one of the victims, of Thursday’s disaster, have been informed of the bereavement.
The rig serves the Rashid oil field, one of four offshore deposits controlled by the government-run Dubai Petroleum. Work in the field was suspended after a Bell 212 helicopter, operated by Dubai-based Aerogulf Services; carrying contractors crashed into the platform and sparked a fire on the main deck on Wednesday evening.
A spokesman for Petrofac, which operates drilling platforms in the Persian Gulf for Dubai Petroleum, said workers were continuing to examine the ‘jackup’ rig and that work had not yet resumed.
“They are still going through the process to ensure the rig is at an operationally ready state,” said the spokesman,
A secretary at the offices of Aerogulf, said Saturday, that the company’s British manager, Chris Brown, had been piloting the helicopter and was among the dead.
Foreign media reports named two of the passengers killed in the crash as Diosdado Buhangin, 48, from the Philippines, a petroleum technician and father of five, and Julias Pereira, 37, a materials co-ordinator from India.
The other victims are believed to be the Venezuelan co-pilot of the helicopter, an American, a Pakistani and an Indian.
The cause of Wednesday's accident is unknown and currently remains under investigation.
Dubai Petroleum and Petrofac initially said the helicopter struck the oil platform on takeoff and that a fire that broke out on deck was quickly extinguished.
An unnamed source from Dubai Petroleum, said: “There is obviously the need to establish exactly what caused this, and with the police being involved the company has to be open about everything so as to establish just what occurred in the minutes before the crash.”
“It is unlikely that will be known this week for the obvious reason that those who saw exactly what happened are now dead – they are having to rely almost entirely on physical evidence,” he added.
However, neither the unnamed source nor any other spokesman from the company would comment, on Sunday, about a local media report quoting an unnamed company official as saying that the Rashid field had reopened for business.
Also, neither of Dubai Petroleum or Petrofac would say how much oil the rig produces on a daily basis.