Noble reports little damage to rig

HOUSTON, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- A Texas company Friday reported little damage to an offshore drilling rig that was blown 30 miles from its mooring point by Hurricane Ivan.

Noble Corp. said a crew boarded its Noble Jim Thompson rig by helicopter and found the only significant damage was to a crane boom. The rig was level and stable in the sea south of Louisiana.

The rig had been moored and secured and all personnel evacuated before Ivan's arrival in the area. The rig will be towed to a shipyard in Mississippi to complete the damage assessment, the Sugar Land-based company said.

Noble reported that its other rigs escaped material damage and are expected to return to operation as soon as possible.

Transocean Inc., based in Houston, reported finding one of its drilling rigs 70 miles from where it had been anchored to the sea floor 160 miles south of Mobile, Ala.

The Coast Guard said Friday its crews were assisting oil companies in assessing damage to equipment in the gulf.

Oil and gas companies evacuated thousands of workers from hundreds of production platforms and drilling rigs and shut down production before the storm arrived.