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Archive for November, 2010

Militants continue attacks on Nigerian facilities

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on November 16, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Nigerian Militants; picture from The Will


As reported in the Nigerian publication The Will and Upstream, the Nigerian militant group, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) claims to have detonated explosives at an offshore platform and taken seven workers hostage.
Per Upstream:

The ExxonMobil attack took place a week after a similar raid on a rig operated by the exploration company Afren in the same waters off the state of Akwa Ibom, in which two Americans, two Frenchmen, two Indonesians and a Canadian were kidnapped.

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Leading Oil Spill Expert Retires

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on November 16, 2010| 1 Comment »

Cheryl Anderson

Cheryl Anderson, the world’s leading authority on offshore oil spill occurrence rates and causes, has retired from the US Department of the Interior after an exceptional career. Cheryl developed and maintained comprehensive oil spill data bases, and authored numerous reports on spill risks and occurrence rates.

Because of her meticulous attention to detail and unbiased analyses, both supporters and opponents of offshore oil and gas operations trusted Cheryl’s data.  Her reports have been widely referenced in energy policy documents, environmental reviews, and professional papers published in the US and around the world.  Lease sale areas were revised and operating regulations were updated as a result of Cheryl’s statistics and analyses.

In recent years, Cheryl’s leadership in improving the accuracy and credibility of hurricane spill statistics was particularly noteworthy. She developed a process for gathering information on the amount of stored oil that could have been lost when platforms were toppled and pipeline segments were damaged. Previously, only spills that appeared on the water surface were included, which meant that total hurricane spillage volumes were significantly understated.

Cheryl worked for the Minerals Management Service since its inception in 1982. Given the sensitivity of oil spill statistics, there was a tendency on the part of some officials to want to “spin” Cheryl’s statistics. Cheryl had the highest professional standards, and firmly resisted such attempts. Her only concern was the accuracy of the data and the credibility of the reports. For this she was greatly respected by all of her MMS colleagues. She received numerous honors, most notably the Distinguished Service Award, the Department of the Interior’s highest honor award.

Cheryl was universally admired by her MMS colleagues and was a great friend to all. She warmed hearts with the charming trinkets that she would distribute on holidays and helped everyone stay healthy with the wonderful apples that she would bring to the office (in great quantities) from the orchards west of the metropolitan Washington DC area.  BOE wishes Cheryl great success in her future endeavors. No matter what she chooses to do, we know she will do it with great integrity, commitment, and enthusiasm.

All the best to Cheryl!

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Per Hugo Chavez: Venezuela to begin drilling offshore Cuba soon

Posted in cuba, tagged , , , , , on November 15, 2010| Leave a Comment »

As if drilling offshore Cuba wasn’t already controversial enough, add Hugo Chavez to the mix.  Now this should be interesting:

Venezuelan state oil company PdVSA will “soon” being exploratory drilling in Cuban waters of the Gulf of Mexico, President Hugo Chávez said during a bilateral meeting in Havana earlier this week.

Scarabeo 9

It sounds like they may want to use Saipem’s new Scarabeo 9 which is scheduled to drill a well for Repsol early next year.  The only sure thing is that they won’t be using the Aban Pearl.

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Montara Development to Proceed

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , on November 15, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Montara Blowout - Timor Sea - 2009

A spokesman for PTTEP says the damaged rig will be towed away next month and a replacement will be in place by June next year subject to government approvals. ABC-Australia

Food for thought:

  • Should a major blowout automatically disqualify a company from further exploration and development within that field?
  • Should PTTEP have voluntarily agreed to (been required to) assign their Montara rights to another company?
  • Should leases or operating licenses be automatically suspended after such major accidents?
  • Shouldn’t exploration and development rights be contingent on safe and responsible operating practices?
  • Do PTTEP and other operators deserve a second chance under such circumstances? Third chance? How many?

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Deepwater Horizon BOP Inspection Begins Today

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 15, 2010| 2 Comments »

BOP stack awaiting post-Macondo inspection (from gCaptain.com)

Other than the mildly amusing skirmish about the positioning of representatives of the various factions during the inspection process (Hey, how about access for bloggers!) and some silly comments about the independence of the inspection contractor, there has been very little attention paid to the Deepwater Horizon BOP examination that is scheduled to begin today at NASA’s Michoud facility in New Orleans. The absence of media interest is surprising given the importance of this part of the Macondo investigation. Presumably, there will be more extensive coverage beginning today.

While the inspection and testing will be quite technical, some important aspects should be rather straightforward.  What is the position of the rams, particularly the shear ram?  What is the condition of the ram elements and annular preventer?  Is there evidence of control line leakage?  What can be determined about the electronics and the sequencing system designed to automatically actuate the shear ram when power is lost or when the riser is disconnected?

Hopefully, the official investigation website, which currently has no information on the BOP inspection program, will provide updates.  While we don’t expect immediate information on the findings, there should be reports explaining how the inspection program is being conducted and what has been accomplished.

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HSE and Culture

Posted in Norway, tagged , , , , , on November 14, 2010| Leave a Comment »

This week I read two pioneering PSA publications: HSE and Culture and Thought Processes.  In January 2002, Norway became the first offshore petroleum regulator to require that companies have a sound health, safety, and environmental culture. The purpose of the two publications was to help industry better understand the concept of HSE and Culture and the goals of the regulation. I recommend that you take a few moments and  take a look at the publications.

Excerpt from HSE and Culture:

Organisations with a sound HSE culture are characterised by the ability to learn, and constantly question their own practice and patterns of interaction. Informed organisations accommodate dialogue and critical reflection on their own practices. People respect each other’s expertise and are willing to share and furtherdevelop their HSE knowledge.

Excerpt from Thought Processes

Vulnerability deals with the relationship between cause and effect. A vulnerable system can be completely disabled – permanently – by a single non-conformance or a series of errors. That sounds dramatic, and fairly unlikely. But it has happened:

• Alexander L Kielland flotel
• P-36 floating platform
• Piper Alpha platform
•Sleipner A GBS

And it can happen again. Because vulnerability begins in the brain. When things are going well, people easily become over-confident. Traditional constraints are challenged and established practices rejected. The consequences spread to the rest of the production system in the formof untried technology, complex solutions, faster execution times and narrower safety margins.

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The Most Beautiful Seat Belt Commercial Ever Made

Posted in Uncategorized on November 12, 2010| 1 Comment »

A little weekend inspiration – check it out!

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Another Missing Accident Report

Posted in accidents, Offshore Wind, Wind Energy, tagged , , , , on November 11, 2010| 2 Comments »

 

Liftboat Russell Peterson, May 12, 2008

 

Malcolm Sharples reminds us that the Coast Guard still hasn’t completed the investigation of the tragic liftboat accident in May 2008. The boat was conducting research for a proposed offshore wind project.  Why the delay?

Here is more information from Malcolm:

Liftboat  Russell W. Peterson damaged in storm, 1 person died, 1 person injured ; “One dead, one rescued as research vessel sinks off Rehoboth”.  One crewman died today after gale force winds pounded a specialized research ship that was launched in March to study Delaware’s offshore wind power resources, forcing the Coast Guard to pull two crewmen from the sinking vessel. Coast Guard Petty Officer Nick Cangemi said one of the two crew members of the RV Russell W. Peterson did not have any vital signs when a helicopter arrived on the scene this morning. “We took both people to the hospital in Maryland, where the hospital declared one of the gentlemen deceased,” Cangemi said. They were taken to Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, MD.  The ship was left adrift and ran aground at Bethany Beach.

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Macondo: Many Contributing Factors, But One Stands Out

Posted in accidents, well control incidents on November 10, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Our 15 September post suggested that a properly conducted and interpreted negative pressure test would likely have prevented both the Macondo and Montara blowouts. As more information about Macondo surfaces, there is no dispute about the significance of the negative pressure test errors.  Despite differences of opinion about the contributing factors, all companies involved with the blowout seem to agree that a properly conducted and interpreted negative pressure test would likely have prevented the blowout.

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Another Good Day for the National Commission

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , , , on November 9, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I hate to say nice things about lawyers :), but the Commission attorneys handled the two days of hearings very effectively.  The outstanding staff preparation and support were quite obvious.

BOE has have long advocated more industry leadership on guiding principles, incident data gathering and verification, risk assessment, peer-audits, standards improvements, cooperative research, and failure data for critical equipment.  In that regard, we are pleased that Chairmen Reilly and Graham, the other Commissioners, and the industry and government witnesses commented positively on some of these important programs.

We need to effectively manage the safety and environmental risks associated with offshore exploration and production, because we can’t afford the economic and security risks associated with a diminished offshore oil and gas program. BOE advocates conservation and renewables, but projections by IEA and other leading energy forecasters make it clear that oil and gas will continue to be an important part of our energy mix for decades.

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