Posted in Health, Regulation, tagged Coast Guard, OCS, OSHA, vaccine mandate on September 10, 2021| Leave a Comment »
and they will presumably do so with an emergency final rule. This will be interesting. Over-under on the days until publication? Number of public comments?
And since the Coast Guard functions as OSHA on the Outer Continental Shelf, will they be enforcing the offshore industry’s compliance with this mandate? BSEE inspectors?
Posted in Mexico, tagged Pemex, Talos, Unitization, Zama on September 8, 2021| Leave a Comment »
As I understand it:
Thoughts:
Posted in Gulf of Mexico, hurricanes, Offshore Energy - General, oil, tagged Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Ida, oil production on September 7, 2021| Leave a Comment »
As expected given the magnitude and track of Ida, the necessary inspections, and the onshore damage, most GoM production remains shut-in. (BSEE data)
Posted in accidents, Gulf of Mexico, hurricanes, tagged Globetrotter II, Hurricane Ida, Noble, safety culture on September 7, 2021| Leave a Comment »
| Noble’s Aug. 29 statement | Noble’s Sept. 2 statement |
| “Each rig successfully secured its respective well in progress and took evasive actions to avoid the storm’s path.” (No mention of the delay in relocating the Globetrotter II or the rig, riser, and LMRP damage already reported on social media.) | “several riser joints and the lower marine riser package separated from the rig during the storm and sank to the seabed.” (Confirms social media reports.) |
| “All personnel are safe and accounted for.” (No mention of the injuries alluded to in social media reports.) | “A small number of crew members were treated for minor injuries.” (The actual number was 9, i.e. not a small number, 4 of whom had to be transported to shore for further evaluation.) |
| “One of the ship’s cofferdams in the moonpool area sustained damage.” (Update: The storm broke part of the hull, which allowed water into some compartments. Per the ship’s master, the vessel was not in distress and not actively taking on water.) | |
In a proper safety culture, you don’t downplay serious incidents and you never declare victory. Spin control is for politicians, not safety leaders. The Globetrotter II, with 140 workers aboard, was slammed by a major hurricane, perhaps unnecessarily. After the frightening social media reports, Noble released an “all is well” statement that minimized the significance and potential consequences of the delayed rig relocation. Noble continued to downplay the incident when they update their statement 5 days later.
The Coast Guard and BSEE will be investigating the Globetrotter II relocation, and their findings will be of great interest. Noble has historically been a very good drilling contractor with a strong commitment to safe operations. Hopefully, they and others will learn and apply lessons from this and similar events that have occurred in the Gulf and elsewhere. Companies may also want to assess the compatibility of their messaging practices with their commitment to a robust safety culture and continuous improvement.
Posted in accidents, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, oil, tagged Bay Marchand, Hurricane Ida, pipeline spill, Talos on September 6, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Posted in drilling, Uncategorized, tagged drilling rig, Iron Idol, Rigger Shuffle;, roughneck on September 6, 2021| Leave a Comment »
This Canadian video was a big hit at an awards program in Houston 15 years ago. I was pleased to find it on YouTube and thought it would be a nice Labor Day feature. Kudos to the workers who produce the energy that supports our economy and our way of life. Your efforts are greatly appreciated! Happy Labor Day!
Posted in Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged Penn State, regulations, safety, standards, Wisconsin on September 5, 2021| Leave a Comment »
In sports, the experts are soon exposed. In regulations and standards, consensus misjudgments are less obvious and may take years to be demonstrated. Also, regulations and standards are often outdated and may not reflect best practices. That is why compliance with regulations and adherence to industry standards is not sufficient. We need to continuously assess risks, observe, listen, review data, and actively manage our operations to achieve safety and environmental objectives.
Posted in Gulf of Mexico, hurricanes, Offshore Energy - General, oil, tagged Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Ida, offshore oil, shut-in production on September 3, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Gulf of Mexico, hurricanes, Offshore Energy - General, oil, tagged Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Ida, Mars, Olympus, Shell, Ursa, WD 143 on September 3, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Shell Offshore Inc. (Shell), a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc, conducted an initial flyover of our assets in the path of Hurricane Ida. During this initial flight, we observed damage to our West Delta-143 (WD-143) offshore facilities. When it is safe to do so, we will send personnel offshore to provide a closer inspection of these facilities to understand the full extent of the damage and the degree to which our production in the Gulf of Mexico will likely be impacted.
Shell news release
This is a very significant report given the importance of the WD 143 platform in transferring all production from Shell facilities in the “Mars corridor.” These facilities include the Mars, Olympus, and Ursa platforms.
Posted in Gulf of Mexico, hurricanes, Offshore Energy - General, oil, tagged Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Ida, oil production, shut-in on September 2, 2021| Leave a Comment »
In a bit of a surprise, the volume of shut-in GoM oil production rebounded to more than 1.7 million BOPD (see BSEE’s 9/2 update). Because several deepwater platforms had reportedly resumed production, the sharp increase in shut-in volumes could have something to do with downstream facility damage or bottlenecks. The daily Ida shut-in volumes are plotted below.
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 