Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE)

Per PHMSA:

• At approximately 02:30 PDT (05:30 Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)) on October 2, 2021, Beta Offshore’s control room personnel received a low-pressure alarm on the San Pedro Bay Pipeline, indicating a possible failure.
• Beta Offshore reported the San Pedro Bay Pipeline was shut down at approximately 06:01 PDT (09:01 EDT) on October 2, 2021—over three hours later.

Comment: Very interesting finding. Good to learn that the pipeline pressures were being monitored. Need to see the pressure history for the pipeline and hear from the crew before reaching any conclusions regarding the conduct of the operator.

Also note that PHMSA is estimating that the spill volume was 700 barrels, far less than the 3000+ bbl maximum estimate. Further, a footnote in the PHMSA letter reports an updated company estimate of 588 barrels. I’m assuming that the refined estimate was based on meter differentials. These lower estimates are more in line with the oil recover data that have been provided and the visual images of the slick.