Posted in accidents, Gulf of Mexico, pipelines, tagged Gulf of Mexico, Main Pass, Main Pass Oil Gathering, pipeline spill on November 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »
The cause of the spill is unknown at this time. External damage (perhaps anchor dragging or vessel contact with exposed section) is a good bet.
Posted in accidents, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged BSEE, helicopter safety alert, helideck safety, loading procedures on November 16, 2023| Leave a Comment »
BSEE shouldn’t have to issue guidance about helicopter loading precautions that every worker and visitor should be taught before going offshore, but apparently they do. See the safety alert that is attached below.
In this alarming near-miss event, a helicopter was stationed on the facility’s helideck and a crew member approached the aircraft from the rear, entering the rotor arc area before the rotor blades had come to a complete stop. This unsafe action posed a significant threat to the safety of all personnel involved. An offshore helideck assistant repeated the unsafe behavior by approaching the helicopter from the rear, entering the vicinity of the tail rotor, and positioning themselves within the main rotor’s danger zone immediately after the helicopter had landed on the facility’s helideck.
Meanwhile, we are still awaiting the final report on the tragic crash at the West Delta 109 A platform last December. Why is this taking so long?
Posted in accidents, pipelines, tagged investigations, Nord Stream, pipelines, sabotage, Seymour Hersh, Ukraine on November 14, 2023| Leave a Comment »
No, because it provides no evidence in support of either of the two prominent Nord Stream sabotage theories: (1) the Seymour Hersh account and (2) the rental yacht narrative.
When the findings from important investigations are delayed, information leaks serve to control the narrative and satisfy political or economic objectives. Why are these intelligence organizations so eager to assign blame within the Ukrainian government? Why are the actual findings of the investigations not being released? Perhaps the WP and Spiegel reporters can answer those questions.
According to the joint research by DER SPIEGEL and The Washington Post, Chervinskyi’s name is circulating both in Ukrainian and international security circles in connection with the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines. The former agent allegedly coordinated the attack and also provided support for the specialist unit behind the sabotage operation.
Cautionary note:
People in Western security circles say that the Ukrainian security apparatus is plagued with rivalries and infighting, and that information obtained from sources there must be handled with caution.
both quotes from Der Spiegel
Posted in accidents, Gulf of Mexico, IRF, Offshore Energy - General, tagged 2022 fatalities, 4 fatalities, helicopter crash, IRF performance data, US data on October 31, 2023| Leave a Comment »
International Regulators’ Forum Country Performance data for 2021 and 2022 have now been posted. Unfortunately, the US fatalities data for 2022 are incorrect. Four workers died as a result of a helicopter crash at the West Delta 106 A platform on 12/29/2022. However, the IRF summary table indicates only one fatality for the year.
Per the IRF guidelines, “Helicopter operations at or near an Offshore Installation” are supposed to be counted. The fatal 12/29/2022 incident clearly happened at the platform’s helideck (photos below).
Posted in accidents, conferences, decommissioning, NOPSEMA, Offshore Energy - General, tagged Bryan Domangue, capping stack, decommissioning, idle iron, incident investigation, IRF conference, NOPSEMA on October 24, 2023| Leave a Comment »
NOPSEMA has kindly provided links for the slides presented at the 3-4 October International Regulators’ Forum Offshore Safety Conference in Perth, Australia. They will be uploading the video recordings at a later date.
On day 2 (stream 2) Bryan Domangue (BSEE) presented updated data on the progress that is being made in plugging inactive wells and decommissioning idle platforms (see the charts pasted below). In the following session, Bryan made an interesting presentation on the capping stack deployment exercises in the GoM (picture below).
For excellent slides on investigation and sharing the lessons learned, see session 9 (day 2, stream 1).
Posted in accidents, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged BSEE, emergency response, helicopter safety, inspections, Medical Evacuation, Safety Alert on October 23, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Consistent with the findings of their inspections and data gathering (as discussed further here), BSEE has published a safety alert (attached) that identifies significant shortcomings in medical evacuation planning and performance.
The findings suggest that a renewed focus on medevac preparedness should be an immediate industry priority. Note the evacuation time, supply, training, and other planning issues summarized in the BSEE alert. Also note the helideck safety issues that were identified. These issues are particularly troubling in light of last December’s fatal crash.
Posted in accidents, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Uncategorized, tagged Deepwater Horizon, macondo, Senate Energy Committee, Senator Menendez on October 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »
I was on the first panel to appear before a Senate committee during the Macondo blowout. All of the senators were respectful and professional with two exceptions, one of whom was Bob Menendez. Perhaps Senator Menendez’s penchant for political grandstanding was an indication of more significant character flaws.
Robert Menendez Allegedly Agreed to Use His Official Position to Benefit Wael Hana, Jose Uribe, Fred Daibes, and the Government of Egypt in Exchange for Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars of Bribes to Menendez and His Wife Nadine Menendez, Which Included Gold Bars, Cash, and a Luxury Convertible
Dept. of Justice
Last week, Sen. Menendez was cited for additional charges accusing him of accepting bribes from a foreign government and conspiring to act as a foreign agent.
Posted in accidents, Gulf of Mexico, IRF, Offshore Energy - General, tagged BSEE, Coast Guard, IRF, OCS incidents, offshore safety, regulatory fragmentation, safety trends on August 24, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Per the BSEE presentation attached below:
Slide 13: “In 2022, the rate of occupational fatalities, reported for activities on facilities where BSEE has primary investigation authority, decreased to being near the historical national average of approximately 0.9 fatalities per 25,000 full time equivalent workers per year. However, considering all offshore risk factors, including helicopter transportation, diving, marine transfer, and COVID-19 exposures, the occupational fatality rate for all OCS activities has remained high since 2019.“
Slide 15: “In 2022, the TRIR for both production and construction operations increased to the highest levels recorded since 2010 and remained high even after discounting the impact of COVID-19 illnesses. The TRIR for drilling and well operations, however, remained near their historical lows.“
Comments:
Posted in drilling, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, well control incidents, tagged BSEE, Well Control Rule on August 23, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Posted in accidents, drilling, Offshore Energy - General, UK, tagged 1968, heroic evacuation, North Sea, Ocean Prince, sinking on August 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Offshore veteran JL Daeschler brought the historic destruction of the Ocean Prince to my attention.
“At about 2 am on the day of the storm, the rig’s superstructure was torn off during a gale. By 7:10 am about a third of the drilling plattform had dissapared under 60 feet water.”
I didn’t realize that some early North Sea wells were drilled with semisubmersible rigs that were sitting on bottom, ala submersibles.
Per JL Daeschler, “the barge master on Ocean Prince was unsettled about sitting on a sandbank in the North Sea with waves as deep as the water depth, hence accelerating the scouring around the pontoon on the sea bed and distorting the forces on an unsupported hull. On a semisubmersible floating rig there is a great level of compliance between the mooring system and the forces on the leg and bracing. Worst case, you let the mooring go and drift.
It’s noteworthy that: “During the same storm which claimed the ”Ocean Prince,” the rig’s sister ship ”Ocean Viking,” while drilling afloat, withstood winds and waves of equal force.”
The entire crew of the Ocean Prince was safely evacuated. The helicopter pilot’s last name was fitting given his bravery during the rescue!
“Hero of the rescue effort was Capt. Robert Balls, 32, a former naval pilot who was alerted to remove the stranded crewmen. Within 45 minutes after he was awakened at Scarborough Hotel at 6 a.m., he was piloting a Wessex 60 helicopter across the North Sea fighting gale winds 400 feet up.”
“Captain Balls flew the copter with a minimum load of fuel in order to carry more than a full passenger load to the oil rig ”Constellation,” which was drilling about 20 miles south of the ”Ocean Prince.” On the first lift he transported 19 men. Usually, the capacity of the Wessex 60 is 16. On the second trip he took 18 crewmen. The final trip, he flew eight men directly to Scarborough.”
Before the storm:
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 