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Archive for the ‘accidents’ Category

Dispersants: Good News and Bad

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , on January 26, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Good news first:

Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts found circumstantial evidence that the chemicals guided some oil into underwater currents, stopping it from bubbling up to the surface, where it would do more damage, said marine chemist Elizabeth Kujawinski.

Now the bad:

But she added, “the dispersant is sticking around,” which is worrisome. The chemicals didn’t seem to biodegrade the oil and gas as fast as basic chemistry would predict.

See the AP article recommended by BOE oil spill guru Cheryl Anderson.

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National Commission Co-Chairs Testimony Today

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , , , on January 26, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Bob Graham and William Reilly will testify.

Schedule (Eastern Time):

0930 – Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee – live streaming

1400 – House Natural Resources Committee – broadcast live on C-SPAN3

The questioning should be pretty lively, especially at the House hearing.

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Ten for Tuesday

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , on January 25, 2011| Leave a Comment »

1. Helix has inked 19 Gulf of Mexico customers for its Deepwater Containment System. What will happen to the Marine Well Containment Company which was announced with much fanfare in July? Does it make sense to have two such consortiums operating in the Gulf?

2. No new reports on the Apache gas leak in the press or on the company’s website.  More transparency is needed in the post-Macondo era.

3. The Deepwater Horizon BOP testing remains a mystery. If you disregard the erroneous January 5th and 6th updates (which pertain to hearings held last summer), the official investigation website has not been updated since before Christmas. Given the importance of this work, the absence of status updates is disappointing.

4. Useful listing of deepwater Gulf projects in Offshore magazine.

5. The National Commission Chairs will appear before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee tomorrow.  The hearing will be webcast live beginning at 0930. Here is some pre-hearing chatter.

6. The Aban Pearl semisubmersible drilling rig sunk offshore Venezuela last May.  Will the world ever find out what happened? In fairness to Venezuela, they aren’t the only ones sitting on reports.

7. “The oil spill [has] definitely [been] blown out of proportion.” Judith McDowell is a highly respected scientist. If this is an accurate quote, it is quite significant.

8. Transocean wants to pay dividend.

9. Interested in serving on DOI’s Safety Committee?

10. A great painting completes the list!

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Montara Development Moving Ahead

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , on January 24, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Montara Blowout - Timor Sea

SapuraAcergy’s scope under the contract involves the engineering, procurement, load out, transportation and construction activities for the removal and disposal of the existing topside and the transportation and installation of new pipelines, risers, umbilicals, spools, manifolds, FPSO mooring systems and a new replacement topside, all of which to be undertaken at PTTEPAA’s Montara Development Project in water depths of approximately 80 metres. Dow Jones

The work will be performed in 2011.

Comment: What about the Australian government’s commitment to review PTTEP’s license?

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Step Change in Safety: Human Factors Report

Posted in accidents, tagged , , , , on January 23, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Step Change in Safety, a UK partnership committed to offshore safety achievement, has published an interesting human factors report.  The report, which was brought to my attention by Melinda Mayes, includes 12 one-page case studies of offshore incidents with commentary on how human factors played a role.

I suspect that many of you can relate to “Case Study 3,” which begins as follow:

After going through a difficult downsizing a company decided to restrict recruitment and personnel moves, in an attempt to avoid painful redundancies in the future.

At the time there was great demand for personnel in the oil and gas market. One installation lost a number of its operational leadership to another company. For a while the installation managed. It was able to maintain its minimum manning levels, and less experienced personnel were asked to step-up into leadership positions. The Offshore Installation Manager (OIM) and offshore engineer began micro-managing work on the installation.

After reading the report, you may want to take a look at the comments posted at the Step Change site. These comments illustrate another human factor – differences in opinion!

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Report on Newfoundland helicopter crash to be released on 9 February

Posted in accidents, tagged , , , , , , on January 22, 2011| Leave a Comment »

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) will hold a news conference on Wednesday, February 9, 2011 to make public the final TSB investigation report (A09A0016) into the crash of a Cougar Helicopters Sikorsky S-92A off the coast of Newfoundland on March 12, 2009.

This investigation addressed the helicopter and pilot performance that contributed to the crash that killed 17 workers.

A separate commission, directed by Judge Wells, reported on broader issues associated with the offshore safety and regulatory regime.

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Apache Gas Flow Update

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , on January 20, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Bloomberg report on East Cameron 278 “B”gas leak (90 miles offshore, 170′ water depth):

Apache workers have boarded the platform to seek to contain the source of the gas leak, the U.S. bureau said in an e-mailed statement today. The government said a remotely operated vehicle will monitor conditions to make sure work can occur safely.

The bureau said today that, in accordance with its direction, Apache is continuing preparations for drilling a relief well to stop the leak in the event the platform procedures don’t succeed.

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Thursday Morning Items

Posted in accidents, cuba, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , , , on January 20, 2011| Leave a Comment »

1. This is a surprise.  Does anyone know more about this conference?

U.S. experts will participate in a conference on oil safety in Cuba this April, Reuters reported. The conference comes as the BP disaster on the U.S. side of the Gulf of Mexico is raising concern over the start of offshore drilling in Cuban waters this year. The arrival of an exploratory drilling platform in Cuban waters that had been expected for early this year was reportedly postponed to summer.

2. TheHill.com has a pretty good energy blog of particular interest to Washington-types (you know who you are!).

National oil spill commission co-chairman William Reilly called on the Obama administration to think about negotiating a treaty with Mexico and possibly Cuba that would lay out uniform safety standards for offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

3. Nothing new is being reported on the blowout/uncontrolled flow/gas leak beneath the East Cameron block 278 B platform that Apache is calling a “water disturbance.” Spin doctors never sleep.

Based on the limited information that is available, well integrity issues loom large and there appear to be some disturbing similarities with the Main Pass 91 blowout in 2007.

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Platts Reports Gas Leak at Apache Platform in Gulf of Mexico

Posted in accidents, tagged , , , on January 18, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Apache said a hydrocarbon sheen was discovered in the water near its production platform in East Cameron Block 278 as the company was permanently plugging and abandoning nearby by non-producing wells. Apache said its workers saw bubbling in the water Sunday, followed by the sheen on Monday.

Platts Report

Apache Update

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Good Financial Times Article

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , on January 17, 2011| 1 Comment »

One of the better paragraphs I have read since Macondo:

The Deepwater story shows the fight against complacency is a continuous struggle, not a single battle. An executive at another oil major told me the default setting for safety managers should be “chronic unease”. That’s easy to see if you’re a prison governor or lighthouse-keeper. But it should be part of any executive’s attitude. Constant vigilance against, say, new competition, supply chain disruption, or unforeseen technological change is a must for modern managers.

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