Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, Lousiana, macondo, marshes, offshore oil, oil spill, well control on August 3, 2010| Leave a Comment »
In the less than 3 week period since Macondo was capped, we have transitioned from “doom and gloom” to “all is well.” What next?
Click to read an interesting USA Today article.
“Oil doesn’t really kill marsh plants,” says John Pardue, director of Louisiana State University’s Hazardous Substance Research Center, who has studied the effects of oil on marshes. “You can put several inches of oil on the vegetation surface and you won’t kill the plants.”
Posted in accidents, tagged accidents, fatality, Jack Ryan, Nigeria, offshore, safety, Upstream on August 3, 2010| 3 Comments »
Upstream reports that a worker is missing from Transocean’s Jack Ryan drillship which is working in the Akpo field offshore Nigeria. Two other workers were recovered from the water. The accident occurred on Saturday, but neither TO nor the Nigerian Petroleum Corporation are providing any details. Hopefully, more information will be forthcoming in the near future.
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore oil, oil spill, well control on August 2, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Those are the latest official numbers provided by the Unified Command’s Scientific Teams. Once again, no assumptions or calculations are provided. Why? What was the range of estimates for the different methods (videos analyses, reservoir modeling, acoustics, and extrapolations based on recovery volumes)? Show us the data!
Posted in accidents, tagged dispersants, EPA, macondo, oil spill on August 2, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Link to EPA Release. The results are not surprising.
These results confirm that the dispersant used in response to the oil spill in the Gulf, Corexit 9500A, is generally no more or less toxic than the other available alternatives.
Good, timely work by EPA. Also:
EPA believes dispersants should only be used sparingly and when absolutely necessary. Since the well was capped, only 200 gallons of dispersant have been applied to the Gulf, but constant monitoring continues.
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged Bayou St. Denis, blowouts, Louisiana, oil spill, well control on August 2, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Per Nola.com, the Bayou St. Denis blowout has been capped.
“The Unified Command was able to accomplish this in less than a week due to the fantastic cooperation between the federal, state and local officials and efforts of the contractors,” Capt. John Arenstam, the Coast Guard Federal On Scene Coordinator, said in a news release.
The fact that this incident occurred at all is not so fantastic. The Coast Guard is investigating. We look forward to seeing the report.
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, Australia, blowouts, dispersants, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore, offshore oil, oil spill, safety, well control on August 2, 2010| Leave a Comment »
End game mysteries?: As BP prepares for the static kill operation, the well’s flow path is still not clear. While the consensus seems to be that the flow originates in the annulus outside the production casing, irregularities during the cementing and testing of that casing suggest the possibility of flow inside the casing. The condition of the well bore and casing strings is also uncertain. Perhaps of greatest importance will be the inspection of the BOPE after the well is plugged and the stack is pulled. This inspection process should be closely supervised by the regulators.
Press conference etiquette?: After admitting that they joined yesterday’s Unified Command press briefing late, two reporters asked questions that had been answered earlier. Perhaps they think their time is more important than Admiral Allen’s, or that of the other attendees, viewers, and listeners. One of these questioners asked when the static kill operation would begin. Admiral Allen, who answered the question politely and patiently, should have asked when it would be most convenient for the reporter. Surely, the Unified Command would want to accommodate the reporter’s busy schedule. 😉
Dispersants: As has been demonstrated at oil spill workshops and conferences for the past 30 years, you can always stir up passions by questioning the use of dispersants. Dispersants, unlike burning and skimmers, don’t remove oil from the water (at least not directly). The On-Scene Commander (OSC) must consider the tradeoffs and make the decisions that he or she thinks will minimize the net impact of the spill. Given the magnitude of location of the Macondo spill, I think the OSCs made the correct calls. Dispersants were also used (not without controversy of course) in responding to last year’s Montara blowout in the Timor Sea.
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged Bayou St. Denis, blowouts, collision, oil spill, safety, well control on August 1, 2010| Leave a Comment »
This incident isn’t receiving much attention, perhaps because the volumes being discharged are small by comparison to Macondo and there is no “supermajor” to criticize. I expect that there would be a tad more coverage if BP was the operator. In any event, we thank the folks at NOLA.com for tracking this one.
Despite the dearth of media attention, this is a very disturbing leak/discharge/blowout (you choose) from a safety and environmental management standpoint. The well was apparently no longer producing and was left without any downhole barriers that would prevent flow in the event of hurricane damage, a fire, or a vessel collision (what happened). While pollution spectaculars like Macondo deserve the notoriety, industry should be just as determined to address more systemic problems like this one.
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged blowouts, Gulf of Mexico, Jay Grimes, macondo, offshore oil, oil spill, oil weathering, oil-eating bacteria on July 31, 2010| Leave a Comment »
oil-eating bacteria
“When a large amount of oil comes into the environment, then they quickly muster, if you will, and they can sometimes grow to 1,000-fold,” said Jay Grimes, a professor of microbiology at the University of Southern Mississippi.
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged macondo, offshore oil, oil spill on July 30, 2010| Leave a Comment »
“For southern Florida, the Florida Keys, and the Eastern Seaboard, the coast remains clear,” said Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “With the flow stopped and the loop current a considerable distance away, the light sheen remaining on the Gulf’s surface will continue to biodegrade and disperse, but will not travel far.”
The scare is over, return to your stations and enjoy the sunsets.
Dr. Lubachenco’s announcement is no surprise to the savvy readers of this obscure blog, but it’s nonetheless good to hear the official word. Don’t expect any apologies from the fear mongers who predicted that the loop current superhighway would carry oil to east coast beaches as early as the first week of May or from the media folks who were eager to report the pending doom.
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged blowouts, macondo, offshore oil, oil spill, Tony Hayward on July 30, 2010| Leave a Comment »
It’s much too soon to make a call, but the early data seem to favor A. The Telegraph and Time have posted interesting articles on this topic.
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 