Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore oil, oil spill, safety, well control on February 26, 2011| Leave a Comment »
These hearings should be interesting:
The JIT expects to hold another set of public hearings the week of April 4 to focus specifically on the BOP and findings from the forensic examination. BOEMRE and the USCG expect to issue a joint release regarding the investigation by mid-April.
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, BOEMRE, BOP, Coast Guard, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, safety, well control on February 25, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Giant metal shears successfully sliced and closed pipe full of runaway crude in the early moments of last April’s Deepwater Horizon disaster, but the oil blasted through rubber gaskets around the blades and unleashed the nation’s largest spill, according to sources familiar with an ongoing investigation. Houston Chronicle
That would be consistent with the video evidence recorded on the Q4000, but we still need a lot more information about the timing of the shear ram closure, the position of the ram and drill pipe before and after shearing, maintenance, and other important BOP issues.
Kudos to the Chronicle for their ongoing coverage of Macondo issues.
Posted in accidents, drilling, Offshore Energy - General, well control incidents, tagged DOE, drilling, macondo, safety, Secretary Chu, Ultra-Deepwater, well control on February 24, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Few Cabinet Secretaries are scientists or engineers, and none has been a Nobel Prize winner. We expect Secretary Chu to be different and yesterday’s meeting with DOE’s Ultra-Deepwater Advisory Committee was not your typical Washington “hit and run” performance. Rather than making a quick speech and running along to his next appointment, Secretary Chu engaged in technical dialogue with our committee for a full hour, offering insights and responding to questions. Among the topics discussed were BOP instrumentation and monitoring, well integrity, ROV/AUV issues, and Macondo findings.
Kudos to Secretary Chu for his commitment to offshore safety.
Gary Gentile published this report on the meeting in Platts Oilgram News. (click on the story to enlarge)
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore oil, oil spill, safety, transocean, well control on February 24, 2011| Leave a Comment »
“Our internal investigation into the events of that tragedy is nearing completion,” Newman told investors during a conference call to discuss Transocean’s fourth-quarter earnings. “In light of continuing delays and obtaining information on the third-party testing of the Horizon’s (blowout preventer), we expect to release findings in the next month or two.” Fox Business
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, macondo, Norway, offshore oil, PSA on February 20, 2011| Leave a Comment »
The PSA established a project team on 7 May 2010 with some 20 members drawn from relevant disciplines to follow up the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Its overall goal is to systematise and assess experience and investigations in the wake of this incident, so that appropriate lessons can contribute to learning and improvement on the NCS.
The project will identify areas where enhancements can be made to the requirements in Norway’s regulations and/or other types of measures related to Norwegian petroleum operations. PSA.no
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, Australia, blowouts, drilling, macondo, Montara, offshore oil, well control on February 17, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Anthea Pitt, Executive Editor of the Petroleum Economist and a native Australian, recently wrote about her country and its historical dependence on natural resources:
Australia is well aware it relies on primary industries for its wealth. In the 19th century, the country proudly “rode on the sheep’s back”. More recently, iron ore, coal, bauxite and gold helped keep the worst of the sub-prime crisis at bay. Soon, a slew of large hydrocarbon developments off the country’s remote northwest coast will come on line, another rich seam flowing into Australia’s resources revenue stream.
The blowout at Montara was well-earned, and Australian and PTTEP were lucky even during a massive disaster. No one was injured, the well was at a remote location, and international attention was soon diverted to the spectacle of Macondo.
Evidence given to the inquiry showed exactly how fortunate Australia had been. It emerged that wells drilled at Montara failed to meet PTTEP AA’s internal well-construction standards, let alone satisfy regulatory requirements. The H-1 well, which had been suspended as a future producer during batch drilling operations, was open to surface for around a week before it blew out. Its downhole cementing job was flawed; there were no mechanical barriers in place. The rig’s blowout preventer was over another well at the time of the incident.
Although PTTEP has been given a pass by Australian Resources Minister Ferguson, the lessons of Montara must not be ignored. Deepwater drilling is not the problem; Montara was in 80m of water. Poor planning and execution are the problem, whether the well is in the Timor Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, the arctic, the North Sea or anywhere else in the world.
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, macondo, Montara, offshore oil, oil spill, safety, well control on February 10, 2011| Leave a Comment »
From the Australia Resources Minister’s Press Conference on 4 February in Canberra (click for the full transcript):
I might also say that I was in the United States last week and these issues were clearly top of mind in my discussions in Washington (l didn’t know he was here and have seen no US coverage of these meetings.)
I reinforced my previous commitment to work closely with the United States in terms of the consideration of the outstanding recommendations of the Macondo report and our determination to put in place a single national regulator in Australia
Discussions were also held with the companies and the US administration about an international conference we will hold in Western Australia in August of this year, focusing on the recommendations of the Macondo and Montara reports. That conference will be highly technical in nature.
It will in my opinion be a very important regulatory conference because it’s about basically having a look at where we are, what national and international responses can be coordinated, any specifications that might have to be changed so that we get a uniform approach to industry practice and the nature of equipment used. (Is the Minister unaware of the Vancouver conference and the ongoing work among regulators?)
(On the report about the Varanus Island explosion) Firstly I’d love to get my hands on it because I want to fully assess it. But I can’t get access to it at the moment because the WA government has determined it would be inappropriate to release it because it may impinge on potential legal proceedings.
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore oil, oil spill, safety, well control on February 9, 2011| Leave a Comment »
From today’s Platts Oilgram News:
Offshore drilling giant Transocean expects to release its internal investigative report next month on last year’s Macondo disaster in the Gulf of Mexico as the first of several milestones toward resolving liability issues, Transocean CEO Steven Newman said February 8.
The BOP section of TO’s report should be very interesting.
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, Australia, blowouts, Montara, offshore oil, oil spill, safety, well control on February 7, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Montara Blowout - Timor Sea
PTTEP will have to report monthly and meet quarterly with Mr Ferguson under a binding agreement for the next 18 months.
Comment: That “penalty” is almost comical. What is the next level of punishment – weekly meetings with Ferguson? Also, shouldn’t the Minister let the regulator oversee PTTEP? Shouldn’t the Minister receive such reports and briefings from the regulator?
There is no disincentive, there’s no penalties. That’s what I think many Australians will be scratching their heads about. Paul Gamblin, WWF WA Director
Comment: I have to agree with the World Wildlife Federation. As one who has been following Monatara since the blowout was first reported and has read every page of the submissions and testimony, it seems inconceivable that PTTEP is able to continue its operations with no apparent penalty.
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, BOP, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore oil, oil spill, safety, well control on February 6, 2011| Leave a Comment »
This cartoon reminded BOE sage Odd Finnestad of the Deepwater Horizon BOP “forensics” testing.
While the BOP testing is now in its 4th month with no official updates and no information on the badly neglected investigation website (where items from last August are listed as the “latest news”), there is online video evidence that gives us good clues about what happened. However, this is partial evidence, and concerned operators, contractors, and regulators need complete information. While we wait, wells are being drilled around the world without the benefit of even preliminary findings.
When a plane crashes, information is released as soon as possible so that future accidents can be prevented. Why is that not the case with this investigation? The absence of urgency and transparency is most disappointing.
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 
