Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Interesting Workshop in Washington DC
Posted in Uncategorized on March 16, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Daylight Savings Time and Energy Policy
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged daylight savings time, energy policy on March 13, 2011| Leave a Comment »
A wise old Indian said:
Only the government would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket, sew it to the bottom, and have a longer blanket.
The fact that Daylight Savings Time is one of our more noteworthy energy policy achievements speaks volumes about our current economic predicament.
While we were gone
Posted in accidents, cuba, drilling, energy, Uncategorized, tagged Australia, Brazil, deepwater drilling, drilling, energy, ISO TC 67, Japan, macondo, Mexico, Montara, Ningaloo Reef, nuclear, offshore energy, offshore safety institute, Petrobras, standards on March 12, 2011| Leave a Comment »
The tragedy in Japan has added yet more uncertainty to nervous energy markets:
Japan will likely need more imported oil and natural gas due to closures of nuclear reactors caused by Friday’s earthquake and tsunami, but volumes can’t be calculated accurately as it is unclear how much industrial output has been affected by the disaster and how long power nuclear and thermal power plants will remain closed. Wall Street Journal
It’s much too early to gauge how the nuclear power industry, which some have touted as a model for safety achievement, will be affected.
- Proposed ISO/TC 67 programme for drilling, well construction and well operations standards, resulting from the Montara and Macondo accidents. TC 67 Post-Montara-Macondo action plan – This is an ambitious and comprehensive post-Macondo action plan for updating international standards.
- National Commission paper on the importance of international standards.
Standards news and discussion:
Offshore Safety Institute?
The CEOs of major oil and gascompanies will meet March 18 to decide how to proceed with the formation of a US offshore drilling safety institute, William Reilly, the co-chair of the National Oil Spill Commission, said March 8. Platts Oilgram News
New twist in Cuban drilling drama – Petrobras relinquishes interest
Marco Aurelio Garcia, foreign policy adviser to President Dilma Rousseff, told reporters in Havana exploratory work off Cuba’s northern coast had not shown good results and that Brazil wanted to concentrate on its own oil fields.
Since BP’s disastrous Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico last April, the risks of offshore oil drilling have been a hot topic. One place it isn’t questioned much is Brazil, whose oil production industry is one of the fastest-growing in the world because of vast new deepwater oil reservoirs discovered in the past five years.
Mexican Deepwater Update (Platts Oilgram News)
Pemex has just begun to explore in Mexico’s Gulf of Mexico waters deeper than 1,000 feet, but 28 billion undiscovered barrels of oilequivalent are thought to exist in that area, some of which borders US territorial waters. Pemex officials said the company is forging a development plan for its first deepwater field, Lakach, located northeast of the state of Veracruz in about 3,200 feet of water. First production is expected in 2015.
Environmentalists are furious at a proposal by the petroleum company Shell to start exploration drilling off one of Western Australia’s most treasured reefs. Ningaloo Reef off the north-west coast, has been nominated for World Heritage listing.
Be back in a week!
Posted in Uncategorized on March 6, 2011| Leave a Comment »
BOE staffer departs for special assignment
This week, our staff will be fully immersed in special projects, and will not be able to post on the blog. All BOE subscriptions will be extended by a week at no cost to our subscribers. 🙂
While we are gone, we encourage you to read the “Best of BOE” (best being a relative term :))
Noteworthy Macondo finding that has received little attention
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, MMS, National Commission on March 3, 2011| 2 Comments »
In recent years various bodies have concluded that certain MMS offices and programs have violated ethical rules or guidelines. In the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, some questioned whether ethical lapses played any role in causing the blowout. The Chief Counsel‘s team found no evidence of any such lapses.
National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, Chief Counsel’s Report, page 261
International Cooperation on Mooring Issues?
Posted in Uncategorized on March 2, 2011| Leave a Comment »
From PSA’s recent Safety Forum:
Over the last few years, there have been a great number of incidents in the industry related to loss of position, including dynamic positioning. A project has been started under the direction of the rig industry and the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association in order to reduce the number of serious anchoring incidents on the Norwegian shelf.
The project, which is being led by an Anchoring forum, has an ambition of a 75 percent reduction in serious anchoring incidents on the Norwegian shelf by 2010, compared with 2006. A status report will be given regarding goal achievement at the next Safety Forum meeting.
Given the US experience with hurricane mooring issues, the recent Gryphon Alpha incident, and other station keeping failures around the world, this is an excellent opportunity for international cooperation.
Charlie Sheen offered position with BOE.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Charlie Sheen, Not My Job Award on March 1, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Charlie Sheen, currently unemployed, is being recruited to direct BOE’s Not My Job Awards program.
Charlie has repeatedly demonstrated habits and personality traits that make him uniquely qualified to serve as our Not My Job Awards program director. He is a hero to Not My Jobbers worldwide and would elevate that program to the next level. BOE Management
Hearings of interest
Posted in drilling, Offshore Energy - General, Uncategorized, tagged House Natural Resources Committee, Senate Energy and Natural Resources on March 1, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Secretary Salazar will appear before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday (2 March) at 10:00 am ET and the House Natural Resources on Thursday (3 March) at 10:00 am ET. Expect deepwater drilling and other offshore energy questions. Both hearings will be streamed live at the respective websites.
First post-Macondo Deepwater Permit Approved
Posted in Uncategorized on February 28, 2011| Leave a Comment »
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) today approved the first deepwater drilling permit since the Deepwater Horizon explosion and resulting oil spill. Noble Energy’s application for a permit to bypass is for Well #2 in Mississippi Canyon Block 519, approximately 70 miles south east of Venice, La.
Many thanks to Gary Gentile, Platts, for bringing this to our attention.
Capping stacks and containment systems are important, but well integrity is critical
Posted in accidents, Uncategorized, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, capping and containment, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, Helix, macondo, Marine Well Containment Company, Montara, offshore oil, oil spill, well control on February 28, 2011| 2 Comments »
Good Nola.com article on the well containment systems
Comments on well capping and containment:
- Capping and containment systems, while important and necessary, are for blowout response, not blowout prevention. Their use, successful or otherwise, would only occur after a series of unacceptable failures.
- Having two capping and containment consortia in the Gulf of Mexico (and none anywhere else in the world) does not seem to be very cost effective or efficient.
- What are the plans for subsea capping and containment systems elsewhere?
- A capping/containment capability would not have saved a single life on the Deepwater Horizon. Verified barriers must be in place to prevent flow from the well bore.
- The well responsible for our other major drilling blowout spill (Santa Barbara – 1969), was capped at the surface by closing the blind ram on the BOP shortly after flow began. However, capping doesn’t work if you don’t have a competent well bore. The well flowed through numerous channels back to the seafloor.
- Capping subsea wells is safer than capping surface wells.
- Capping the Montara blowout (2009) in only 80m of water was neither safe nor technically feasible because of the way the well was suspended. Despite the complete absence of a capping option at Montara, the capping of surface wells has received little attention.
- The more critical, but less publicized, post-Macondo initiatives pertain to well design, construction, and verification. In that regard, important new standards, including the Well Construction Interface Document, are scheduled to be completed soon. That work must not be delayed.
- While capping stacks and containment systems will only be used in the event of a series of major failures, design and construction procedures are critical every time a well is drilled. The importance of the initial design decisions continues into the production phase and beyond, even after the well has been plugged and abandoned.
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 