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Diamond Offshore Workers Receiving SAFE Award Recognition

On Labor Day 2010, BOE is proud to salute the thousands of dedicated offshore professionals, in the US and around the world, who work in remote locations under challenging conditions to provide energy for our economy and our way of life. Regardless of one’s opinion about oil and gas operations, wind projects, and other sources of offshore energy, we should all appreciate the important contributions made by offshore workers.

While investigations and enforcement actions are necessary, positive recognition is even more important, especially at times like these.  The overwhelming majority of offshore workers do their jobs conscientiously and carefully, and make every effort to protect their colleagues and the environment.  It is these workers who are most at risk when an accident occurs, not those of us who are sitting behind a desk philosophizing and pontificating. Their lives and the lives of their friends and colleagues are threatened when accidents occur, their “back yard” is polluted when oil is spilled, and their jobs are at stake if offshore exploration and development are curtailed.

Fortunately for us, energy exploration and production doesn’t stop on holidays. Whether they are working or enjoying the day with their friends and families, BOE wants offshore workers to know that we appreciate their important contributions.  Happy Labor Day!

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Interesting Upstream article.

A leading member of Greenland’s ruling Inuit Ataqatigiit (Inuit Brotherhood) party has slammed Greenpeace’s actions to hamper drilling in Baffin Bay, saying the party will not quietly accept the environmental group’s “know-it-all” attitude towards exploration off Greenland.

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Upstream Report

Isolated rig move or predicted trend?

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Some readers have suggested links and information on the official US investigations of the Macondo blowout.  Some basic information is provided below.  The links will be added to the blogroll in the right column.

We will be examining the relevant facts and circumstances concerning the root causes of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and developing options to guard against, and mitigate the impact of, any oil spills associated with offshore drilling in the future.  This may include recommending improvements to federal laws, regulations, and industry practices.

Joint BOMRE – Coast Guard Investigation

The purpose of this joint investigation is to develop conclusions and recommendations as they relate to the Deepwater Horizon Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU) explosion and loss of life on April 20, 2010. The facts collected at this hearing, along with the lead investigators’ conclusions and recommendations will be forwarded to Coast Guard Headquarters and Minerals Management Service (MMS) for approval. Once approved, the final investigative report will be made available to the public and the media. No analysis or conclusions will be presented during the hearing.

This study will address the performance of technologies and practices involved in the probable causes of the Macondo well blowout and explosion on the Deepwater Horizon. It will also identify and recommend available technology, industry best practices, best available standards, and other measures in use around the world in deepwater exploratory drilling and well completion to avoid future occurrence of such events.

The CSB intends to proceed with an investigation of the root causes of the accidental chemical release that destroyed the Deepwater Horizon rig and took the lives of 11 workers. The investigation will include the key investigators who were involved in the CSB’s 2005-2007 investigation of the March 23, 2005, explosion at the BP Texas City refinery.

Various congressional committees are also reviewing issues associated with the blowout, most notably the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.  As time permits, BOE will post updates on post-Macondo legislative actions.

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Gro Brækken

The function-based regulations in Norway allow for continuous development, while at the same time, the operatingcompanies have a very clear and specific responsibility. This means extra quality control in all operations. I have no doubt that this contributes to the high level of safety. Gro Brækken, Director General of the Norwegian Oil Industry Association

This is an important report for BOE’s regulatory philosophers and those who are involved in one of the post-Macondo reviews.  The description of the US regime is not entirely accurate, but this comparison is nonetheless very useful.

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Gillard quotes Bill Clinton: “The people have spoken but it is going to take a little while to determine exactly what they have said.”

From the rather narrow BOE perspective, post-election uncertainty will likely delay the release of the Montara report even more.  Not good.

Election blog

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Jim Magill with unidentified official

After an outstanding 22-year career, Jim Magill is retiring from the US Coast Guard on 27 August.  Among other important responsibilities, Jim worked closely with the Minerals Management Service on OCS oil and gas issues, served as  Executive Director of the National Offshore Safety Advisory Committee, and developed regulations for offshore rigs and platforms.

For most of his career, Jim worked on the Coast Guard’s epic Subchapter N rule for offshore facilities.  For reasons beyond Jim’s control, completion of this rule was excruciatingly slow, even by Federal rulemaking standards.  To give you a sense of how slow this process has been, we annotated the timeline on this geologic time chart! 🙂

Timeline for the Coast Guard's Subchapter N Rule (click on figure to enlarge)

We know Jim will enjoy his new home, golf, consulting, and all of his “retirement” endeavors; and Subchapter N will now be someone else’s problem!

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The Canadian Senate has decided that the facts do not justify banning Canada’s offshore drilling operations.  The full report is linked.

The Senate also showed support for the International Regulators’ Forum.  Canada will be hosting a major international conference in Vancouver in October.

The committee heard sufficient evidence to make it comfortable with Canada’s (federal and provincial) approach to striking this risk/reward balance andwith its new judgment-based and goal-oriented regulatory approach. Canada is a leading participantin the International Regulators Forum, a group of offshore industry regulators from the most activeoffshore drilling nations, including Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, NewZealand, the Netherlands and Brazil. Interestingly, none of these nations have called for or imposedbans on current offshore drilling operations within their jurisdictions following the BP incident.

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The filing of claims from far away “gives you some idea of the creativity of the claimant population.” Kenneth Feinberg, Administrator of BP Spill Fund

Link

Hopefully, Feinberg will be able to weed out most of the scammers.  Sadly, some of the people who are most deserving will be too proud to submit a claim.

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by Chris Britt, Creators Syndicate

Offshore worker escapes to new life!

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