Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE)

“The responsibility for safety on the drilling rig is with Transocean,” Hayward said. “It is their rig, their equipment, their people, their systems, their safety processes.”  Tony Hayward, BP CEO, in a CNN Interview

Mr. Hayward has been under a lot of stress, and probably hasn’t had much sleep, so we’ll assume he didn’t really intend to make this comment.  BP and Transocean are both part of the “Unified Command.”  We need for them to work as partners, at least until the well is secured.

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Needless to say, there is tremendous worldwide interest in this tragic incident, and everyone is asking what happened.  While details will be determined during the official investigations, the Unified Command should be able to provide basic information on the status of operations at the time of the blowout.  Absent that, we are dependent upon unconfirmed reports that are circulating among industry contacts in Houston.  In that regard, the prevailing view is that production casing (which extends to the bottom of the well) had been cemented, and that a cement plug (flow barrier) was being set inside that production casing as part of the temporary abandonment (suspension) program.  Beyond that, information is sketchy and inconsistent.

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Upstream reports that Diamond Offshore has evacuated the Ocean Endeavor as a safety precaution because the Macondo slick may be moving in the direction of the rig.

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Preliminary (and unsubstantiated) information:

1. Fire is uncontrolled
2. BOPE actuated
3. MSRC activated (oil spill response cooperative)
4. Search and rescue ongoing
5. Rig is listing
6. Approximately 20,000 bbl diesel on rig

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The Coast Guard reports:

1. 7 critical injuries

2. 11-12 missing

3. The fire is still burning

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We owe it to all those who died or have suffered to do our best to prevent anything like the Kielland accident from happening again. Magne Ognedal, Director General, Petroleum Safety Authority Norway

Section from a brace that failed on the Alexander Kielland, Stavanger Oil Museum

Thirty years ago today,  123 workers died when the Alexander Kielland capsized in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. The Kielland was a converted semisubmersible drilling rig that was functioning as a floating quarters facility in the Ekofisk field.  The capsizing was triggered by a failure in one of the structural braces during a storm.  212 workers were aboard. More information on this tragedy can be found at the Stavanger Oil Museum site.

We join our friends and colleagues in Norway and throughout the world in remembering this tragedy. The best way to honor the dead is to make sure similar accidents don’t occur in the future, and that is our commitment.

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Because of prior commitments and allegations of unfair labor practices by our overworked staff :), we regret that we must temporarily suspend coverage of the Montara hearings.  We will resume coverage on 31 March, just in time for the Easter break that the Commission  announced today.  On well, at least we’ll have time to catch up on what we missed.

Thank you for the supportive email messages and calls.

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