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Coast Guard investigating reports of large Gulf of Mexico sheen

March 20, 2011 by offshoreenergy

Coast Guard news release

The Coast Guard said in a news release that it received a report of a three-mile-long rainbow sheen off the Louisiana coast just before 9:30 a.m. local time on Saturday. Two subsequent sightings were relayed to the Coast Guard, the last of which reported a sheen that extended from about 6 miles south of Grand Isle, La. to 100 miles offshore.

Though the Coast Guard was able to confirm that there is a substance on the water’s surface, it has not yet been able to determine if it is oil. Wall Street Journal

 

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More on the Deepwater Horizon BOP Forensics Testing Dispute

March 20, 2011 by offshoreenergy

Per the Platts Oilgram report that we posted on 17 March, here is the complete court filing..

These are the additional tests recommended by BP’s consultant Ralph Linenberger:

  • Removal and forensic analysis of each annular element
  • Hydraulic signature testing of the annular preventer operator and ram preventers operators
  • Disassembly and inspection of the annular preventer and ram preventer bonnets
  • Laser scanning of (i) the entire BOP wellbore; (ii) the upper annular packer and upper annular cap; (iii) the inside of the riser kink; and (iv) the wellbore-facing surfaces of the casing shear ram bonnets
  • Hydraulic circuitry pressure test
  • ST lock circuit confirmation
  • Solenoid pie connector pin measurement and corresponding female receptacle analysis.

Is anyone else surprised that some (all?) of these tests hadn’t already been conducted? That would seem to be the biggest revelation from the BP court filing.

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I was “moonstruck” this morning

March 19, 2011 by offshoreenergy

Super moon

The supermoon is a normal part of the moon’s orbit around Earth. Because of small fluctuations in that oval-shaped orbit, the moon will be about 8 percent closer to Earth than it usually would be at that point in orbit. That means it will look huge, about 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than full moons occurring on the opposite side the orbit, according to NASA.  Arizona News

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Real time monitoring is critical in the air and beneath the sea

March 19, 2011 by offshoreenergy

Air France flight 447 went down June 1, 2009, amid an intense, high-altitude thunderstorm

Specialists are launching a fourth undersea search effort next week for the plane’s so-called black boxes, or flight recorders.

‘We are convinced if we find the black boxes we’ll be able to reconstruct what really happened on this tragic flight Air France 447,’ Enders said. Airbus officials say the search is a company priority.

Air France and Airbus will finance the estimated $12.5 million cost of the new search, in which three advanced underwater robots will scour the mountainous ocean floor between Brazil and western Africa, in depths of up to 4,000 meters (13,120 feet).

Already $27.5 million has been spent on three previous search attempts that failed to find Flight 447’s voice and data recorders.  Daily Mail

Aviation safety proponents have argued that it’s time to start replacing black boxes with satellite systems that stream critical data real time. Similarly, as we have previously suggested, it’s time for real time monitoring of wellhead and BOP pressures and functions. This relatively inexpensive improvement would support testing and maintenance programs, improve our understanding of BOP performance, assist with well control decisions, and facilitate investigations.

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API to establish Offshore Safety Center

March 18, 2011 by offshoreenergy

“After extensive review and development, the oil and natural gas industry has approved the creation of the Center for Offshore Safety, which will promote the highest level of safety for offshore operations, through an effective program that addresses management practices, communication and teamwork, and which relies on independent, third-party auditing and verification,” said Jack Gerard, API president and CEO. “The board directed API to further develop the operational framework and timeline for the center—working with other industry stakeholders—to enhance industry safety and environmental performance.”API Announcement

Comments:

  1. Encouraging decision.
  2. Organizational details will be critical.
  3. It’s good that the center will be affiliated with the standards function and located in Houston (not Washington).
  4. Member support must be consistent and sustained.
  5. Operating companies that are not API members should be involved.
  6. Non-US companies should be welcome.
  7. Contractors and service companies should be involved.
  8. The focus should not be solely on deepwater operations.  Most major accidents have occurred on the shelf, and most of the contributing factors to Macondo were not deepwater related.
  9. A comprehensive, verified international incident data base is critical.

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Déjà vu?

March 18, 2011 by offshoreenergy

As was the case with Macondo, great minds have already figured out what went wrong at Fukushima and who is to blame.

Here’s what they tell us. Sound familiar?

  1. The company cut corners to save money!
  2. There wasn’t enough government oversight!
  3. Management failed to properly assess the risks!
  4. The regulator is corrupt!
  5. Warnings were ignored!
  6. The operation is not safe in that environment!
  7. The company and industry have a poor safety culture!
  8. Our country’s regulations are much more stringent!
  9. It couldn’t happen here!
  10. The threat is spreading; people in Panic-stan are in danger!

I’m no nuclear power advocate, but it would be nice if everyone focused on fixing the problem, protecting those who are truly endangered, and restroring some sense of normalcy in Japan. There will be plenty of time to investigate and find fault.

By the way, do you remember the fear mongering about Macondo oil on East Coast beaches?

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Deepwater Horizon BOP Examination – incomplete?

March 17, 2011 by offshoreenergy

From Platts Oilgram News:

BP seeks Macondo BOP access to perform tests Washington—BP is seeking access to the Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer so it can run tests the company says the joint investigation has failed to perform. BP filed a motion in US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans March 9, asking Judge Carl Barbierto allow the company access to the BOP after the joint investigation being run by the US Coast Guard and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, is finished with it. The BOP, a five-story stack of valves, sat atop BP’s Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexicoand failed to suppress a blowout April 20,2010. The blowout killed 11 workers fromTransocean’s Deepwater Horizon rig and triggered a massive oil spill. The joint investigation, under the supervision of the Department of Justice, has been conducting tests on the BOP at a NASA facility in Michoud, Louisiana. DNV Columbus washired to conduct the forensic tests and BP,Transocean, and Cameron, which made the BOP, have been observing.The test results are supposed to be delivered to the joint investigation by March 20. Hearings on the BOP are scheduled for the week of April 4. In its motion, BP said it submitted to the Joint Investigation Team a list of highly technical tests it felt should be conducted, but that the final list of approved tests did not include several of the items BP and other companies had requested.“BP, however, believes that performance of these forensic activities will add value to an analysis of why the BOP did not work as intended on April 20, and recommends they be completed,” the company said in its court brief.— Gary Gentile

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Deepwater Horizon – The Movie?

March 17, 2011 by offshoreenergy

Summit Entertainment, Participant Media and Imagenation Abu Dhabi, have announced that they’ve acquired the film rights to a 2010 New York Times article on the BP oil spill.Forbes

This is the excellent New York Times piece referenced in the quote.

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Australian Natural Gas Demand to Soar?

March 16, 2011 by offshoreenergy

I just sent someone an email commenting that demand for Australian LNG (and their offshore gas production) was about to soar, but it  looks like the Wall Street Journal is already on this story.

A global shift away from nuclear power in response to the atomic plant crisis unfolding in Japan will likely spur a scramble for Australian energy, catapulting the country ahead of Qatar as the world’s biggest supplier of liquefied natural gas in the near future.

[OZLNG]

More Asian gas demand: China has suspended the approval of new nuclear projects.

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Safety Awards are more important than ever

March 16, 2011 by offshoreenergy

I am honored to be serving as one of the judges for this year’s Safety in Seas Award. As it has been every year since 1978, this prestigious award will be presented at NOIA’s Annual Meeting in April. To the best of my knowledge, Safety in Seas is the oldest safety award program for offshore oil and gas operations. This year’s nominations are very impressive. Congratulations to the participating companies and individuals!

I have had the pleasure of participating in other offshore safety awards programs including the Carolita Kallaur Awards and the MMS Safety Awards For Excellence (SAFE). Unfortunately, the latter program appears to have been suspended or terminated, presumably as a result of last year’s blowout.  That is unfortunate. The SAFE program was initiated in 1983, and District and National awards had been presented each year. The winners took great pride in their safety achievements. As many as 800 people packed the annual awards event in Houston to recognize the winners, promote safety achievement, and draw attention to safety issues.

Past achievements don’t guarantee future success in any endeavor, be it sports, the arts, business, or even politics. However, we don’t stop recognizing champions because they might fail in the future, we don’t stop presenting Academy Awards because future movies might be disappointing, and we don’t stop holding elections even though we never seem to get it right.

It’s been a tough five years for the US offshore industry – recovering from a series of major hurricanes and an unprecedented drilling blowout. Investigations continue and changes are necessarily being made. During these challenging times, positive recognition is more important than ever.  We must learn from successes as well as failures, and reinforce outstanding offshore safety leadership. I look forward to the presentation of the Safety in Seas Award and hope that SAFE program will resume in the near future, either under the direction of the Federal government or separately.

British-Borneo USA, Inc.

DOI Asst. Secretary Sylvia Baca and MMS Associate Director Carolita Kallaur present 2000 SAFE Award (moderate activity category) to British Borneo USA

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