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Diving fatality in the UK offshore sector

April 15, 2011 by offshoreenergy

Per the Evening Express in Aberdeen:

A DIVER working for an oil company has died at sea.

The 49-year-old oil worker took ill while diving with the Acergy Osprey, operated by Subsea7 which is based in Westhill.

No other information is available at this time.

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Thank you Jan de Jong!

April 15, 2011 by offshoreenergy

Jan de Jong, Inspector General, State Supervision of Mines, the Netherlands

I want to thank Jan de Jong, Inspector General, State Supervision of Mines (SSM), the Netherlands, for the support he expressed for the former Minerals Management Service at yesterday’s Ministerial Forum in Washington. Jan spoke favorably about his experiences with MMS personnel and questioned the public criticism.

Last year, SSM celebrated its 200th anniversary. I encourage you to view an excellent anniversary video about this very effective regulator. Pay special attention to the description of their regulatory philosophy, which begins at about the 6 minute mark.

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Observations from the Ministerial Forum on Offshore Drilling Containment

April 15, 2011 by offshoreenergy

International Guests

  • The conference was nicely organized by the folks in the Department of the Interior and BOEMRE
  • Angola, Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom, Russia, and the US were represented. The European Union also participated.
  • Brazil was represented by two Petrobras managers, rather than governmental officials. This raised some eyebrows.
  • Australia formally announced yet another offshore regulators’ conference, the International Offshore Petroleum Regulators and Operators Summit in Perth (10-11 August). Do we need better coordination of the coordination conferences? Isn’t the International Regulators’ Forum (IRF) the best means of managing all of this?
  • The need for expanded offshore oil and gas operations was recognized by all participants.
  • Malcolm Webb of Oil and Gas UK, announced that UK operators would have a capping capability for subsea wells by the end of the summer. However,  no well containment system is planned. This omission, which was attributed to North Sea weather and sea conditions, is surprising. Capping is not an option if well integrity concerns prevent a well from being shut-in, either with the BOP or a cap (if the BOP failed). The absence of a well containment option would seem to be a significant gap in their response capability.
  • A working group was formed to consider a new or strengthened international organization for offshore safety and pollution prevention. In my view, the best option would be to enhance existing cooperation mechanisms, most notably the IRF. International cooperation on safety is not a new concept. The IRF, which was mentioned positively by many of the speakers at the Ministerial Forum, has existed since 1994 and has an ongoing international standards effort. A related group, ICRARD, has been coordinating offshore safety research for more than 15 years. Various industry organizations have international programs. ISO has a good system for developing and managing standards. The International Maritime Organization has official committees that address certain offshore safety and pollution issues. Making better use of existing committees and forums would seem to make more sense than starting new ones.

With BOEMRE dynamos - (Kona) Kevin Kunkel and July (Ms. COOL) McQuilliams

link to videos

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Coast Guard Incident Specific Preparedness Review (Macondo)

April 10, 2011 by offshoreenergy

Good report; worth reading.  Some of the positive points are unlikely to get much attention, so we’ll mention them here:

  1. The National Incident Management System/Incident Command System worked as intended
  2. Personnel provided by the Responsible Party (RP) and Coast Guard personnel worked effectively together, and there was “unity of effort” throughout the response organization.
  3. The team found no evidence of collusion between the Coast Guard and RP.
  4. The response generally benefited from the ability of the Government and the private sector to rapidly assess and adapt to new or unusual contingencies and develop innovative solutions for problems not previously experienced.
  5. The knowledge acquired and capabilities learned from this experience are unprecedented, and should become a basis for significant improvements in planning, preparedness, and response for industry, Government, and the response community.

The “Political Demands” section beginning on page 75 includes relatively candid observations on the challenges associated with the management of such a high profile response.

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Rigs to Retirement?

April 2, 2011 by offshoreenergy

Growing demand for new offshore oil rigs, partly driven by the Gulf of Mexico spill last year, has led to a spurt of building in shipyards and raised tough questions about what to do with the old rigs. Reuters

What? Have they not looked at the Rigs-to-Reefs+++ page™ (a BOE exclusive)?

“At a certain point it just doesn’t make any sense to upgrade them or put another 5-10 million bucks into them,” said John Tasdemir, an analyst at Canaccord Genuity. “Better just to scrap them and either start over, or just do something else.”

“Do something else” is correct and there are many options!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment »

Major Barents Sea Discovery

April 1, 2011 by offshoreenergy

Statoil, along with partners Eni Norway and Petoro, has made a significant oil discovery on the Skrugard prospect in the Barents Sea. The breakthrough discovery is one of the most important finds on the Norwegian continental shelf in the last decade. Statoil announcement

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Colin Leach: handling riser gas when a synthetic oil-based mud is in use

April 1, 2011 by offshoreenergy

A recent Colin Leach comment (below) merits a separate post.  Keep in mind that formation gas is highly soluble in oil-based fluids. Under bottomhole temperature/pressure conditions, the gas may be completely dissolved in the drilling fluid, complicating kick detection.

Problem: A small amount of gas is in the riser above the BOP.  This gas has been recognized, the BOP has been shut, and the well below the BOP has been killed and circulated.

What to do next? There may be 2000 bbl of mud in the riser.  Overboard?  In any case if this is done, it may get quite exciting when the (small) gas pocket reaches surface.  Do we always send this mud overboard?  Whenever there is a doubt?

The alternative of circulating through a “riser gas handler” (if the rig is equipped with one) is quite safe as long as some back-pressure  (perhaps 200 psi as a minimum) is held on a choke in order to prevent what was termed “explosive unloading” from happening.  Without this back-pressure, the events that follow are disastrous.

Follow-up: It is time to take a step back and re-look at this whole situation.  To do so does require the realistic modeling software….OLGA, Drillbench etc.. Simple gas calculations (P1V1=P2V2…..or even allowing for Z) don’t include the dynamic effects that you will see and simply must not be used.  The gas rates that come from these simple calculations are misleadingly low.

Certainly this is an area where the industry needs some focused effort.

 

 

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How NOT to manage an inspection program

April 1, 2011 by offshoreenergy

Shale gas is important to the economic future of states like Pennsylvania. However, there are legitimate public concerns about environmental issues including the potential for contaminating freshwater supplies. Significant impacts are preventable with prudent operating practices and effective regulatory programs. So what directive does the responsible State agency issue to its inspectors?

Field inspectors and regional directors for the state Department of Environmental Protection have been told they must obtain approval from DEP Secretary Michael Krancer before issuing permits or enforcing regulations pertaining to Marcellus Shale drilling.. PostGazette.com

How would you like to be an inspector for an organization like that?

Unless this decision is promptly reversed, expect the following:

  1. The public will assume that politicians are micromanaging critical field inspection programs, and confidence in the regulatory program will be eroded.
  2. Inspectors will be unable to respond quickly when violations are observed. Morale will suffer. Skilled personnel will leave or lose motivation.
  3. Regulatory efficiency will decrease while costs increase.
  4. The operating companies will deal directly with the Secretary’s office, leaving field personnel out of the loop.
  5. The industry’s image will suffer. Effective regulation identifies those who are willing to cut corners and protects the leading companies.

Former DEP Secretary John Hangar commented on the State decision on his blog.

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Synthetic Mud Spill Offshore Newfoundland

March 31, 2011 by offshoreenergy

Cheryl Anderson submitted a report on a synthetic mud spill from the Henry Goodrich which is operating offshore Newfoundland.

An estimated 26,400 litres (approximately 166 bbl) synthetic based mud spill occurred Monday east of St. John’s from Suncor Energy Henry Goodrich rig while drilling an exploration well on Monday but not reported until today – a three day delay.  Preliminary reports indicate the cause may have been a valve left open on the mud pit. vocm.com

 

Posted in accidents | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments »

For North Sea Veterans and Offshore History Buffs

March 31, 2011 by offshoreenergy

John Milne Book Launch

John C Milne

“Dubs” is a term used in Aberdeen and northeast Scotland to describe all varieties of mud. That is the first thing I learned in reading John Milne’s excellent book “DUBS, How the Oil Came North.”  John’s first job in the offshore industry was with a drilling mud supplier back in 1969 when he was still a college student.  John presents a series of amusing and informative anecdotes about hie work experiences between 1969 and 1973 during the early years of North Sea offshore exploration. The book is available through the publisher, PlashMill Press. Good read!

I also recommend Bjørn Vidar Lerøen’s excellent book “Drops of Black Gold,” which

Drops of Black Gold - Statoil

chronicles the history of Statoil and Norwegian offshore oil and gas development. The book includes a now famous 1962 letter from Phillips Petroleum to the Norwegian government. In the letter, Phillips seeks exclusive rights to the entire Norwegian continental shelf in return for conducting a seismic survey program. Hey, nothing wrong with asking! 🙂

Posted in gas, Norway, offshore, oil, UK | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

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