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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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House Energy and Commerce Hearing tomorrow (17 March)

March 16, 2011 by offshoreenergy

Speakers list and link to live streaming

The Subcommittee on Energy and Power announces a multi-day hearing on “The American Energy Initiative.”  The first day of the hearing will be on Thursday, March 17, 2011, at 9:00 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building.  It will focus on oil supplies, gasoline prices, and jobs in the Gulf of Mexico.

 

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Interesting Workshop in Washington DC

March 16, 2011 by offshoreenergy

How Organizations Think About the Unthinkable: A Risk Management Workshop about Avoiding, Managing and Mitigating Crises

Click for the agenda and details.  No registration charge!

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Good Opinion Piece by Loren Steffy (Houston Chronicle)

March 15, 2011 by offshoreenergy

Jason Anderson, Dale Burkeen, Donald Clark, Stephen Curtis, Gordon Jones, Roy Wyatt Kemp, Karl Kleppinger, Blair Manuel, Dewey Revette, Shane Roshto and Adam Weise.

They are the 11 workers who died when the Deepwater Horizon burned and sank in the Gulf of Mexico last year.

Their names need to be stated, to be remembered, because they were clearly forgotten as the industry gathered for the CERAWeek conference in Houston this week. Houston Chronicle

Comment: The sad truth is that the Macondo tragedy would have received very little attention if the fatalities were not followed by a major oil spill.  There would have been no moratorium, no National Commission, no Chemical Safety Board review, and no Justice Department investigation.   The last major multi-fatality accident in the Gulf, the South Pass 60 B fire that killed seven workers in 1989, received almost no national attention.  A minor spill offshore California receives more coverage than a multi-fatality event in the Gulf.

When every casualty, every gas release, every well control incident, and every structural failure is fully and publicly reviewed, we will be well on our way toward preventing not only injuries and fatalities, but also spills and environmental damage.

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Gallup Poll shows support for offshore drilling

March 14, 2011 by offshoreenergy

2010-2011 Trend: Americans' Support for U.S. Offshore Drilling

Comments:

  1. The most remarkable figure is the 50% support for increased drilling during the Macondo blowout when oil was flowing into the Gulf live on national television
  2. The second most remarkable result is the very low percentage of people who have no opinion.
  3. The percentage in support would likely have been higher if they had not included the words “in US coastal areas” at the end of the question. Most new drilling would not be in what people think of as coastal areas, but far far from shore.

Other interesting Gallup findings:

  1. 49% of Americans support opening ANWR to exploration, a record high.
  2. The wisest Americans (i.e. those over 55 :)) are the strongest supporters (66% in favor).
  3. The youngest age group polled (18-34) also supports increased offshore drilling (52% in favor)
  4. A majority of both sexes support increased offshore drilling.
  5. Even in the East, where we are very comfortable consuming oil but not so keen on producing it, 49% of Americans support increased offshore production.
  6. 49% of Americans also support opening ANWR to exploration, a record high


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Offshore Nuclear Plants

March 14, 2011 by offshoreenergy

Undersea nuclear

I’ll hold my opinions about nuclear power until the crisis in Japan eases. Instead, I thought I’d check on the status of offshore nuclear plant proposals.

Nuclear powered submarines date back to 1954 when the USS Nautilus was launched, and offshore nuclear plant concepts are almost as old. No such facilities have been built, but French companies are studying a subsea nuclear plant concept (see picture), and Russia has launched a floating nuclear plant prototype.

Less than a month ago, the Ecologist provided an update on the French and Russian projects. These plans will no doubt receive much more public attention as a result of the tragedy in Japan, but the French concept is quite interesting.

Pros:

Cores would be protected by three barriers: fuel cladding, reactor vessel and hull. The designers argue that immersion in sea water would ensure an infinite natural means of passive cooling and permit inherent safety and security. In addition, each plant would also be protected against potential intruders. The French argue that a submerged power plant would be less vulnerable to earthquakes, tsunamis, or floods, and would be far less vulnerable to terrorist attack.

Cons:

Sceptics are concerned that warmer water released from the reactors could be dangerous for local ecosystem. And, should there be a nuclear accident ‘the sea will be destroyed,’ according to the President of Anti-nuclear organisation Crilan, based in Cherbourg. ‘The fierce warming-up of the water will cause a massive thermal shock that will destroy sea life.’

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Daylight Savings Time and Energy Policy

March 13, 2011 by offshoreenergy

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.

 

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