From today’s Platts Oilgram News:
Offshore drilling giant Transocean expects to release its internal investigative report next month on last year’s Macondo disaster in the Gulf of Mexico as the first of several milestones toward resolving liability issues, Transocean CEO Steven Newman said February 8.
The BOP section of TO’s report should be very interesting.
Posted in accidents, well control incidents | Tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore oil, oil spill, safety, well control | Leave a Comment »
With its acquisition of Pride, Ensco is about to become the worlds second largest drilling contractor (behind only Transocean). Further consolidation and a drilling boom are being predicted by giddy reporters.
Good luck to Ensco and Pride. I hope the merger serves them well. My comments are not about them, but about the broader implications of oil and gas industry mergers.
New and expanding independent producers could fill the voids, but these companies tend to be less involved in industry-wide programs and projects. This needs to change and there are some encouraging signs.
There is a lot on the offshore industry’s plate right now including cooperative risk-management programs and a long list of standards projects. Hopefully, everyone will be able to maintain their focus on those needs, and the merger-mania will not be too much of a distraction.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Ensco. Pride, mergers, research, standards | Leave a Comment »
Posted in accidents | Tagged accidents, Baker Institute, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore oil, oil spill, Rice University, safety | Leave a Comment »
Liz Birnbaum, a former DOI and MMS official and Congressional staffer, has opened a consulting business in DC. Per her announcement:
I am pleased to announce that I have established a small consulting firm, providing support for environmental quality and natural resources conservation projects.
Best wishes to Liz in her new endeavor. For more information about her firm, visit the SEB Strategies website.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Liz Birnbaum, SEB Strategies | Leave a Comment »
In addition to managing the catastrophic risks associated with fires, explosions, and structural failures, chronic health and safety risks must also be effectively managed. Hearing loss is one such risk, and PSA Norway has challenged industry to minimize the effects of noise on the health of offshore workers.
The risk level in the Norwegian petroleum activities (RNNP) shows a relatively high number of noise injuries. These are chronic injuries that will worsen with age. The RNNP questionnaire survey shows that 37 per cent state that they quite often/very often/always suffer from a high noise level. Five per cent state that they suffer some or quite a lot from impaired hearing, and 45 per cent of them believe noise in the working environment is the reason for their impaired hearing.
Click here to view the article, presentation, and recorded seminar.
Posted in Norway | Tagged hearing loss, noise, Norway, offshore oil, safety | Leave a Comment »
Montara Blowout - Timor Sea
PTTEP will have to report monthly and meet quarterly with Mr Ferguson under a binding agreement for the next 18 months.
Comment: That “penalty” is almost comical. What is the next level of punishment – weekly meetings with Ferguson? Also, shouldn’t the Minister let the regulator oversee PTTEP? Shouldn’t the Minister receive such reports and briefings from the regulator?
There is no disincentive, there’s no penalties. That’s what I think many Australians will be scratching their heads about. Paul Gamblin, WWF WA Director
Comment: I have to agree with the World Wildlife Federation. As one who has been following Monatara since the blowout was first reported and has read every page of the submissions and testimony, it seems inconceivable that PTTEP is able to continue its operations with no apparent penalty.
Posted in accidents, well control incidents | Tagged accidents, Australia, blowouts, Montara, offshore oil, oil spill, safety, well control | Leave a Comment »
The Canadian Transportation Safety Board’s report on the March 2009 helicopter crash that killed 17 workers offshore Newfoundland will be released on 9 February. This CTV piece provides a good summary of some of the significant issues that have surfaced in the press including:
Pre-crash warnings:
A Canadian investigator who red flagged main gearbox problems months before a Sikorsky helicopter crashed off Newfoundland says he’ll closely read a federal report on what caused the deadly accident.
Criticism of the FAA for their failure to respond:
He forwarded his results to the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. agency that originally certified the aircraft, saying he hoped to hear what a deeper probe would find.
FAA says “Not My Job:”
Les Dorr said the agency didn’t send any follow up research it did to Yearwood because it wasn’t under any obligation to do so under international agreements.
Transport Canada says “Not My Job” and points the finger at FAA:
Maryse Durette, a spokeswoman for the agency, says in an email the matter was the FAA’s responsibility and Transport Canada would wait for the original certifier to make recommendations before acting.
While the data suggest that the risk to offshore workers may be greatest when they are travelling to and from a facility, this investigation has received very little attention outside of Canada. That is unfortunate.
Posted in accidents | Tagged Canada, crash, helicopters, Newfoundland, offshore oil | 1 Comment »
Bahamas Petroleum, the oil and gas exploration company with licences in The Bahamas, is pleased to announce that the company has completed the acquisition of 1120 km of long-cable (8km) 2D seismic in its southern licences. The new seismic survey has confirmed the presence of multiple prospects, some of which are 4-way closure in nature and some of which are combination stratigraphic-structural traps.
I’ll defer to the geologists regarding the significance of this announcement, but the results would seem to provide further encouragement for the island nation’s exploratory drilling plans. Will Florida politicians try to bully the Bahamas the way they have been bullying Cuba?
Posted in cuba, drilling, offshore | Tagged Bahamas, cuba, drilling, offshore oil | Leave a Comment »
Tony Hayward, the former BP chief executive who stepped down in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon explosion, is in talks to launch a new global oil company, according to press reports.
Mr Hayward was approached by representatives from Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund who offered to bankroll him to the tune of several billion dollars to enable him to build a global oil and gas group, according to the Sunday Times.
BTW, are journalists required to use the phrase “in the wake of” in every article about the blowout? It sure seems that way. This short article uses the phrase twice (bonus points?).
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Abu Dhabi, Deepwater Horizon, macondo, Tony Hayward | Leave a Comment »
This cartoon reminded BOE sage Odd Finnestad of the Deepwater Horizon BOP “forensics” testing.
While the BOP testing is now in its 4th month with no official updates and no information on the badly neglected investigation website (where items from last August are listed as the “latest news”), there is online video evidence that gives us good clues about what happened. However, this is partial evidence, and concerned operators, contractors, and regulators need complete information. While we wait, wells are being drilled around the world without the benefit of even preliminary findings.
When a plane crashes, information is released as soon as possible so that future accidents can be prevented. Why is that not the case with this investigation? The absence of urgency and transparency is most disappointing.
Posted in accidents, well control incidents | Tagged accidents, blowouts, BOP, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore oil, oil spill, safety, well control | Leave a Comment »
