September 9, 2010 by offshoreenergy
“The goal of our efforts is a culture of safety, in which protecting human life and preventing environmental disasters are the
highest priorities, while making leasing and production safer and more sustainable,” said Assistant Secretary Wilma Lewis, who chaired the Safety Oversight Board.
The report of the Department of the Interior’s Safety Oversight Board has been posted on the DOI website. The report recommends certain improvements in DOI’s offshore oil and gas regulatory program. Because of my participation in this project, I won’t comment on the specifics of the report. I will say that I was impressed by the professionalism of the Board and the DOI staff who assisted with the project. All views were openly discussed and carefully considered.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Deepwater Horizon, DOI, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore oil, safety, Safety Oversight Board | Leave a Comment »
September 8, 2010 by offshoreenergy
Here is the link.
Our main interest was in the flow path and BOP issues:
Flow path:
The investigation team concluded that hydrocarbon ingress was through the shoe track, rather than through a failure in the production casing itself or up the wellbore annulus and through the casing hanger seal assembly.
BOP:
- The explosions and fire very likely disabled the emergency disconnect sequence
- The condition of critical components in the yellow and blue control pods on the BOP very likely prevented activation of another emergency method of well control, the automatic mode function (AMF), which was designed to seal the well without rig personnel intervention upon loss of hydraulic pressure, electric power and communications from the rig to the BOP control pods. An examination of the BOP control pods following the accident revealed that there was a fault in a critical solenoid valve in the yellow control pod and that the blue control pod AMF batteries had insufficient charge; these faults likely existed at the time of the accident.
- Remotely operated vehicle intervention to initiate the autoshear function, another emergency method of operating the BOP, likely resulted in closing the BOP’s blind shear ram (BSR) 33 hours after the explosions, but the BSR failed to seal the well.
BP’s flow path assessment is consistent with our expectations. Early on, while most of the attention was focused on the annulus, we thought that flow inside the production casing was a distinct possibility. With regard to the BOPs, BP’s explanation is a more complete than we expected at this time, given that the stack has just been recovered.
More to follow.
Posted in accidents, well control incidents | Tagged accidents, blowouts, bp, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore oil, oil spill, safety, well control | Leave a Comment »
September 7, 2010 by offshoreenergy
Posted in accidents, well control incidents | Tagged accidents, blowouts, Colin Leach, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, safety, well control | Leave a Comment »
September 7, 2010 by offshoreenergy
BOE has learned that “The Bly Report,” BP’s internal investigation into the causes of the Macondo blowout, will be posted tomorrow at 0700 ET on BP’s website.
Posted in accidents | Leave a Comment »
September 7, 2010 by offshoreenergy
Julia Gillard
Martin Ferguson is likely to retain his post as Minister for Resources and Energy. We trust that he will now release the Montara Inquiry Report as promised. When has a politician ever broken a promise? Never happens in this country 🙂
Upstream Article on Australia’s minority government.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Australia, Montara, offshore oil, oil spill, safety | Leave a Comment »
September 6, 2010 by offshoreenergy
BOE has received unconfirmed reports that BP’s internal investigation into the causes of the Macondo blowout will be released on Wednesday (8 September) in Washington, DC. The investigation team of more than 70 engineers and other staff has been headed by Mark Bly, BP’s Group VP for Safety and Operations. Stay tuned!
Posted in accidents, well control incidents | Tagged accidents, blowouts, Bly Report, BOE, bp, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore oil, safety, well control | Leave a Comment »
September 5, 2010 by offshoreenergy
Diamond Offshore Workers Receiving SAFE Award Recognition
On Labor Day 2010, BOE is proud to salute the thousands of dedicated offshore professionals, in the US and around the world, who work in remote locations under challenging conditions to provide energy for our economy and our way of life. Regardless of one’s opinion about oil and gas operations, wind projects, and other sources of offshore energy, we should all appreciate the important contributions made by offshore workers.
While investigations and enforcement actions are necessary, positive recognition is even more important, especially at times like these. The overwhelming majority of offshore workers do their jobs conscientiously and carefully, and make every effort to protect their colleagues and the environment. It is these workers who are most at risk when an accident occurs, not those of us who are sitting behind a desk philosophizing and pontificating. Their lives and the lives of their friends and colleagues are threatened when accidents occur, their “back yard” is polluted when oil is spilled, and their jobs are at stake if offshore exploration and development are curtailed.
Fortunately for us, energy exploration and production doesn’t stop on holidays. Whether they are working or enjoying the day with their friends and families, BOE wants offshore workers to know that we appreciate their important contributions. Happy Labor Day!
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged energy, Labor Day, offshore oil, Offshore Wind, safety, workers | Leave a Comment »
September 5, 2010 by offshoreenergy
if
Deepwater Horizon BOP Stack
Oh, what might have been …..
If this BOP had prevented the explosion, fire, and blowout, 11 offshore workers would still be alive, a mega-spill would have been prevented, tens of billions of dollars would have been saved, the Gulf region would have avoided a major crisis, the national economy would be stronger, and our energy future would be much brighter.
Posted in accidents, well control incidents | Tagged accidents, blowouts, BOP, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, oil spill, safety, well control | Leave a Comment »
September 5, 2010 by offshoreenergy
This article is nicely done, but like most commentary on the factors contributing to the Macondo blowout, it assumes that the well flowed in the annulus outside the production casing. Steps 1-3 would be irrelevant if the well flowed up through the shoe track and inside the production casing (ala Montara).
Posted in accidents, well control incidents | Tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, Montara, offshore oil, oil spill, safety, well control | Leave a Comment »
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