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Posts Tagged ‘Deepwater Horizon’

Houston Chronicle on BOP Failure

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on February 25, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Giant metal shears successfully sliced and closed pipe full of runaway crude in the early moments of last April’s Deepwater Horizon disaster, but the oil blasted through rubber gaskets around the blades and unleashed the nation’s largest spill, according to sources familiar with an ongoing investigation. Houston Chronicle

That would be consistent with the video evidence recorded on the Q4000, but we still need a lot more information about the timing of the shear ram closure, the position of the ram and drill pipe before and after shearing, maintenance, and other important BOP issues.

Kudos to the Chronicle for their ongoing coverage of Macondo issues.

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Russia:”Can’t Happen Here”

Posted in accidents, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 24, 2011| Leave a Comment »

No deepwater horizons in Russian arctic:

Developed by SevMash, the first Barents Sea oil rig will be a steel table the size of a football pitch and capable of withstanding temperatures of down to minus 50 Celsius. The whole point of it is that standing on the seabed, it will allow drilling and pumping the way they are done of firm land. This is a very far cry from the Deepwater Horizon. That platform was semi-submersed, positioned dynamically and designed to pump oil from beneath a mile of sea. When the oil gushed, the spill proved almost unstoppable. The Barents Sea platform will employ a very different production technology, which involves the use of powerful pumps. Chief Technology Officer of the Gazpromneft Shelf company Dr Alexander Kisser

Comment:

  1. Don’t demonize deepwater production to promote the arctic (or vice versa). The world needs responsible production from both.
  2. “Can’t happen here (or to me)” talk impresses no one. Explain how a disasters can happen to you and what you are doing to prevent them.
  3. Identify the special risks at your site and how they will be mitigated. Don’t tell us why the arctic isn’t the Gulf of Mexico.
  4. Perhaps we should present Can’t Happen Here awards as part of the Not My Job awards program.

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PSA reviewing Macondo

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , on February 20, 2011| Leave a Comment »

The PSA established a project team on 7 May 2010 with some 20 members drawn from relevant disciplines to follow up the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Its overall goal is to systematise and assess experience and investigations in the wake of this incident, so that appropriate lessons can contribute to learning and improvement on the NCS.

The project will identify areas where enhancements can be made to the requirements in Norway’s regulations and/or other types of measures related to Norwegian petroleum operations. PSA.no

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Baker Institute Offshore Energy Forum to be Webcast Live on 11 February

Posted in conferences, tagged , , , , , , , , on February 11, 2011| Leave a Comment »

U.S. OFFSHORE OIL EXPLORATION: MANAGING RISKS TO MOVE FORWARD

Click for the agenda and webcast.

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Transocean to release report next month

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 9, 2011| Leave a Comment »

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.

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Rice University Offshore Safety Conference; 11 February

Posted in accidents, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on February 9, 2011| Leave a Comment »

U.S. OFFSHORE OIL EXPLORATION: MANAGING RISKS TO MOVE FORWARD

Interesting lineup of speakers.

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New job for Tony Hayward?

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on February 6, 2011| Leave a Comment »

link

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?).


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Biology Lab and the Deepwater Horizon BOP

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on February 6, 2011| 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.

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Mitsui gets a bill

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 5, 2011| 7 Comments »

From Platts Oilgram News (3 February 2011):

Mitsui affiliate MOEX Offshore has received invoices from BP seeking $2.64 billion in reimbursement related to the Macondo oil spill in the US Gulf of Mexico, Mitsui said February 2.

A wise attorney (not an oxymoron :)) recently mentioned that you had to be very careful about ventures that you are buying into (as a partner) or selling into (as a contractor or manufacturer). If something horrible happens, your company’s economic future could be jeopardized, even if your role was rather small.

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New York Times on NEPA

Posted in accidents, Regulation, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on February 4, 2011| Leave a Comment »

The future pace of drilling approvals in the Gulf of Mexico might be slowed less by new laws or regulations stemming from last year’s massive spill but by a decades-old law that opens the door to longer environmental reviews and litigation. New York Times

We know the NEPA process is slow and repetitive, but how much value is added? NEPA reviews don’t improve well integrity, BOP performance, or safety management programs; nor do they even address these fundamental safety and pollution prevention considerations, at least not in a substantive way.  Why not publish a single, comprehensive online environmental review for drilling and production operations in the region?  The review would cover all possible impacts for every type of operation. This detailed “living document” would be continuously updated as new environmental information is acquired, technology advances, and regulations and standards are updated.  The public could comment on specific operations as they are proposed, and could otherwise comment on the document at any time. Periodic public meetings could be held as necessary and desirable.

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