Posted in hurricanes, tagged hurricanes, Joe Bastardi, tropical storm on August 27, 2022| Leave a Comment »
I fully expect feature number 4 to be a TC by Wednesday and Hurricane by Friday as it threatens the NE Caribbean first. Eventual track toward Bahamas SE US in 10-15 day period. Feature in Africa develops, stays way out. 1,2,3 weaker right now
Joe Bastardi Twitter
Posted in climate, hurricanes, Offshore Energy - General, Uncategorized, tagged Al Gore, AOC, climate, hurricanes, John Kerry on May 3, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Posted in accidents, cuba, drilling, Florida, Offshore Energy - General, tagged Australia, BOEMRE, BOP, Cairn, Coast Guard, FLNG, Greenland, hurricanes, Mariner Energy, NOAA, Shell on May 31, 2011| 1 Comment »
News: BOEMRE releases report on the September 2010 Mariner Fire in the Gulf of Mexico.
BOE Comments:
Posted in Offshore Energy - General, tagged 2011, forecasts, hurricanes on May 13, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Earth Networks: 13 to 14 named storms, with 7 to 8 becoming hurricanes and 4 becoming major hurricanes.
Colorado State University: 16 named storms, with 9 becoming hurricanes and 5 becoming major hurricanes.
Probabilities per Colorado State:
— A 72 percent chance that at least one major hurricane will make landfall on the U.S. coastline in 2011.
— A 48 percent chance that a major hurricane will make landfall on the U.S. East Coast, including the Florida peninsula.
— A 47 percent chance that a major hurricane will make landfall on the Gulf Coast from the Florida Panhandle west to Brownsville, Texas.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: expected to issue its forecast May 19
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged deco, Gulf of Mexico, hurricanes, macondo on February 25, 2011| Leave a Comment »
from Offshore
Mark Kaiser (LSU) has published a nice summary in Offshore Magazine of the damage to Gulf of Mexico facilities from recent hurricanes and the associated decommissioning challenges.
Comment: Hurricane issues were an enormous challenge for the offshore industry and regulators in the five years prior to Macondo. Did the focus on hurricane damage and repairs increase the risk of a drilling incident? Not directly, but hurricane issues were the primary concern of industry and governmental personnel during that period. Resources that might have addressed other identified needs (e.g. cementing standards) were necessarily involved with hurricane projects.
Posted in Offshore Energy - General, tagged Gulf of Mexico, hurricanes, macondo, offshore oil, safety on December 13, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Based on the chart above, I think we can now safely declare that the 2010 hurricane season is over. While the threat of tropical storms posed some problems for the Macondo response, the Gulf of Mexico was spared any significant damage or suspensions of production.
During the post-Macondo discussion about safety and regulatory issues, not much has been said about the major disruptions caused by Hurricanes Ivan, Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and Ike, and the attention and resources that have been dedicated to hurricane issues for the past five years. Major advances have been made in mooring capabilities and assessments, design standards, securing topsides equipment, and other aspects of hurricane preparedness.
How much did hurricane issues affect the assessment and management of other operating risks? This question may merit further attention.
Mars TLP took a direct hit from Hurricane Katina with sustained winds >150 mph
Posted in cuba, tagged accidents, cuba, Gulf of Mexico, hurricanes, macondo, mooring, offshore oil, oil spill, safety on September 30, 2010| Leave a Comment »
In our last Cuba update, we noted that their next deepwater well always seems to be a year away. So it came as no surprise when we saw this in a New York Times article:
Yet next year, a Spanish company will begin drilling new wells 50 miles from the Florida Keys — in Cuba’s sovereign waters.
Comment: We have been hearing this for five years. Will the well really be spudded next year?
The nascent oil industry in Cuba is far less prepared to handle a major spill than even the American industry was at the time of the BP spill. Cuba has neither the submarine robots needed to fix deepwater rig equipment nor the platforms available to begin drilling relief wells on short notice.
Comments: (1) Not a good time for the US to be lecturing Cuba about oil spills. (2)In the event of a spill, all well intervention, relief well, and spill response equipment would no doubt be made available to Cuba without hesitation and with the full support of the US government. (3)A Cuban blowout is unlikely because every operator and contractor in the world will be focusing on well integrity and BOP performance issues that were factors in the Macondo blowout. (4)Informed international contacts have advised us that Cuban offshore officials are knowledgeable and committed to internationally accepted safety and pollution prevention standards.
My biggest concern with regard to Cuban offshore operations, assuming a moored rig is used, is that the rig would be set adrift during a hurricane and that anchors, mooring lines, or hulls could damage coral reefs and other sensitive seafloor features. In the US, the MMS and industry did a lot of good work on mooring risk assessments and improved anchoring systems and mooring lines. Given the significant probability that Cuban rigs will be exposed to hurricane conditions, it is imperative that US and Cuban specialists meet to discuss these issues. Once a rig is adrift, there is not much that can be done to stop it.
Also, in an award winning project, a multi-agency US government team demonstrated enhanced satellite monitoring capabilities that provide timely information on the location of evacuated rigs. These capabilities can be combined with gps systems to ensure continuous rig-tracking.
US-Cuban cooperation on offshore safety and pollution prevention issues is in the best interest of both countries, and should be encouraged without hesitation.
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, hurricanes, macondo, relief well, top kill on July 20, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Posted in accidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, Gulf of Mexico, hurricanes, macondo, offshore oil, oil spill, safety, sudden storms on June 26, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Hurricane Juan - "Sudden Storm" killed 9 offshore workers in 1985
The offshore industry has an outstanding hurricane evacuation record, but the Macondo blowout adds a significant new dimension to the decision making process. Disconnect the production risers and 35,000 to 60,000 bopd flow directly into the Gulf. Suspend the relief wells and the final Macondo solution gets moved that much farther into the future.
There will be pressure to minimize the downtime and that would be a mistake. Days, not hours, will be needed to prepare for the evacuations. Decisions will have to be made well in advance of a storm’s arrival and will be based on less reliable long-term weather forecasts. If a shutdown decision is made too soon, hundreds of thousands of additional barrels of oil pour into the Gulf. If the decision is delayed, lives are threatened.
The most frightening scenarios are associated with “sudden storms” which can form in or near the Gulf and explode into hurricanes in hours, not days. The rapid formation and development of these storms precludes an orderly shutdown and evacuation process, and poses a major safety threat to workers. In 1985, nine offshore workers were killed when Hurricane Juan formed suddenly in the Gulf and personnel could not be safely evacuated.
Let’s hope that the well is brought under control before any hurricanes enter or form in the Gulf. If not, decision makers need to exercise extreme caution and shutdown operations before lives are threatened.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged hurricanes on May 27, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 