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Posts Tagged ‘macondo’

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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Deep Water Hysteria

Posted in accidents, tagged , , , , , , on February 6, 2011| 2 Comments »

BOE’s Chery Anderson has alerted us that the Petrobras P-33 platform, which had been shut-in at the direction of the Brazilian regulators, has resumed production. Unfortunately, as has been the case with many post-Macondo articles, the author felt compelled to link the Petrobras problem to deep water.

…the accident once again raised concerns about the safety of deep-water oil output in the wake of last year’s disaster in the U.S Gulf of Mexico.

Contrary to popular opinion, water depth was a relatively minor factor in the Macondo blowout, and had nothing to do with the maintenance issues at the P-33 and other Campos basin facilities. Shallow water was a more significant contributing factor to the Montara blowout (batched completions, mudline suspensions, and two-stage platform installation) than deep water was at Macondo.

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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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PTTEP gets the green light for Montara development

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , , on February 4, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Australian Department of Resources, Energy, and Tourism

The Independent Review concluded that the Montara Action Plan effectively responds to the issues identified by the Montara Commission of Inquiry and sets PTTEP Australasia on the path to achieving industry best practice standards for both good oil field practice and good governance.

Comments:

  1. Perhaps the results of the “Independent Review” should have been released before PTTEP announced that it was moving ahead with development of the Montara field.
  2. Macondo was a model operation compared to Montara which was suspended for months with only a flawed casing shoe and a corrosion cap as barriers. When well activities resumed after the suspension, and the corrosion cap was removed, they could have tied back the 13 3/8″ casing and installed the BOP stack, but instead moved to another well so they could optimize efficiency. When the well began to flow, there was no means of even attempting to shut it in or install a surface cap.
  3. PTTEP has not been fined or penalized in any way by the Australian government. I wonder how Commissioner Borthwick and the folks who participated in the Montara Inquiry, which did an admirable job and was very critical of PTTEP, feel about that.

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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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Judge Holds Department of the Interior in Contempt Over Drilling Moratorium

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , on February 3, 2011| Leave a Comment »

The Government is ordered to pay legal fees for Hornbeck Offshore Services and several other companies that sued over the moratorium.

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Louisiana Parishes Send Letter to President Obama

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , , on February 2, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Link to letter

The Louisiana coastal parishes are united in working with each other and with you to see the drilling process expedited as quickly as possible.  It is imperative to our collective economies that we move forward with the process of providing the energy that moves our nation.

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Update on Deepwater Horizon BOP Testing

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on January 31, 2011| Leave a Comment »

A little bit of information on the BOP “forensic” testing from the Louisiana Record:

Justice Department attorney Michael Underhill said that a forensic report on the failed blowout preventor (BOP) which led to the Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent Gulf of Mexico oil spill should be finished in March.  Underhill spoke at a status conference for the BP multidistrict litigation in Judge Carl Barbier’s chambers at U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Barbier expressed concern over reports that the testing for the BOP and the cement used in drilling the Deepwater Horizon was falling behind. Underhill stated that the testing on the BOP should be done by the first week of March, but that’s “not a promise.” Underhill stated that the BOP investigation has already cost millions of dollars and has involved laser scanning all the equipment removed from the device. He also said that the forensic report on the BOP should be done by the end of March.

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New Industry Safety Program: Inside or Outside API?

Posted in accidents, tagged , , , , , , , on January 31, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Good Financial Times article:

A plan to create a safety organisation for deep-water drilling is being drawn up by leading oil companies and could be launched within weeks, in an attempt to restore public confidence in the industry after last year’s BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

However, a division has emerged over whether the new body should be part of the American Petroleum Institute, the industry group that was strongly criticised by the official National Commission inquiry into the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Stay tuned; this will be interesting.

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