Posts Tagged ‘macondo’
Posted in accidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, macondo, well control on December 31, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Marathon’s Macondo Presentation
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, bp, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, Marathon, offshore oil, oil spill, safety, well control on December 27, 2010| Leave a Comment »
A colleague sent a link to a Marathon Oil Company Macondo presentation that was posted by the Houston Chronicle. The presentation was intended for internal training and discussion purposes.
Firstly, I applaud Marathon for ensuring that the blowout is studied and debated within the company. Hopefully, they did the same thing for Montara, have a good internal system for studying accidents throughout the industry, and thoroughly investigate all of Marathon’s incidents and near misses.
I thought Marathon’s comments about safety culture were particularly interesting, including these on slide 58:
Although harder to define and measure, and even more difficult to regulate, we pointed to our culture as the single most important differentiating attribute when comparing us to BP.
In a recent meeting with an individual who has numerous dealings with BP, he observed that regardless of the purpose of the gathering (planning session to morning rig call), it is almost impossible to determine who is ultimately responsible and accountable for the operation being discussed. Evidence of this exists in the very report this presentation was derived from.
I wonder what convinces Marathon that their safety culture is superior. The above anecdote, while interesting, doesn’t tell us much. Prior to Macondo (and perhaps even after the blowout), I’ll bet most BP employees thought that they had a strong safety culture. Ditto for Transocean. Does Marathon have any better evidence demonstrating the strength of their safety culture? If not, what makes them so confident? Does Marathon have a process for assessing and monitoring the attitude and commitment of their employees? Have they conducted regular internal surveys to gauge safety culture? My sense is that they have not. If they had, they could make their case without the very subjective comparison with BP.
Chemical Safety Board Hearings
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged blowout, chemical safety board, HSE, Ian Whewell, John Clegg, macondo, Magne Ognedal, NOPSA, oil spill, PSA on December 16, 2010| Leave a Comment »
BOE applauds retired offshore regulators Ian Whewell (UK HSE) and John Clegg (NOPSA Australia) for their excellent participation in yesterday’s hearings. No one is wiser than a retired regulator. 😉
Also, Magne Ognedal overcame technical glitches to make an important long-distance contribution from Norway. Â Those who have not yet read our interview with Magne should take the time to do so. Â In this interview, which was conducted before Macondo, Magne concisely answers most of the questions about the Norwegian regime and regulatory philosophy that have arisen since the blowout.
Justice Department sues BP, partners, and Transocean
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, DOJ, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, oil spill, safety, well control on December 15, 2010| Leave a Comment »
In the complaint, the United States alleges violations of federal safety and operational regulations, including:
Chemical Safety Board Macondo Hearings on December 15
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, chemical safety board, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore oil, oil spill, safety, well control on December 14, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Good Platt’s Column
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, Gulf of Mexico, INPO, macondo, offshore oil, Platts, safety, well control on December 14, 2010| Leave a Comment »
This is a very good column that we are posting with the permission of Gary Gentile, Platts Oilgram.
And the top Twitter trend topic for 2010 is ……
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged Gulf of Mexico, macondo, MMS, offshore oil, twitter on December 13, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Top 10 Twitter trends for 2010:
1. Gulf Oil Spill
2. FIFA World Cup
3. Inception
4. Haiti Earthquake
5. Vuvuzela
6. Apple iPad
7. Google Android
8. Justin Bieber
9. Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows
10. Pulpo Paul
Pre-Macondo poll numbers I would like to have seen:
- Percentage of adult Americans (outside of the Gulf Region) who knew there was offshore oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico. Â Based on conversations I’ve had with people in the DC area, I’m guessing less than 50%. I know that sounds astounding, but that’s my guess.
- Percentage of adult Americans who had heard of the Minerals Management Service (probably less than 2%) and knew that the MMSÂ had regulatory responsibilities for offshore oil and gas operations (had to be less than 1%).
The Gulf of Mexico hurricane season is over
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
Swiss court blocks Transocean dividend payment
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, Andarko, blowouts, bp, Cameron, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, Mitsui, offshore oil, safety, Switzerland, transocean, well control on December 11, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Transocean Ltd. (RIG, RIGN.VX) said Thursday that a Swiss administrative court ruled that the company cannot pay out about $1 billion to shareholders because of the numerous Deepwater Horizon-related lawsuits pending against the rig owner in the U.S. Wall Street Journal
The $40 billion question: How much will Macondo ultimately cost Transocean? Halliburton? Anadarko? Mitusi? Cameron?
Helix organizing alternative well containment capability
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, Helix, macondo, offshore oil, oil spill, safety on December 10, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Helix Q4000
Helix’s system, a competitor to a project led by Exxon Mobil Corp that is still in the planning stages, is built from equipment that was used to siphon oil from the sea floor after BP Plc’s Macondo well ruptured on April 20. Reuters article
Interesting. We don’t know the details, but this would seem to be a cost-effective approach that could be quickly implemented.
