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Posts Tagged ‘macondo’

Chemical Safety Board Hearings

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , , , 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.  Those who have not yet read our interview with Magne should take the time to do so.  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.

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Justice Department sues BP, partners, and Transocean

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , , , on December 15, 2010| Leave a Comment »

In addition to suing for damages, the Justice Department is seeking civil penalties.  The amount has not been specified.

In the complaint, the United States alleges violations of federal safety and operational regulations, including:

  • Failure to take necessary precautions to secure the Macondo Well prior to the April 20th explosion;
  • Failure to utilize the safest drilling technology to monitor the well’s condition;
  • Failure to maintain continuous surveillance of the well; and
  • Failure to utilize and maintain equipment and materials that were available and necessary to ensure the safety and protection of personnel, property, natural resources, and the environment.

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Chemical Safety Board Macondo Hearings on December 15

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on December 14, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Agenda

Live Webcast

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Good Platt’s Column

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , , , 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.

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And the top Twitter trend topic for 2010 is ……

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , 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.  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 MMS had regulatory responsibilities for offshore oil and gas operations (had to be less than 1%).

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The Gulf of Mexico hurricane season is over

Posted in Offshore Energy - General, tagged , , , , 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

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Swiss court blocks Transocean dividend payment

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 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?

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Helix organizing alternative well containment capability

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , , 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.

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Good Wall Street Journal Article

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on December 9, 2010| Leave a Comment »

While the significance of these charts is debatable, the occurrence of two historic blowouts – Montara and Macondo – within an eight month period is a clear signal that we have problems. The disturbing similarities in these two blowouts tell us that well construction, monitoring, barrier verification, and personnel training practices are not where they should be.

Link to article

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More from the BOEMRE-CG Macondo Hearings

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on December 8, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Washington Post report:

Workers on the doomed Gulf of Mexico oil rig were distracted by multiple activities going on simultaneously and didn’t try to shut the well until 49 minutes after potentially explosive gas particles began flowing in, a BP vice president told a federal investigative panel Wednesday.

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