Great Australian Bight
Our energy security will be greatly enhanced by opening up new geological frontiers and reducing our dependence on imports. Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson
Posts Tagged ‘offshore oil’
BP awarded Australian Bight permit
Posted in Offshore Energy - General, tagged Australia, bp, drilling, Great Australian Bight, Martin Ferguson, offshore oil on January 17, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Washington Post Editorial
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore oil, safety, well control on January 7, 2011| Leave a Comment »
No government regulatory structure alone can guarantee safety in an industry that must constantly adapt new technology to natural variations in drilling sites and unexpected natural phenomena. Oversight must improve, as the Obama administration has made clear, but also every company involved in oil drilling – not just BP – must individually and in concert with others evaluate industry standards and safety research programs. And none should assume that BP’s mistakes could not occur elsewhere. Washington Post
Well said!
Exxon CEO disputes claims of systemic problems in the industry
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore oil, oil spill, safety, well control on January 6, 2011| 2 Comments »
The explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig, resulting in the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, was caused by its operators’ decisions and not by general problems in the oil industry, Exxon Mobil Corp. Chief Executive Rex Tillerson said Thursday.
But then seems to contradict that statement:
“It’s really up to the industry” to make sure regulation is strong and disasters like these don’t happen again, he said.
So, isn’t the second quote acknowledging a systemic problem?
Macondo Penalties Speculation, Litigation Update, and Comments from BP, TO, and Halliburton
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, National Commission, offshore oil, oil spill, safety, well control on January 6, 2011| Leave a Comment »
The conclusions of the presidential commission’s inquiry into the causes of the Deepwater Horizon accident published Thursday make it increasingly likely that BP will not be found grossly negligent and will avoid the harshest financial penalties for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Siding with arguments by the Plaintiffs, Judge Barbier concluded that the depositions should go forward in New Orleans, rather than in Houston as preferred by BP.
BP vs. TO vs. Halliburton (quotes from New York Times article)
In a statement on Wednesday, BP noted that the commission had found fault with a number of companies, not only BP, the main owner of the well.
Halliburton said in a statement that it had acted at BP’s direction in preparing and injecting cement into the well. It said tests the panel identified as indicating problems with its cement formula were preliminary and did not contribute to the disaster. Halliburton also criticized the commission for what it called selective omissions of exculpatory material it gave to the panel’s staff.
A spokesman for Transocean said that BP, not Transocean, made the major decisions in the hours before the blowout. “Based on the limited information made available to them, the Transocean crew took appropriate actions to gain control of the well,” the spokesman said. “They were well trained and considered to be among the best in the business.”
National Commission releases chapter on the causes of the Macondo blowout
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, National Commission, offshore oil, safety, well control on January 5, 2011| Leave a Comment »
UK Parliamentary Committee releases post-Macondo report
Posted in accidents, UK, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Energy and Climate Change Committee, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, North Sea, offshore oil, parliament, safety, UK, well control on January 5, 2011| Leave a Comment »
The UK Energy and Climate Change Committee has released its report entitled “UK Deepwater Drilling – Implications of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.” We’ll post the report as we get a link.
A moratorium on oil drilling in deep waters off Britain would undermine the country’s energy security, according to a report by lawmakers published on Thursday in response to the BP spill disaster last year.
Cuba drilling to begin in March?
Posted in cuba, drilling, offshore, tagged cuba, drilling, Florida, offshore oil, Repsol, Saipem, Scarabeo 9 on January 5, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Well, well. In early March, Cuba will commence with deep water drilling under contract with Repsol and Statoil ASA, using an older rig that was recently rehabbed by the Chinese. Reports indicate that it has fewer safety features than the BP’s infamous Deepwater Horizon. The site is located a scant sixty miles southeast of Key West, Florida. Benzinga.com
There are some errors and unsupported opinions in this article, so I would take the March spud date with a grain of salt. As confirmed by Rigzone, the Saipem Scarabeo 9 is a new rig, not a rebuild. It was built in China and commissioned in Singapore. The inflammatory comment about the rig having fewer safety features than the Deepwater Horizon is also without substance. Everything about the Scarabeo 9 appears to be state-of-the-art.
While a projected 2011 spud date has been reported and appears likely, Cuba’s deepwater drilling program has been marked by repeated delays. BOE has seen no confirmation that the rig has arrived or is en route to Cuba. We would appreciate any updates that others might be able to provide.
Operations to resume on suspended GoM deepwater wells
Posted in drilling, Offshore Energy - General, tagged BOEMRE, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, offshore oil on January 4, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Encouraging and prudent decision:
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) today notified 13 companies whose deepwater drilling activities were suspended by last year’s deepwater drilling moratorium that they may be able to resume those previously-approved activities without the need to submit revised exploration or development plans for supplemental National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews. Before resuming those activities without additional NEPA review, however, the companies must comply with BOEMRE’s new policies and regulations.
The resumption of operations on suspended wells was the major concern of some operators and had the potential to delay anticipated new production.
US tension, UK resolve
Posted in drilling, Offshore Energy - General, tagged Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, offshore oil, UK on January 3, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Wall Street Journal on on Gulf delays
The Energy Information Administration, the research arm of the Department of Energy, last month predicted that domestic offshore oil production will fall 13% this year from 2010 due to the moratorium and the slow return to drilling; a year ago, the agency predicted offshore production would rise 6% in 2011. The difference: a loss of about 220,000 barrels of oil a day.
UK moves ahead with deepwater drilling
MPs have ruled out a moratorium on deep water drilling in the North Sea, despite concerns it could lead to a disaster worse than BP’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last year.
Shallow water struggle (Wall Street Journal)
From bad to worse for shelf operations:
“We were on our knees when Macondo hit,” said Jim Noe, senior vice president and general counsel for Hercules.
Colin Leach on Well Control
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged Colin Leach, Deepwater, drilling, offshore oil, relief well, safety, well control on January 1, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Colin Leach has provided a nice overview of the loss of well control scenarios for a deepwater well (Figure 1), and a concise, but comprehensive, summary of the critical elements of a well control program (Figure 2). Click on either figure to enlarge.
We appreciate Colin’s continued leadership and initiative on well control issues.
Figure 1: Well Control Activities in Deep Water
Figure 2: Activities Focused on Maintaining Primary Well Control
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 