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Posts Tagged ‘offshore oil’

Bahamas Petroleum Co. Announcement

Posted in cuba, drilling, offshore, tagged , , , on February 6, 2011| Leave a Comment »

link

Bahamas Petroleum, the oil and gas exploration company with licences in The Bahamas, is pleased to announce that the company has completed the acquisition of 1120 km of long-cable (8km) 2D seismic in its southern licences.  The new seismic survey has confirmed the presence of multiple prospects, some of which are 4-way closure in nature and some of which are combination stratigraphic-structural traps.

I’ll defer to the geologists regarding the significance of this announcement, but the results would seem to provide further encouragement for the island nation’s exploratory drilling plans. Will Florida politicians try to bully the Bahamas the way they have been bullying Cuba?

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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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PSA gives consent to BP’s Use of Valhall PH living quarters

Posted in Norway, tagged , on February 4, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Valhall Field with new PH facility (from psa.no)

The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway has consented to BP Norge’s use of the new Valhall PH platform as a living quarters facility.

BP will use the living quarters module on Valhall PH until the entire facility is ready for start-up/use. This will provide greater bed capacity and flexibility during the preparations for start-up.

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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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Fire on Brazilian Platform

Posted in accidents, tagged , , , , , on February 1, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Reposted from Platt’s Oilgram News (31 January 2011):

Brazil’s Petrobras said January 28 it was forced to shut output at its Cherne II production platform after a January 19 fire on the structure, one of the oldest working in the offshore Campos Basin. The fire in an oil transfer pump unit was brought under control without injuries to crew members, damage to the environment or major structural damage to the platform, Petrobras said in a statement. The platform was producing about 9,300 b/d of crude oil when output was shut, Petrobras said, adding the field should be ready to restart production on February 1. Brazilian oil regulators, the country’s navy and environmental officials, and Petrobras technicians are investigating the cause of the fire, Petrobras said. The platform is one of two in the Chernefield, which recorded output of about 22,000 b/d of crude in November. Brazil’s petroleum regulator had an on-site inspection of the platform scheduled for June.—Jeb Blount

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