Posts Tagged ‘offshore oil’
Judge Holds Department of the Interior in Contempt Over Drilling Moratorium
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore oil on February 3, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Louisiana Parishes Send Letter to President Obama
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana, macondo, offshore oil, oil spill, safety on February 2, 2011| Leave a Comment »
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.
Fire on Brazilian Platform
Posted in accidents, tagged accidents, Brazil, fire, offshore oil, Petrobras, safety 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
Cuban Directional Drilling
Posted in cuba, tagged Deepwater Horizon, drilling, offshore oil on February 1, 2011| Leave a Comment »
After reading our previous Cuba post, Paul Post reminded BOE that Cuba has been drilling directional wells from shore to offshore targets for many years. He sent along some images from a 2005 report on Sherritt International Corporation’s operations in Cuba. Two of those images are pasted above and below.
Update on Deepwater Horizon BOP Testing
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore oil, oil spill, relief well, safety, well control 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.
New Industry Safety Program: Inside or Outside API?
Posted in accidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore oil, oil spill, safety on January 31, 2011| Leave a Comment »
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.
Was MMS Visionary?
Posted in Regulation, tagged Cullen Report, MMS, offshore oil, Piper Alpha, Regulation, safety on January 31, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Some post-Macondo commentary has characterized MMS employees as regulatory Neanderthals who couldn’t see beyond their checklists, had no understanding of operating systems and the associated process-safety risks, and were dreadfully behind their industry and regulatory peers. The reality is quite different, as those who worked with or for the MMS know. Someone who did both, Doug Morris, an engineer and attorney with extensive industry and regulatory experience, shared this excerpt from an April 1988 Federal Register notice. The Notice publishes the outcome of a 5-year regulatory review that updated and consolidated all MMS operating requirements for offshore oil and gas operations. One of objectives was to establish performance standards for all types of operations to encourage innovation and discourage a “compliance mentality.” Keep in mind that this Notice was published before Piper Alpha, the Cullen report, and the worldwide wave of regulatory reform that followed.
The following summarizes the major changes from current rules:
(1) Performance Standards. Performance standards were added which describe the safety, environmental, property, and resource protection goals intended to be achieved by specified design and engineering requirements. These additions are intended to identify the purpose of the detailed requirements and thus provide a basis for approving an alternative method for achievement of the stated purpose. New, different, better, and more efficient techniques and practices are intended to be available to lessees on the basis of these performance standards.
(a) Performance Requirements. A “Performance requirements” section was added. This section clarifies that the specific detailed requirements of the rule do not preclude the approval for use of alternate or new techniques, procedures, equipment, or activities when the lessee satisfies MMS that the proposed alternate approach provides equal or greater protection than that provided by the requirements specified in the rule. The establishment of performance standards in addition to specific detailed requirements is intended to remove obstacles to innovation and ensure that MMS’s regulations are not unnecessarily prescriptive.
PSA Reports on BP Audit
Posted in Norway, Offshore Energy - General, oil, tagged bp, Norway, offshore oil, PSA, safety on January 29, 2011| 2 Comments »
On 9 November 2010, the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) conducted an audit of BP Norge’s follow-up of new work processes within drilling and well activities using information and communication technology (ICT)
Cuba to Drill 20 New Wells
Posted in cuba, tagged cuba, drilling, offshore oil on January 28, 2011| Leave a Comment »
It sounds like they are talking about drilling directionally from onshore locations to offshore targets:
Cuba will drill 20 new oil wells in 2011, mainly in the area from Havana to Varadero, some 120 kilometers east of the island’s capital, said Rafael Tenreyro, head of the exploration group of the Petróleos de Cuba Company. He noted that the drilling will take place from the coast to the sea, to reduce the environmental impact, reported IPS. Havana Times
Brazil and Angola
Posted in Offshore Energy - General, oil, tagged Angola, Brazil, deepwater oil, EIA, offshore oil, presalt on January 28, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Brazil and Angola share more than a common language. Both aspire to be presalt production leaders. According to Platts Oilgram News (not available online):
BP, Total, Eni and other international majors have been awarded concessions to explore in Angola’s ultra deepwater presalt blocks, a ministry of energy official told Platts January 26, as companies hope to replicate in the southwest African country the successof the pre-salt plays offshore Brazil.
Per a separate Platts article:
According to the US Energy Information Administration website as of January 2010, Angola had proven oil reserves of 9.5 billion barrels while government statements in December 2009 put total reserve numbers as high as 13.1 billion barrels.
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 