Here is the court order. It doesn’t say that the upcoming BOP hearings will be delayed, so they will presumably begin on April 4th as scheduled.
Posts Tagged ‘safety’
Judge Barbier Orders Additional DWH BOP Testing
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, BOP, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, safety, well control on March 25, 2011| Leave a Comment »
What’s Next for BOPs?
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, DNV, drilling, macondo, offshore drilling, offshore oil, safety, well control on March 25, 2011| 1 Comment »
Everyone agrees that a series of failures and mistakes leading to the use of containment systems is totally unacceptable. Capping stacks and containment devices, while necessary and important, should never have to be used in the post-Macondo offshore world.
The same cannot be said for blowout preventers. BOPs will be used and will have to work when needed. No matter how carefully drilling programs are planned and executed, there will be hydrocarbon influxes into well bores. While most of these influxes will be “routine kicks,” the equipment must work and the personnel must be trained to use it properly and to function effectively as a team.
The DNV report on the Deepwater Horizon BOP failure included some unexpected findings. These findings will be discussed at the Joint Investigation hearings which begin on 4 April, and will hopefully be televised or streamed live. While attention will focus on specific components, BOPs must be evaluated as complete systems. What new risks have been identified? What are the options for addressing these risks? What risks are posed by the solutions? What other risks, related and unrelated, need to be addressed?
I doubt that there will be any argument with the DNV recommendations. These include studies on elastic buckling, shear blade surfaces, the effectiveness of ROV intervention, and well control procedures (including the sequencing of annular preventer and pipe ram closures); revised testing procedures for backup control systems; improved capabilities for monitoring of the status of BOP functions; and requirements for backup control system performance.
BOP stacks with redundant blind shear rams are becoming more common, and would generally seem to be appropriate for subsea wells. However, attention must be paid to the entire stack with the goal of optimizing overall performance and most effectively managing risks for the type of well that is being drilled and the site-specific conditions.
April BOP Hearings Should be Streamed Live
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, Australia, blowouts, BOP, Coast Guard, CSB, Deepwater Horizon, DOI, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, hearings, macondo, Montara, National Commission, oil spill, safety, well control on March 24, 2011| Leave a Comment »
While C-SPAN has broadcast some of the proceedings, the Deepwater Horizon Joint Investigation hearings have inexplicably not been streamed live by the Coast Guard (USCG) and Department of the Interior (DOI). The National Commission and Chemical Safety Board streamed their hearings live, but the USCG and DOI have not done so. Why? This is perhaps the most significant accident in the history of the US offshore oil and gas program, and the most notable worldwide offshore disaster since Piper Alpha in 1988. Eleven men died on the Deepwater Horizon. Economic costs will total in the tens of $billions. Major regulatory changes, some of which don’t appear to address identified risks, are being imposed.
The upcoming hearings are particularly important because the BOP issues that will be discussed have enormous international significance. In this era, the world shouldn’t have to travel to New Orleans to observe the hearings, rely on sketchy press reports, or wait months for transcripts to be released. (And how is it that the Montara Inquiry Commission in Australia was able to post transcripts within hours after the conclusion of each day’s hearing?)
Accident prevention is dependent on complete and timely information. Had more people paid attention to Montara, Macondo may have been prevented. The upcoming Deepwater Horizon BOP hearings are of critical importance, and should be streamed so that all interested parties can follow the proceedings.
Key Points in Deepwater Horizon BOP Failure
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, DNV, drilling, macondo, oil spill, safety, well control on March 23, 2011| 3 Comments »
A shortened and simplified summary from information provided in the DNV report:
- The Upper Variable Bore Rams (VBRs) were closed prior to the Emergency Disconnect Sequence (EDS) activation at 21:56 on April 20, 2010.
- A drill pipe tool joint was located between the Upper Annular Preventer (closed) and the Upper VBRs (also closed). Forces from the flow of the well pushed the tool joint into the Upper Annular element. Because the tool joint was trapped beneath the closed annular preventer (and could not move upward), forces from the flowing well caused the pipe to push upward and buckle.
- The drill pipe deflected until it contacted the wellbore just above the Blind Shear Ram (BSR). The portion of the drill pipe located between the shearing blade surfaces of the BSR was off center and held in this position by buckling forces.
- A portion of the pipe cross section was outside of the intended BSR shearing surfaces and did not shear as intended.
- As the BSR closed, a portion of the drill pipe cross section became trapped between the ram block faces, preventing the blocks from fully closing and sealing.
- Since the deflection of the drill pipe occurred from the moment the well began flowing, trapping of the drill pipe would have occurred regardless of which means initiated the closure of the BSR.
- In the partially closed position, flow continued through the drill pipe trapped between the ram block faces and subsequently through the gaps between the ram blocks.
- When the drill pipe was sheared on April 29, 2010, using the Casing Shear Ram (CSR), the flow expanded through the open drill pipe at the CSR and up the entire wellbore to the BSR and through the gaps along the entire length of the block faces and around the side packers. The CSR was designed to cut tubulars, not seal the well bore.
sheared off-center drill pipe
DNV Deepwater Horizon BOP Forensic Report Released
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, BOP, Deepwater Horizon, DNV, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore drilling, offshore oil, oil spill, safety, well control on March 23, 2011| Leave a Comment »
The DNV report will be discussed in the upcoming hearings:
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE)/U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Joint Investigation Team, which is examining the Deepwater Horizon explosion and resulting oil spill, today announced that it will hold a seventh session of public hearings the week of April 4, 2011. The hearings, which will focus specifically on the forensic examination of the Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer (BOP), are scheduled to take place at the Holiday Inn Metairie, New Orleans Airport, 2261 North Causeway Blvd., Metairie, La.
Deepwater Horizon Study Group releases final report and papers
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, Bob Bea, Center for Catastrophic Risk Management, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, macondo, oil spill, safety, UC Berkeley, well control on March 23, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Bob Bea
Dr. Bob Bea, UC Berkeley Center for Catastrophic Risk Management, and his Deepwater Horizon Study Group have issued their final report on the Macondo blowout. I look forward to reading the full documents.
Bob has been at the vanguard on risk management issues for many years. While he jokes that there are two things engineers can’t deal with – uncertainty and people, Bob is an engineer who understands both! Kudos to Bob and his group for their leadership and initiative.
More on the Deepwater Horizon BOP Forensics Testing Dispute
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, BOP, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, forensics, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore drilling, safety, well control on March 20, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Per the Platts Oilgram report that we posted on 17 March, here is the complete court filing..
These are the additional tests recommended by BP’s consultant Ralph Linenberger:
- Removal and forensic analysis of each annular element
- Hydraulic signature testing of the annular preventer operator and ram preventers operators
- Disassembly and inspection of the annular preventer and ram preventer bonnets
- Laser scanning of (i) the entire BOP wellbore; (ii) the upper annular packer and upper annular cap; (iii) the inside of the riser kink; and (iv) the wellbore-facing surfaces of the casing shear ram bonnets
- Hydraulic circuitry pressure test
- ST lock circuit confirmation
- Solenoid pie connector pin measurement and corresponding female receptacle analysis.
Is anyone else surprised that some (all?) of these tests hadn’t already been conducted? That would seem to be the biggest revelation from the BP court filing.
Real time monitoring is critical in the air and beneath the sea
Posted in accidents, tagged accidents, Air France 447, black box, blowouts, BOPE, drilling, safety on March 19, 2011| 1 Comment »
Specialists are launching a fourth undersea search effort next week for the plane’s so-called black boxes, or flight recorders.
‘We are convinced if we find the black boxes we’ll be able to reconstruct what really happened on this tragic flight Air France 447,’ Enders said. Airbus officials say the search is a company priority.
Air France and Airbus will finance the estimated $12.5 million cost of the new search, in which three advanced underwater robots will scour the mountainous ocean floor between Brazil and western Africa, in depths of up to 4,000 meters (13,120 feet).
Already $27.5 million has been spent on three previous search attempts that failed to find Flight 447’s voice and data recorders. Daily Mail
Aviation safety proponents have argued that it’s time to start replacing black boxes with satellite systems that stream critical data real time. Similarly, as we have previously suggested, it’s time for real time monitoring of wellhead and BOP pressures and functions. This relatively inexpensive improvement would support testing and maintenance programs, improve our understanding of BOP performance, assist with well control decisions, and facilitate investigations.
Deepwater Horizon BOP Examination – incomplete?
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore oil, oil spill, safety, well control on March 17, 2011| Leave a Comment »
From Platts Oilgram News:
BP seeks Macondo BOP access to perform tests Washington—BP is seeking access to the Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer so it can run tests the company says the joint investigation has failed to perform. BP filed a motion in US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans March 9, asking Judge Carl Barbierto allow the company access to the BOP after the joint investigation being run by the US Coast Guard and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, is finished with it. The BOP, a five-story stack of valves, sat atop BP’s Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexicoand failed to suppress a blowout April 20,2010. The blowout killed 11 workers fromTransocean’s Deepwater Horizon rig and triggered a massive oil spill. The joint investigation, under the supervision of the Department of Justice, has been conducting tests on the BOP at a NASA facility in Michoud, Louisiana. DNV Columbus washired to conduct the forensic tests and BP,Transocean, and Cameron, which made the BOP, have been observing.The test results are supposed to be delivered to the joint investigation by March 20. Hearings on the BOP are scheduled for the week of April 4. In its motion, BP said it submitted to the Joint Investigation Team a list of highly technical tests it felt should be conducted, but that the final list of approved tests did not include several of the items BP and other companies had requested.“BP, however, believes that performance of these forensic activities will add value to an analysis of why the BOP did not work as intended on April 20, and recommends they be completed,” the company said in its court brief.— Gary Gentile
Deepwater Horizon – The Movie?
Posted in accidents, Uncategorized, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore oil, oil spill, safety, well control on March 17, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Summit Entertainment, Participant Media and Imagenation Abu Dhabi, have announced that they’ve acquired the film rights to a 2010 New York Times article on the BP oil spill.Forbes
This is the excellent New York Times piece referenced in the quote.
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 