Deepwater operations

Since the mid-1990s, exploratory and produetion operahons have advaneed into deepwater regions of the GOM. These deepwater operations (often defined as projects conducted in seawater depths exeeeding 500 feet) started to produee more oil than shallow-water operations in 1999. By 2009, nearly 4,000 wells had heen drilled in seawater depths exceeding 1,000 feet, ineluding 700 wells in depths exeeeding 5,000 feet. In that year, deepwater wells in the GOM aeeounted for 80 pereent of U.S. oil production and 45 percent of gas production offshore. 

Virtually all the numerous rules and standards the MMS enacted or adopted by reference from private sources are prescriptive and technically detailed, and require company compliance in the design and conduct of a proposed operation. Most were originally developed by API as voluntary standards for discretionary use by its member companies, and when later adopted or formally incorporated by reference by MMS, became mandatory and enforceable as MMS rules. This reliance on API enabled the MMS to capitalize on API s technical expertise and ability to gain industry consensus. But it also created a situation where the regulated industry can be said to have determined the pace of risk reduction in offshore operations and which, in the case of deepwater operations, lagged behind the risks being encountered. 

Each of these issues needs attention. In response to post-Macondo criticism, API has created a new Center for Offshore Safety dedicated to continuous improvement in the safety of deepwater operations. But BSEE has yet to address its dependence on API and other industrial organizations for safety expertise and determine how to become the senior partner in public-private collaborations on safety issues. In this regard, the chapters in this book on the Norwegian regime are instructive. Finally, the private groups and BSEE need to be reminded that their offshore domain exists because of public trust in their exploitation of publicly owned resources, and that they are therefore obliged to ensure transparency and stakeholder participation in their activities. Indications that some of these issues have been recognized and may be addressed by BSEE and presidential advisors are subsequendy discussed. 

Fu, B., Neff, S., Mathur, A., Bakeev, K., 2002. Application of low-dosage hydrate inhibitors in deepwater operations. SPE Production Facilities 17,133-137. 

COS Safety Publication COS—2—01, Qualification and Competence Requirements for Audit Teams and Auditors Performing Third-party SEMS Audits of Deepwater Operations... 

COS Safety Publication COS-2-03, Requirements for Third-party SEMS Auditing and Certification of Deepwater Operations... 

The ASP must meet or exceed the qualifications, competency, and training criteria contained in Section 3 and Sections 6 through 10 of Qualification and Competence Requirements for Audit Teams and Auditors Performing Third-party SEMS Audits of Deepwater Operations, COS-2-01, (incorporated by reference as specified in 250.198) or its equivaient ... 

PACT [Powdered activated carbon treatment] A wastewater treatment process which combines activated carbon treatment with biological treatment, providing a single-stage treatment of toxic liquid wastes. Developed by DuPont in the 1970s at its Chambers Works, Deepwater, NJ, and now licensed by U.S. Filter/Zimpro. More than 50 units were operating in 1990. 

Boehm, P.D., Turton, D., Ravel, ARRCR.R., Caudle, D., French, D., Rabalais, N., Spies, R. and Johnson, J. (2001) Deepwater Program Literature Review, Environmental Risks of Chemical Products Used in Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Oil and Gas Operation. 

Forty-six case studies of hydrate plug formation and remediation are recorded in Hydrate Engineering (Sloan, 2000). In every case, hydrate plugs were remediated. In addition, a rule of thumb is that most of the offshore flowline shut-ins are less than the 10 h no touch time, which requires no antihydrate operation before restart (J.E. Chitwood, Personal Communication, August 1, 2003). However, hydrate prevention methods are very expensive, as shown in the above Canyon Express and Ormen Lange examples, or in the fact that deepwater insulation costs are typically U.S.Sl million per kilometer of flowline. 

Manzer s team had to address a challenge involving two incompatible factors. He needed a carbon catalyst that would promote the efficient and selective chlorination of carbon monoxide but that would remain inert for chlorinating the carbon catalyst surface. Through many years of experience the DuPont team has built a knowledge base and scientific network that led to the Boreskov Institute of Catalysis in Novosibirsk, Russia. Alliances with international research facilities are a major trend in external programs. The team at Novosibirsk had developed a unique series of specialty carbon materials and supports. The DuPont team evaluated variations of these specialty carbon materials, and within less than a year and a half the catalysts became operational at the DuPont Deepwater Plant. 

While there are significant differences between what is required to drill a well on land and in a marine or offshore environment, the basic mission is very similar. The differences in location conditions, design criteria, logistical considerations and related cost are enormous, hi deepwater, the process can approach the most sophisticated technical operations known to man and an individual well can cost in excess of sixty million dollars, often to be paid early in the project life well before surety of the results of the effort is known. 

Nine hazardous waste incinerators that are operating commercially in the United States might be available, two each in Texas and Ohio, and one each in Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Nebraska, and Utah. The largest commercial hazardous aqueous waste treatment facility in the United States is managed by DuPont in Deepwater, New Jersey. It provides a combination of physical, chemical, and biological treatment. Clean Harbors, in Baltimore, uses supercritical fluid extraction to treat aqueous wastes. Perma-Fix, with facilities in the Southeast and Midwest, uses proprietary aqueous treatment processes tailored to specific waste streams. 

The Report to the President concerning the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe discussed the creation of an industry-sponsored agency analogous to the nuclear industry s independent Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) that was created in the wake of the Three Mile Island event. The President s Commission to do with that event said the following. 

Figure 19.1 shows that the number of hours worked by the owner/operator has not changed much in the last 30 years, but that the contractor work hours have increased by a factor of 15. (The chart also illustrates the costs and challenges associated with moving from simple, shall-water platforms, many of which are unmanned, to deepwater drilling and production projects.) It should also be noted that more and more of the operators workers are themselves under contract rather than being tme employees. 

None of the interviewed persons demanded a new risk reduction plan or a reappraisal of the risk in the aftermath of the accident at the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. They were convinced that the knowledge basis is sufficient to reach a positive judgment and that petroleum operations in these areas will not pose different challenges from those that the Norwegian public is familiar with further south. In contrast to the lack of ambiguity in the perception of risks, there was a... 

Immediately after the accident, DOI and others sought to determine the factors that contributed to the loss of well control, explosion, fire, and spill at the Macondo site, and imposed temporary suspension of deepwater drilling. Under political and industry pressures to allow a resumption of drilling, DOI also began to consider changes to the MMS regime that would convince the public that future operations would be safely conducted. 

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