Posted on 04/15/2015 5:07:03 AM PDT by thackney
Access to images perhaps similar to those that captivated viewers in real time around the world during the Deepwater Horizon disaster would be standard procedure under a new set of proposed federal offshore guidelines.
These include the live monitoring of deepwater and high-temperature/high pressure drilling activities, similar to what is currently used onshore.
“The real-time monitoring requirement ensures that the operator has access to onshore technical expertise if needed and that there is ‘another set of eyes’ available during critical operations,” according to the statement.
Houston personal injury lawyer Charles Herd, a partner at The Lanier Law Firm, which represented commercial plaintiffs during the Deepwater Horizon litigation, said he doesn’t expect much pushback from the agency on this particular requirement.
“Not only has it been an advantage in onshore applications, it is certainly reasonable,” he told Rigzone. “It should’ve been done (offshore) before now.”
On April 13, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement released a third set of guidelines designed to promote safety in offshore drillings. According to a statement from the agency, the latest improvements will close the gaps in existing requirements and update regulations to reflect industry best practices.
In addition, the regulations would now require an annual review of the repair and maintenance record of BOP equipment by an approved BSEE third party; personnel training requirements for repairs and maintenance; as well as complete traceability of critical components.
The agency also made specific aims regarding the use of BOPs with double shear rams, which has since become a baseline industry standard. The use of the double shears increases the possibility that, in the event of an emergency, the drill pipe could be sheared. The agency also stipulates the drill pipe should be centered during shearing operations, a lacking technique that some experts believe contributed to the failure of the Deepwater Horizon BOP stack to sever the drill pipe.
Herd noted that requiring thicker pipe and double shears could increase the cost of offshore operations. However, Herd noted that federal regulators have emphasized the importance of safe procedures being applied uniformly.
“The Deepwater Horizon (event) is a poster child of many things that went wrong. If anybody should get it right, it’s the (largest companies),” he said. “But there were so many colossal failures that it became a symbol that said we needed to go back and revamp the whole system. We just had to go back to school on this.
The International Association of Drilling Contractors said in a statement the group welcomes sensible regulations.
“Our industry did not wait for BSEE’s regulations to make major changes to our operations and procedures,” said Stephen Colville, IADC’s president and CEO, in a statement. “In the last five years, we have worked collaboratively to understand the failures of the Macondo incident and as a result have developed and instituted major changes with regard to equipment, procedures and safety protocols to protect against another well control incident of this magnitude happening again.”
On April 20, 2010, an apparent failure of the blowout preventer at the Deepwater Horizon rig off the coast of Louisiana led to an explosion that claimed the lives of 11 workers and spilled almost five millions barrels of oil into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico—which led to one of the greatest environmental disasters in coastal waters.
On the surface, I see no problem with the regulation, but on principle, I'd be offended as the driller, by gummint intrusion
but only ragheads and #*#*#*# can be offended
If the industry is OK with it, then, I’m OK with it.......
yep
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