A well thought out blowout contingency plan (BCP) forms the foundation of rapid and effective response if an unplanned hydrocarbon release should occur.
An uncontrolled hydrocarbon release is one of the worst possible scenarios that an operating facility can experience. Not only are the safety barriers compromised, exposing the asset and people to significantly more risk, but the economic, business and environmental consequences can be detrimental.
Drilling and extraction of hydrocarbons is a complex and risky process, and operators must have robust safety assurance and contingency measures in place to mitigate danger, efficiently respond to any incidents and reduce the personal, business and environmental impact if an uncontrolled release were to occur.
In certain regions of the world, and for some operators, regulations and internal procedures mandate that fields cannot be developed unless the operator can demonstrate that the well can be intercepted and controlled via a single relief well drilling operation, as opposed to multiple relief wells, which is usually the norm.
Safety is always the number one priority in drilling operations, but this can often impact an operator’s ability to reach their targets and optimize future production. However, there are ways engineers can increase the efficiency of field development and maximise production, without compromising safety.
This week marked the 10th anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon incident that took the lives of 11 men and wreaked havoc on the environment, as well as the oil and gas industry globally.
Add Energy is pleased to announce it has entered into a master service agreement with Enautech, an oil and gas technology company specialising in well control equipment compliance and improving blowout preventer reliability under well control scenarios.
The master service agreement between Add Energy and Enautech allows Add Energy to continue its drive to become a global provider of leading engineering and software solutions.
Thomas Selbekk, one of Add Energy’s Vice Presidents of Well Control and Blowout Support, was one of the key contributors and technical experts presenting at the “SpillCon” conference in Perth, Australia. The event was organized by AMOSC (Australian Marine Oil Spill Centre) , AIP (Australian Institute of Petroleum) and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and ran for 4 days at the end of May 2019.
In the aftermath of Deepwater Horizon, offshore energy companies joined together to form the company HWCG. With the mission of developing a comprehensive and rapid deep-water containment response system for the Gulf of Mexico, each company committed to a mutual aid agreement, sharing assets and resources in the event of an incident. Add Energy sent a team of well control experts to participate in HWCG's annual spill drill.
