Drilling advances

Vol. 233 No. 4

Regulator says rules not meant to stifle offshore

Contrary to the general consensus among industry folk, federal regulators are not out to strangle offshore development. In fact, they have a vested interest in ensuring that drilling and production remain vibrant, so says one of the architects of the myriad safety and environmental regulations enacted post-Macondo.

“Anything you can bring from the Gulf of Mexico means less that we have to bring from other countries, and that’s good for our country,” Mik Else, senior research engineer for the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), told the industry’s premier deepwater technical consortium. “We’re working to develop the best available, safe technologies, and provide leadership and support to the industry.”

TA&R emerges. Else offered up that reassurance in an address to members of the operator-driven DeepStar consortium, which for the past 21 years has been largely responsible for many technical innovations in deepwater exploration and production. As a petroleum engineer with nearly 30 years of industry experience, Else provides oversight to the various research projects being carried by BSEE’s more-than-30-year-old Technology Assessment & Research (TA&R) initiative, which until April 2010 had flown so far under the radar that it’s doubtful many federal authorities even knew it existed.

“It (TA&R) started in the 1970s, but it was never really meant to be a full-fledged research program,” said Else. “It was meant to be some kind of in-house research program and was never funded as well as it should have been. It started out with under a $1-million budget in 1978 and, until two years ago, had the same amount of money,” he said.

Shortly after the Deepwater Horizon, officials dusted off the little-known program with a quadrupled budget and a new mission. “With the Deepwater Horizon, it was recognized that we needed to do a lot more to deal with technologies and challenges we face as regulators. Just as the industry saw big changes in the way you do your business, my agency also has seen a big change in the way we operate,” Else said.

Else said nine of the 28 active projects underway as part of the TA&R operational safety initiative focus on oil spill response, most of which is being carried out in the world’s largest saltwater tank at the BSEE test facility in New Jersey. Else told DeepStar members that BSEE also will be scrutinizing its Safety & Environmental Management Systems (SEMS) regulations that are designed to ensure everyone working on a rig or platform can document core HSE compliance. “As for SEMS 1 and SEMS 2, we are just kick-starting that process,” Else said of the regulations made compulsory in 2011. “The data is starting to come in, so we’ll be in a position to better review the process.”

Else pointed out that collaboration with industry groups like DeepStar can be a vital cog in the process. The DeepStar membership comprises 10 major and mid-sized U.S. and international operators, and some 80 service/supply companies that make up the Contributors Advisory Program (CAP). The overall administration of the consortium is handled by Chevron Energy Technology Co., whose Greg Kusinski is in his first year as DeepStar director. Else spoke as part of the DeepStar technology forum and CAP meeting, to review key developments from the most recent research cycle and look ahead to the new Phase XI, two-year technical development period that began this year. 

DeepStar operates under nine technical committees. Else suggested that in today’s industry, the DeepStar Regulatory Committee, which interfaces with regulators early in the technology development phase, will hold greater sway and already has set a standard that the entire industry must follow.

“There’s always a new idea coming through the door, and the best time to share that technology with us is when you’re thinking about using it in the OCS. If you have a new technology idea, don’t hesitate to bring it to our technical assessment group. The better understanding we have of the technology, the better the chances of us accepting it,” he said.

API goes to work. Meanwhile, like the maze of federal regulations that sprang up after the Deepwater Horizon, API also began formulating new standards for deepwater drilling. While developing API standards is a more democratic methodology than that for federal regulations, Anadarko’s Jim Raney, chairman of the API Standards Committee, said getting a new standard approved is no walk in the park.

“When you try to write a brand-new document and get the entire industry to agree on one way to drill a deepwater well, you have a challenge, and that’s exactly what we’re trying to do,” said the Anadarko engineering and technology manager. “It’s all about getting back to work safely and with no harm to the environment.”

The post-Macondo work at API concentrates primarily on cementing, the loads and resistance on a deepwater well, fluid displacement, and well construction interface, among others. Rainey said API began crafting Bulletin 97 two months after Macondo. That bulletin provides an interface between the leaseholder, rig and drilling contractor, and much like the SEMS regulations, requires a safety management system be in place. He said committee members are developing API standards that cover the loads being placed on deepwater wells, as well as how the industry of tomorrow employs BOPs.

As regulators and industry struggle to improve all things HSE, Chevron Energy Technology Co. President Paul Siegele said it would be a huge mistake to turn a deaf ear to the public scrutiny that still lingers. “We have an obligation as an industry that works at the pleasure of the public. We have to engage all shareholders. It would be a mistake to ignore them.”