Eni Begins Drilling Oil Well in Alaska's Beaufort Sea
; The oil and gas firm is working from an artificial island in the Beaufort Sea about three miles off Oliktok Point in the Arctic Ocean. The well is expected to run more than 6 miles (10 km) long. The project could result in 20,000 barrels a day of oil production, according to regulator U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), which said it sent employees to the site to ensure compliance with federal regulations and safety standards. Eni, which has existing production facilities on the island and at Oliktok Point, did not immediately reply to requests for comment
Roan Joins IMCA in North America
Mexico. He has over 20 years of marine and offshore oil and gas industry experience, including four years as a U.S. Coast Guard Port State Control Officer. Prior to joining IMCA Eric was a Program Manager at the Center for Offshore Safety where he facilitated industry groups tasked with implementing U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and U.S. Coast Guard requirements and providing recommendations for clarification to the regulatory agencies. Roan is a former co-chair of the U.S. Coast Guard’s National Offshore Safety Advisory Committee where he chaired several subcommittees that
Partners Advance Arctic Oil Spill Response Technology
Continually working to help improve oil spill response technologies, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) presented details on its latest efforts at the Arctic Oil Spill Response Research and Technology Workshop on April 26. There, Bureau staff presented results of several BSEE-funded projects including the development of a submersible skimmer prototype for oil recovery in and around broken ice. “At the workshop, we all worked together to collectively understand the suite of response technology possibilities that are available today as well as
Further Milestones for QuietSea PAM System
Sercel said its QuietSea Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) system, which is seamlessly integrated into seismic streamers to detect the presence of marine mammals during seismic operations, has passed two milestones. Most recently, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) authorized the use of QuietSea for seismic survey operations in the U.S. waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The U.S. authorities recognized that the ability to use geophysical survey streamers for PAM was a great step in the future development of effective PAM systems. Another milestone was
BSEE Tests GoM Response Equipment
The U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) informs it has recently tested and verified the sound working condition of various response equipment used in the Gulf of Mexico region. Analysts with BSEE’s Oil Spill Preparedness Division boarded the pollution control vessel Louisiana Responder at Fort Jackson, La. on July 14 to test the response readiness of Anadarko Petroleum Corp. While conducting an equipment verification, the team witnessed the testing of a skimmer and other associated equipment, stored in Buras, La., on the Mississippi River. Subsequent
BSEE Oversees Testing of Shell’s Arctic Equipment
Testing of Shell’s proposed Arctic-ready capping stack system was supervised this week by the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) in Puget Sound, BSEE Director Brian Salerno announced today. BSEE Alaska Region Director Mark Fesmire oversaw the testing to ensure compliance with Federal safety standards for oil and gas exploration on the Arctic Outer Continental Shelf. The capping stack, used to contain the flow of oil in the event that all primary and backup blowout prevention equipment fails during drilling, is a key piece of Arctic oil exploration
BSEE Issues Alert on DP System Failure
Dynamic positioning system failures on offshore supply vessels engage in oil and gas operations in the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf The U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has issued a Joint Safety Alert addressing a dynamic positioning (DP) incident involving an offshore supply vessel (OSV) which resulted in a loss of position while conducting a critical Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) activity. The OSV was attached to a wellhead, lost position and severed the wellhead tree causing a lubricant release on the platform deck and to the environment. Immediately prior to
DNV Gets US Offshore SEMS Auditing Approval
Management Systems (SEMS) audits of oil and gas drilling operators in the Gulf of Mexico & US Outer Continental Shelf. SEMS is the Safety and Environmental Management Systems program developed by the Center for Offshore Safety (COS) and made mandatory in 2011 by the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. Initially established as a set of industry best practices, SEMS compliance must be verified by a third-party auditor, such as DNV. Non-compliant operators risk losing their exploration and drilling privileges in governed waters. DNV was recently notified by COS of its provisional
Pacific Drilling Keeps on Drilling
None of Pacific Drillings ultra-deepwater drillships are affected by a recent BSEE safety alert. Concerning the recent U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) safety alert regarding GE connectors and bolts, the company reports that none of Pacific Drilling’s rigs are covered by the directive to suspend operations. However, Pacific Drilling is proactively inspecting the Vetco ExF H-4 LMRP connector bolts on each of its rigs as operations allow. The company has the necessary spare bolts&nbs
February 2024
