Chevron admits to Canadian Senate that the BOP for their deepwater well off Newfoundland might fail

[highplainsdem]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/chevron-seeks-new-blowout-solution/article1599893/

The headline is about Chevron seeking "a new blowout solution" -- which they need. But they don't have it yet.

Chevron seeks new blowout solution
The deepwater well off Newfoundland could become a problem, but company says it is developing a safer system

Shawn McCarthy and Nathan VanderKlippe
Ottawa and Calgary — From Friday's Globe and Mail
Published on Thursday, Jun. 10, 2010 7:14PM EDT
Last updated on Thursday, Jun. 10, 2010 9:46PM EDT


Chevron Corp.’s blowout preventer – “the last line of defence” against a massive oil spill off Newfoundland – has shortcomings that could hamper efforts to respond to an emergency, weaknesses that have prompted the company to develop a new, more efficient well killer.

Chevron is drilling an exploration well in 2,600 metres of water in the North Atlantic’s stormy Orphan Basin area, and company executives sought to re-assure a Senate committee on Thursday that the project can be done safely with virtually no chance of a major spill. But Chevron officials acknowledged that the blowout preventer used on the drill ship Stena Carron can’t cut through certain lengths of drill pipe, a fact that complicates its blowout failsafe procedures.

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Chevron itself has been working since 2007 to develop a safer blowout preventer – one that would further reduce the risk of blowout by simplifying the system. But that system is not ready for deployment.

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams has played down the impact of the major spill off the coast, saying the oil would not touch shore. But Chevron executives said Thursday that a blowout would be a “disaster” that would threaten seabird populations and, potentially, fisheries.

Current blowout preventers employ a three-stage process in which the equipment must first slice through the drill pipe with shear rams, lift the pipe out of place, then activate seal rams that close the BOP stack and seal the well. Chevron’s “Alternative Well Kill System” would do the job in one step, reducing the potential for a malfunction.

At the Senate committee hearing in Ottawa, Chevron executives conceded there are some extra-thick sections of the drill pipe that current blowout preventers would not be able to cut. In the event of an emergency, drillers would check the positioning of those “collars” and, if one was in the way, raise or lower it before the BOP could be activated and the well shut down.

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“This is as much a software issue as a hardware issue,” said Mr. Bea, a civil engineer who served on the Obama’s administration’s interim committee that did an initial review of the BP accident. “You’ve got to have your hardware and software carefully aligned. If they are not aligned, you crash.”

Mr. Bea said there been ongoing concerns about the reliability of blowout preventers in the Gulf of Mexico, with failure rates as high as 50 per cent. But he added that proper equipment would minimize the risks, so long as companies are prepared to pay top dollar for it.

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