|
Pew proposes Arctic drilling standards Public policy organization spells out what it sees as essential requirements for safe oil exploration in the Arctic offshore Alan Bailey Petroleum News
While officials in the Department of the Interior work on new safety standards for oil drilling on the Arctic outer continental shelf, Pew Charitable Trusts, a nonprofit organization that analyzes public policy, has published its own recommendations for Arctic offshore safety standards for the oil industry.
While not opposed to offshore drilling, the organization urges a balance between responsible energy development and protection of the environment.
“Diminishing sea ice is opening Arctic waters to increased industrial activities such as shipping and oil and gas development,” Pew says in the overview of its report. “Yet industrial development in these waters brings a new set of challenges and a larger set of risks than in other oceans because, in the Arctic, people and machinery will be working in some of the most remote and harshest conditions on the planet.”
“The Department of the Interior welcomes the thoughtful review and ideas on standards for prevention, response and safety in the areas offshore Alaska,” said Tommy Beaudreau, acting assistant secretary, land and minerals management, in response to the report. “The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management are diligently working on developing a proposed rule that focuses on these areas and will closely examine this report.”
Response gap In the Arctic there is an oil spill response gap when physical factors such as sea ice, wind and poor visibility exceed the operating limits of spill response equipment, the Pew report says. During the middle of the winter, for example, the sea is entirely covered with ice, while broken sea ice during the summer may significantly hamper response operations. And the Arctic coastline of Alaska lacks significant support infrastructure such as major ports, airports and roads, the report says.
Faced with these difficulties, there is a need for seasonal limits, with drilling into hydrocarbon-bearing zones only allowed when an oil spill response is possible, and when there is adequate time for drilling a relief well from open water should a well blowout occur, the report says. During a 106-day open water season, for example, these considerations would limit drilling to 46 days, the report says.
Polar class rigs And, to ensure that drilling can be carried out safely in Arctic conditions, Arctic operators must be required to use polar class rigs, appropriately certified for navigation in ice-infested waters. Blowout preventers, the devices used to shut off a wellhead in the event of a well loss-of-control incident, must be subject to a rigorous inspection and certification schedule, with redundant systems that come into operation should primary systems fail.
Should an oil field be developed on the Arctic outer continental shelf, production facilities must either be installed on a gravel island or on a platform that rests on the seafloor, able to withstand worst-case hazards, including wind and sea ice.
Pipeline requirements Offshore oil pipelines must be buried to depths sufficient to prevent being damaged by the keels of floating sea ice or other ice-related hazards. And, given the difficulty of access to pipelines once buried, a pipeline will require a stronger than normal design, with an ability to be emptied of oil should need arise. Heat transfer into permafrost must be minimized.
All support vessels in an oil industry Arctic operation must meet the International Maritime Organization’s guidelines for ships operating in polar waters and be appropriately inspected and certified for their intended use in the Arctic. And any drilling rig towing plan must demonstrate that the tow can be conducted safely in the worst-case weather conditions that may be encountered.
Vessels transiting the Arctic should have state-licensed marine pilots on board, the report says.
An oil company operating in the Arctic must have procedures that spell out the weather and other thresholds for offshore operations and the actions to be taken when those thresholds are exceeded. And a monitoring program is required, to forecast conditions that might exceed those safety thresholds.
The Department of the Interior must establish and require certain levels of expertise and experience for personnel conducting Arctic operations, the report says.
And government regulations should prohibit the discharge of drilling waste, produced water and sanitary waste into Arctic waters, the report says.
Spill response standards The report also recommends minimum standards for oil spill response contingency arrangements, including oil spill trajectory and recovery models that take account of Arctic conditions and that are coupled with the availability of sufficient and appropriate equipment to clean up an entire spill.
And, in the interests of containing a well blowout and minimizing the amount of oil spilled, an outer continental shelf drilling operation must be equipped with a device for capping a well and a containment dome for capturing any leaked oil, the report says.
Relief well capability During an Arctic offshore drilling operation, a second drilling rig must be available for drilling a relief well, in the event of a well blowout. This second rig must be able to reach the site of the stricken well within 24 hours, if not already drilling at another site, or within 48 hours if already engaged in a drilling operation.
Other recommendations include the required use of Arctic well control experts during drilling operations; the availability of sufficient polar-class vessels to support oil spill response operations; equipment and training standards for Arctic mechanical response equipment; and specific standards for Arctic oil spill response organizations. The report also stresses the importance of public participation in the planning of Arctic outer continental shelf operations and the need for public transparency for those plans.
|
