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BLM admits to drilling safety lapse Federal agency concedes diverter wasn’t used on well drilled near Alaska village of Wainwright; AOGCC to continue probe Wesley Loy For Petroleum News
The Bureau of Land Management has admitted responsibility for a failure to use a safety device called a diverter on a federal drilling project near the northwestern Alaska village of Wainwright.
But the BLM also seemed to steer accountability for the lapse toward its designated operator on the project, the U.S. Geological Survey.
The BLM stated its position in a March 15 letter to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which had been pushing the agency for months to show proof it had used the required diverter on the seven wells at issue.
“BLM understands it is responsible for the actions of its operator,” said the letter signed by Julia Dougan, the BLM’s associate state director for Alaska. “BLM has no immediate plans for additional drilling but can assure the Commission if future drilling should be permitted, operations will be carried out in full compliance with state regulations.”
How conflict unfolded The letter is the latest twist in a long-running conflict between the BLM and the AOGCC.
The Wainwright project, which began in 2007, was a joint effort involving the BLM, the USGS, the North Slope Borough and Arctic Slope Regional Corp.
The goal was to test a local coalbed as a potential source of natural gas to meet energy needs in the remote village of about 550 people on the Chukchi Sea coast.
The AOGCC has authority to regulate drilling statewide, whether on federal, state or private land.
On June 22, 2010, the AOGCC hit the BLM with a “notice of violation” for possibly drilling wells without the required safety equipment.
A diverter, which sits atop the well, is designed to direct any unexpected release of dangerous hydrocarbons safely away from the rig work area. Like blowout preventers, diverters are a last line of defense for drillers.
The two agencies swapped letters over several months, with the AOGCC contending it was not seeing the verification it wanted on whether a diverter was used on the exploratory wells.
On Dec. 9, the AOGCC threatened the BLM with a public hearing to get answers.
Ultimately, Pat Pourchot, the U.S. Interior secretary’s special assistant for Alaska affairs, was brought into the discussion.
In its March 15 letter, the BLM said it was the applicant for the state permit to drill one of the wells, Wainwright No. 2, but that it had designated the USGS as operator.
“Our documentation confirms no diverter was used on the Wainwright well #2,” the letter said.
But the BLM said the USGS was both the applicant and operator for the other wells, Wainwright Nos. 3, 4, 5, 6, 9 and 10, and it directed the AOGCC to send any correspondence about those wells to a USGS official.
Investigation to continue Cathy Foerster, one of the three AOGCC commissioners, told Petroleum News the Alaska Department of Law had advised the agency it probably doesn’t have the power to fine the BLM for failure to use a diverter on Wainwright No. 2.
But Foerster said the BLM letter is significant, an indication “that the federal government is perfectly capable of self-correcting.”
The AOGCC now plans to make inquiries to the USGS regarding whether the safety gear was used on the other Wainwright wells.
Foerster said the state’s objective is plain.
“When the federal government comes into our state to operate, we want their assurance that they will abide by our laws like any other operator,” she said.
The Wainwright matter isn’t the only source of friction between the AOGCC and the BLM. The commission has pointedly questioned the federal agency’s attention to dozens of derelict “legacy wells” located chiefly in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
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