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State of Alaska investigates BP fires Four incidents within a month are too many, Department of Natural Resources says; wants to find out if there is systemic problem Alan Bailey Petroleum News
Following a fourth BP North Slope fire incident in five weeks, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources has sent a team to the North Slope to look at the oilfield infrastructure involved and to investigate BP’s process safety management. The department is concerned that a pattern of fire incidents is emerging and that this pattern could lead to a major incident involving injury to personnel, DNR Commissioner Tom Irwin said in a press conference called in Gov. Sarah Palin’s office on Sept. 11.
“We have asked for and will be meeting with top executives from BP. … The issue is being elevated. … We can’t ignore four (incidents),” Irwin said. “We want to assure the public that we are watching out for these things.”
Lisburne incident In the latest incident on Sept. 10 BP had reported to the state fire marshal the ignition of some hydrocarbons at the Lisburne Production Center. But details of the incident are still emerging, said Jonne Slemons, DNR petroleum systems integrity coordinator. It appears that ignition occurred after vapors had vented into a tank during a pigging operation, she said. No one was injured in the incident.
Irwin said that the previous incidents occurred at Prudhoe Bay Gathering Center 1 on Aug. 10, at Badami on Aug. 10 and in Prudhoe Bay Flow Station 3 on Aug. 26.
“BP must immediately address the causes of these events, wherever they lie, be it equipment problems, at the facility level or at the management level,” Slemons said. Two staff members from the Petroleum Systems Integrity Office are on their way to the North Slope to perform a detailed investigation, she said.
DNR’s Petroleum Systems Integrity Office is seeking answers to questions regarding BP’s management processes, to identify any issues with daily operations and with the company’s attention to process safety management, Slemons said.
“These are not new questions,” Slemons said. “Others have asked them before me. We can no longer wait for the answers. The governor and Alaskans need to know that their safety and their resources are properly managed and operated. … Four fires in one month — that’s above and beyond anything that is acceptable, so we’re on top of it.”
Minor incidents But BP says that the incidents are not connected with each other and represent minor glitches in routine operations.
Company spokesman Daren Beaudo told Petroleum News Sept. 11 that the Sept. 10 Lisburne incident involved the burning of some liquid hydrocarbons at a gas flare unit. The flare unit, located hundreds of yards from the processing center, burns continuously and provides a pressure relief capability for vapors from the Lisburne facility, Beaudo said.
“We were running a maintenance pig through the new (24-inch, three-phase) Lisburne line … from the Lisburne producing fields into the Lisburne Processing Center,” Beaudo said. “We had basically a surge of hydrocarbons … and as part of the design of the facility the (excess) hydrocarbons go into a knockout drum.”
A three-phase line carries crude oil, natural gas and water.
Normally the knock-out drum collects liquids when gas vents through the flaring unit, Beaudo said. In this instance, some of the liquid hydrocarbons carried over from the drum and ejected through the flare — the liquids ignited as they came out past the flare pilot light. The burning liquids settled in the flare pit, a large area that encircles the flare and is designed to catch and contain any liquid not completely burned in the flare, he said.
“It was simply the flare system working,” Beaudo said.
According to BP the Aug. 6 and Aug. 26 incidents involved some leaking lubricating oil catching fire on hot parts of turbines. The Aug. 10 incident involved the ignition of some diesel fuel that had leaked into the crankcase of a diesel generator, the company said. In each case the fire was quickly extinguished.
BP: safety systems worked Beaudo said that in each of the events BP’s safety systems had worked.
“Of the four incidents, we’ve investigated the first three and we’ve begun investigation of yesterday’s flare event and we’ll share what we’ve learned with regulators,” Beaudo said. “These (incidents) are isolated and they’re not any part of a pattern.”
The production impact of the incidents has been minimal and BP’s notifications of the incidents to the state and others have gone beyond the legal requirements, Beaudo said.
“Fires are regrettable, but we operate a large oil field and they do happen,” Beaudo said. “… Safety systems worked in each of these events.” That’s why BP has multi-layered safety systems and personnel trained to respond, he said.
But, regardless of the seriousness of the individual incidents, given the number of incidents that have occurred within a relatively short time period, the state wants to be pro-active in identifying any systemic problems in BP’s North Slope operations, Irwin said.
“We’d much rather be telling Alaskans we’re working on this, we’re aware of it, than standing here explaining to Alaskans why we didn’t, if something serious happens. This is a preventative approach,” Irwin said. “We’re serious about this (petroleum systems integrity) program.”
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