DOI issues blowout prevention directive
In another piece of the regulatory jigsaw puzzle that is coming together in response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill the Department of the Interior has issued a directive to outer continental shelf oil and gas operators and lessees requiring the submission of oil blowout-related information when filing drilling permits, exploration plans or development plans. The directive reverses a 2003 policy that exempted many operators in the Gulf of Mexico from submitting certain blowout scenario information, Interior said in announcing the new directive on June 18.
“The BP oil spill has laid bare fundamental shortcomings in the oil and gas industry’s ability to prevent and stop catastrophic blowouts,” said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. “While the challenges of intervening in a catastrophic blowout are significantly greater in deepwater than in shallow water, all operators should provide basic information about potential blowouts, and steps that are being taken to reduce the possibility of a blowout.”
Flow estimates required In its notice to lessees regarding the new information requirements, Interior said that it now requires estimates of the potential oil flow rate and the total volume of oil that might be discharged during any blowout that might occur during a proposed drilling operation, together with an estimate of the likely blowout duration. A discussion of the assumptions and calculations used in determining the estimated oil discharge volumes needs to support the blowout estimates.
There also needs to be a discussion of the consequences of a blowout happening, including the potential for the well to self-seal through collapse; the likelihood of surface intervention being able to stop the blowout; and the availability of a rig to drill a relief well. The operator needs to estimate how long it would take to obtain a rig to drill a relief well and how long the drilling of the relief well would take.
And the operator must describe proposed measures to reduce the likelihood of a blowout and to “conduct effective and early intervention” in the event that a blowout happens.
“This is basic information that applicants should be able to provide; it should not delay permitting of appropriate shallow water drilling,” Salazar said, presumably referring to the fact that the six-month moratorium that Interior has imposed on outer continental shelf drilling only applies to drilling in water depths greater than 500 feet.
—Alan Bailey
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