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GAO questions Shell’s contingency plans Says that use of an oil spill containment system in Arctic waters would involve risks resulting from sea ice and low temperatures Alan Bailey Petroleum News
The Government Accountability Office, or GAO, the watchdog agency that investigates federal government spending, has published a report examining progress in government oversight of offshore drilling safety following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. The GAO report says that progress has been made in following up on lessons learned from the 2010 oil spill. However, the report also says that the Department of the Interior needs to set a timeframe for the inclusion of new oil spill containment systems into unannounced spill drills, and questions the practicalities of using a containment system in the event of a well blowout during Shell’s planned Alaska Arctic offshore drilling operations.
New system Shell is building a containment and capping system that the company says could be placed over an out-of-control well in the event of a blowout preventer failure, enabling oil from the well to be collected in a surface vessel and allowing the oil flow to be stopped while the well is brought under control. The technology is based on the system that was eventually used to contain the flow of oil from the Macondo well in the Gulf disaster.
“Subsea drilling operations in Alaska will face operating conditions that greatly differ from those in the Gulf of Mexico and may pose unique risks,” the GAO report says. “For example, the Beaufort and Chukchi seas are inside the Arctic Circle, with cold and icy conditions for much of the year and with few daylight hours during the winter.”
Shell proposes to drill between July 15 and Oct. 31 — if a blowout were to occur late in the drilling season, ice conditions in November and December could make well containment challenging, the report says. And, although Shell plans to recess its wellheads and blowout preventers into the seafloor, this arrangement does not eliminate the possibility of sea ice obstructing or damaging the containment and capping equipment, the report says.
The report acknowledges Shell’s plan to station its containment and capping system offshore during its Arctic drilling operations but questions the practicalities of transporting additional personnel into the region to handle a well blowout, should the need arise. Harbors, airstrips and hotels are sparse and are located relatively far from drilling sites, the report says. Moreover, there are few additional resources available for responding to a subsea blowout in the event that Shell’s capabilities prove insufficient, the report says.
Interior response In statements made in response to the GAO report, the Department of the Interior said that new agencies within Interior that have replaced the former Minerals Management Service have instituted tough new regulatory and permitting standards.
“For the recent oil spill response plan approvals in the Arctic, the operator proposed a well control containment capability that consists of a combination of a subsea capping stack, and surface separation equipment that will be located on a newly-built containment vessel, all of which will be inspected by BSEE (the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement) prior to the beginning of any proposed operations,” Interior said. “BSEE conducted exhaustive reviews of the plans and continues to hold the operators accountable with additional exercises, reviews and inspections to ensure that all personnel and equipment are positioned and ready, if needed. In addition, recent unannounced spill drills have included engagement of the well containment consortia.”
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