Three Dead on Pemex Platform, Fire Under Control
Three workers were killed and at least seven injured when a fire broke out on a Pemex oil processing platform in the Gulf of Mexico, but the latest in a string of incidents is now under control, the Mexican oil giant said via Twitter on Sunday. A spokesman for Pemex said oil continued to be pumped but that the company was still evaluating any impact on production. The platform did not have to be evacuated, according to a tweet. The fire occurred on the offshore Abkatun A Permanente processing platform in Mexico's oil-rich Bay of Campeche where a fire claimed seven lives in April last year, causing crude output from four nearby fields to plunge nearly 70 percent.
Arctic Marine Oil Pollution Prevention: Task Force Meets
When the Arctic Council’s Task Force on Arctic Marine Oil Pollution Prevention (TFOPP) met recently in Ottawa, it says it took important steps towards developing the Action Plan for oil pollution prevention mandated by Ministers in Kiruna. The Task Force is focused particularly on potential safety measures to prevent oil pollution from maritime and petroleum activities. The Arctic Council’s Task Force on Arctic Marine Oil Pollution Prevention (TFOPP) held its third meeting in Ottawa on 12-13 June, 2014. Co-chaired by Russia and Norway, the Task Force is responsible for developing an “Arctic Council Action Plan for Oil Pollution Prevention” and related cooperative arrangements…
Safe LNG Bunkering: OGP & ISO Issue Draft Guide
OGP (International Association of Oil and Gas Producers) and ISO (International Organization for Standardization) have released their interim draft in response to industry uncertainties associated with trade regulations (EU and US) and their applicability to standardisation in the oil and gas sector. The authors explain that there is an industry need to provide guidance for the equipment, systems, procedures and training for those parties engaged in the delivery of LNG as fuel to ships.
OSRL Introduces Well Capping Equipment
Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL), the global oil spill response co-operative funded by more than 160 oil and energy companies, has announced the opening of a new Base in Saldanha Bay, South Africa, to support regional and global response operations. The Base houses cutting edge well capping equipment designed to shut-in an uncontrolled subsea well, marking a major advancement in Africa’s oil spill response capability. The Saldanha capping stack is available to oil and gas companies…
DNV Calls for Better Safety Barrier Management
To avoid major accidents, safety barriers are critical to stop accident pathways before they become serious, and they need to be treated accordingly. This has to be reflected in operations and ideally in regulations. If not, safety barriers which often address rare events might lose the everyday battle for attention among all the safety and production systems in daily use, leaving a company with fictional barriers and false sense of security. At the OTC session for safety and environmental management systems, a paper was presented by DNV’s Dr. Robin Pitblado and Dr.
Hyperbaric Evacuation Systems: IMCA Consultation
International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) is consulting widely, & globally, on new guidance on hyperbaric evacuation systems for safety of saturation divers. “In 2011 we set up an industry-wide workgroup to develop the hyperbaric evacuation guidance,” explains IMCA’s Technical Director, Jane Bugler. “The work was split into five main topic areas – risk assessment, technical, operations, medical and standards. The document, which runs to over 70 pages, is a substantial piece of work, and should make a significant contribution in helping to improve the evacuation arrangements available to saturation divers world-wide. “We are distributing the draft guidance document widely for comment and inviting feedback by 8 February 2013…
BOEMRE Director Remarks, World Nat’l Oil Companies Congress
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) Director Michael R. Bromwich delivered remarks June 22 at the 5th annual World National Oil Companies Congress in London. The World National Oil Companies Congress brings together senior executives from national oil companies and government leaders from around the world to discuss global energy issues. Director Bromwich is attending this year's meeting to further the bureau’s efforts to expand bilateral and multilateral cooperation with regulatory counterparts around the globe, especially in light of the recommendations of the National Commission on the Deepwater…
