Marine Well Containment Company News

Grant Johnson has joined Foss Maritime as Vice President of Health, Safety, Quality and Environment (HSQE), responsible for overseeing, growing and strengthening HSQE performance. Johnson arrives at Foss from TechnipFMC, an international energy services provider, where he served in various capacities including Director of Worldwide Fleet Management, Asset Technical Director, and most recently as manager of TechnipFMC's contract with Marine Well Containment Company. Before joining TechnipFMC, Johnson held various positions with BP's Alaskan, Shipping and U.S.

Oil spill response organization Marine Spill Response Corporation (MSRC) has named Carmine Dulisse as its new President and CEO effective March 1, 2017.   Dulisse joins MSRC after more than 30 years with ExxonMobil in various roles, including the maritime and crisis management arenas. He was one of the founding officers of the Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC) in the capacity of Health, Safety, and Environmental Officer from 2011 to 2015, prior to returning to ExxonMobil as the corporation’s Global Emergency Preparedness & Response Manager. He served in this capacity until retiring from ExxonMobil and joining MSRC on March 1.

An interview with NOIA’s Randall Luthi provides unique perspective on where the offshore energy business has been, where it is now, and where it could be headed next. It is a predictable but at the same time, an important anniversary to examine: five years beyond the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which began on 20 April 2010 on the BP-owned, Transocean-operated Macondo Prospect in the Gulf of Mexico. Widely considered to be the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the energy industry, oil flowed from the sea floor for 87 days until capped in mid-July. The environmental impact is well documented, the ultimate impact of the incident on the offshore and oil industries today has been profound, lasting and without a doubt, it made the offshore business safer.

Wood Group Kenny (WGK) has secured a five year contract with Oil Spill Response (Capping) Ltd (OSRCL) to provide the maintenance support for a key part of a containment toolkit that would be used to control hydrocarbon release in the event of a subsea well control incident. The multi-million dollar project will see WGK work with OSRCL to ensure that the flexible flowlines included in the toolkit are continuously in a condition suitable for immediate load out if mobilised by subscribing oil and gas operators. This will include maintenance management, recommendations for preservation, inspection and testing of all ancillary and lifting equipment, as well as the flexible flowlines, stored at sites in the UK, Singapore and Brazil.

This week a team of BSEE engineers and inspectors conducted a safety inspection of the first FPSO (floating production storage and offloading) vessel designed and built for containment use in the Gulf of Mexico. The pre-production inspection is one of the necessary steps to clear the Eagle Texas vessel for containment use in standard production operations or in emergency situations that require containment. The eight-member inspection group, led by Ronald Washington of the Houma District…

Drydocks World announced the completion and delivery of Eagle Louisiana, the second of two Modular Capture Vessels (MCV) for the U.S. The first MCV, Eagle Texas, sailed away from Drydocks World’s yard in August last year. The vessels are the world’s first MCVs. Drydocks World converted the AFRAmax tanker for AET, a global leader in petroleum shipping, which has a 20-year agreement with Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC) for the operation of the MCVs. Ten world-renowned companies form MWCC:  ExxonMobil…

International service provider Drydocks World announced that the world’s first Modular Capture Vessel (MCV), Eagle Texas, sailed away from its yard. The conversion of the AFRA max tanker was carried out by Drydocks World – Dubai and was completed for Singapore based AET, a global leader in petroleum shipping, and is the first of two similar projects. AET is under a 20-year agreement with Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC) a consortium of 10 world-renowned companies comprised of Anadarko…

Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC) announced today that Kiewit Offshore Services (Kiewit) in Ingleside, Texas has been selected as the shorebase location to house equipment to outfit the company's modular capture vessels (MCVs) in the event of a deployment to a deepwater well control event. The equipment, which includes modular processing facilities for the MCVs and the centerpiece of the containment systems, the capping stacks, will be stored, maintained and tested at Kiewit's Ingleside facility near Corpus Christi. This MCV shorebase is one of two shorebase locations for MWCC. The selection of Kiewit and Ingleside as MWCC's MCV…

Allspeeds Ltd. designs and manufactures the Webtool range of cutting and gripping tools. In addition to the standard range, Allspeeds has manufactured a bespoke emergency cutting tool. The tool was supplied to an organization operating a number of floating production storage and offloading systems and will be used in the work of the Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC), an independent company that provides well-containment equipment and technology in the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

South Shields based Solar Solve Marine received an order for Solasolv anti-glare, heat rejecting roller screens for the navigation bridge windows of a Marine Capture Vessel (MCV) which is being converted at Drydocks World in Dubai. Solasolv screens are installed at the windows of ships, rigs and cranes of all types and sizes worldwide. They reject up to 87% of heat and up to 93% of glare from the sun. Solar Solve claims that  with its product eye-strain is reduced, ensuring computer displays are easier to read, and a clear outward view is maintained for safer operations.

Headhunter, Inc. completed installation of the company’s Tidalwave HMX sewage treatment plant on the first of two specially outfitted Aframax tankers owned by AET Tanker Holdings of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The two Aframax tankers have been chartered for 20 years to Marine Well Containment Company of Houston, Texas. The Tidalwave HMX systems are USCG-certified and Bureau Veritas-approved to IMO MEPC 159(55) standards. They can process up to 50,000 gallons (187 cubic meters) per day and use flocculants…

BSEE Announces Successful Completion of Deepwater Well Containment Exercise in the Gulf. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) today announced the successful completion of the first-ever, full-scale deployment of critical well control equipment to exercise the oil and gas industry’s response to a potential subsea blowout in the deepwater of the Gulf of Mexico. BSEE Director James A. Watson confirmed that the capping stack system passed a pressurization test according to the requirements in the scenario, marking the end of the exercise.

U.S. Bureau of Safety & Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) announce successful completion of containment exercise. BSEE announce successful completion of the first-ever, full-scale deployment of critical well control equipment to exercise the oil and gas industry’s response to a potential subsea blowout in the deepwater of the Gulf of Mexico. BSEE Director James A. Watson confirmed that the capping stack system passed a pressurization test according to the requirements in the scenario, marking the end of the exercise. The unannounced deployment drill, which was undertaken at the direction of BSEE, began July 24 to test Marine Well Containment Company’s (MWCC) capping stack system…

MWCC to Deploy Capping Stack in Gulf of Mexico. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has initiated the first ever drill designed to deploy critical pieces of state-of-the-art well control equipment to the ultra-deep seabed of the Gulf of Mexico in an effort to exercise the oil and gas industry’s response to a potential subsea blowout. The multi-week exercise, launched at 8:10 am CDT and employing the Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC), is part of a series…

MWCC to Deploy Capping Stack for Exercise in the Gulf. As part of the Obama administration’s ongoing efforts to strengthen the oil and gas industry’s ability to respond in the event of a deepwater blowout and ensure that offshore oil and gas production can continue to expand safely and responsibly, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today charged the Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC) with conducting a live drill this summer to deploy critical pieces of state-of-the-art well control equipment in the Gulf of Mexico.

OceanWorks International has been awarded a design, manufacturing and test contract to provide Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC) with a Subsea Dispersant Fluid System (SDFS). The system will further enhance MWCC’s existing dispersant injection system, also developed and manufactured by OceanWorks International. The SDFS is designed to sit on the seabed in the proximity of a subsea well at depths of up to up to 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) and provides the capability to deliver dispersant fluid to a deepwater well control incident in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The system is designed to allow the dispersant flow to be provided by either a surface vessel or autonomously based on ROV provided flow input.

WISTA USA President Jeanne Grasso announced the 2012 Annual General Meeting of the Woman’s International Shipping and Trading Association USA (WISTA) will be held from May 9-11 in Houston. “This will be an important gathering of WISTA USA, as we project our future,” observed Jeanne Grasso, who is also a maritime partner at Blank Rome. The Annual General Meeting will focus on the goals of the organization, including its participation as part of an international association. Emphasis will be placed on raising WISTA’s profile within the shipping and trading communities to attract new members…

Drydocks World signed a Contract with Singapore based AET, a global leader in petroleum shipping, for two Tanker-to-Modular Capture Vessel (MCV) conversion projects. AET is converting these vessels as part of the Marine Well Containment Company’s (MWCC) well containment system. MWCC is a not-for-profit, stand-alone organization with 10 member companies ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Shell, BP, Apache Anadarko, BHP Billiton, Statoil and Hess. The conversion will be implemented at the Drydocks World – Dubai facility.

AMEC, an engineering and project management company, has been selected by the Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC) to design and deliver components of MWCC’s expanded containment system. AMEC’s role covers project management, engineering, fabrication, integration, and commissioning of modular equipment to be used by the capture vessels of the Marine Well Containment System. AMEC’s recent acquisition, qedi, will be supporting AMEC on the integrated completions and commissioning services. When completed, the modular assemblies will be stored and maintained at permanent shore base locations. The expanded containment system, scheduled for delivery in 2012…

The Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC) announced today that its membership has grown to 10 members at the conclusion of the company’s formation period. The MWCC member companies are now Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, Apache, Anadarko, BHP Billiton, Statoil and Hess. These 10 companies operated approximately 70 percent of deepwater wells drilled in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico between 2007 through 2009. Marty Massey, chief executive officer of MWCC, said, “Our membership includes companies that are active in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) approved a deepwater drilling permit for a new well that was described in Shell Offshore Inc’s recently approved Exploration Plan. The proposed well was also considered in the Site-Specific Environmental Assessment (SEA) completed as part of the plan review. In order to receive the permit approval, Shell complied with rigorous new safety standards implemented in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and resulting oil spill. This includes satisfying the requirement to demonstrate the capacity to contain a subsea blowout. The approved permit is a permit to drill a new well for Shell’s Well #DC001 in Garden Banks Block 427 in 2,721 ft.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) approved a fourth deepwater drilling permit that complies with rigorous new safety standards implemented in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and resulting oil spill. This includes satisfying the requirement to demonstrate the capacity to contain a subsea blowout. The approved permit is a revised permit to drill a new well for Exxon Mobil Corporation’s Well #3 in Keathley Canyon Block 919 in 6,941 ft. water depth, approximately 240 miles off the Louisiana coastline, south of Lafayette, La. Today’s is the first permit approved that designates the Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC) containment system as its containment solution.

Today four oil majors – Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Shell – announced a plan to build and deploy a rapid response system that will be available to capture and contain oil in the event of a potential future underwater well blowout in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Significantly, the companies have already committed $1 billion to fund the initial costs of the system, and the four will form a non-profit organization, the Marine Well Containment Company, to operate and maintain this system. Other companies will be invited and encouraged to participate in this organization.