Well Capping Becomes an Industry of Its Own

Abstract

Well Control Improvements The word to describe offshore well capping is more. There are more people being hired to manage more hardware in more places around the world, and there are more things under development. A niche business within the offshore exploration and production sector has sprung up since the Macondo disaster destroyed the Deepwater Horizon in 2010, which killed 11 and flowed for months before it was finally capped. This growing industry is going to be a “lasting and ever-evolving” part of the business, said Kurt Kriter, Americas regional director for Oil Spill Response Ltd. (OSRL), which is one of the interlocking network of industry-owned organizations responsible for this growth. Oil Spill Response is an industry-owned cooperative whose responsibilities include owning and managing equipment to quickly respond to out-of-control wells around the globe for another group created by nine big oil companies, called the Subsea Well Response Project (SWRP). The four recently established hubs covering major oil regions around the globe feature four high-capacity capping stacks, which were built using design advice from the engineering departments of the SWRP members. The two highest-performance units can shut off a well flowing at 15,000 psi, and divert up to 100,000 B/D to surface vessels. When the last of the caps is delivered later this year to Brazil by Trendsetter Engineering, it will mark a transition for this business, which has been focused on building capping stacks, going from zero before Macondo to around 20 currently. The focus is shifting toward operations and developing improved response methods. This year, OSRL is staffing hubs in Stavanger, Norway; Cape Town, South Africa; Angara dos Reis, Brazil; and Singapore, with six in each location, and 10 in its British well response center, said Jan Strom, director of subsea well intervention services for OSRL. The local teams are charged with maintenance and logistics, with support from outside advisors, such as Trendsetter, which has built nine caps, making it one of the largest companies active in this field. Well capping companies began in the US, with Marine Well Containment Corporation (MWCC) and Helix Well Containment Group (HWCG). They were created to allow offshore exploration companies to share the cost of buying and maintaining the equipment needed to respond to well incidents. Macondo showed the need, and led to US regulations requiring operators to demonstrate they have access to the equipment and expertise needed to stop an offshore blowout. Now governments around the world have similar regulations.