Offshore Sector Research Articles

Hazard Identification of Well Test Operation in Drilling and Production Offshore Platform by HAZID

A significant portion of energy resources has been discovered in offshore sectors, leading to a continuous increase in the volume of activities and operations. Once a well is drilled and fluid extraction begins, all the reservoir parameters, start to change. well test operation is one of the most crucial tools for engineers to comprehend the behavior and parameters of hydrocarbon reservoirs. In this study, the hazards associated with the well test operations has been identified by using HAZID technique. A total of 189 risks were identified in the initial risk assessment, with 35 categorized as low risk, 88 as medium risk, and 66 as high risk and after implementing protection layers in the secondary risk assessment, the number of low risks incidents increased, while medium and high-risk incidents were reduced significantly. Most of the risks identified are associated with loading operations and sea transportation from the port to the drilling rig. Given that loading and unloading operations are among the most frequently repeated activities in well testing operations, it is determined that they play a critical role in the overall risk profile

Giant landslide, hidden caldera structure, magnetic anomalies and tectonics in southern Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy)

Phlegraean Fields and Ischia Island are large, densely populated, active volcanic structures located in the Campanian Tyrrhenian margin between the onshore and offshore sectors. While the emerged landforms provide significant insights into a series of intense volcano-tectonic events of the last 60 ka, our understanding of the sub-marine portion of these volcanoes remains limited due to its inaccessibility to direct exploration. In the last decades, the use of magnetic methods has proven to be useful in volcanic context, given the presence of large magnetization contrasts, whereas the implementation of a high-resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM) has allowed the integration of detailed morphological analyses into the geophysical studies. In this work, we present two new high-resolution airborne and shipborne magnetic surveys, carried out by the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) in the marine sector of the Phlegraean Fields caldera (Pozzuoli Bay) and surrounding sea sectors. Moreover, the new datasets have been integrated with older marine surveys carried out by the National Research Council (CNR) to extend the resulting magnetic anomaly map embracing the whole Campanian offshore volcanic structures, excluding Ischia Island. As a result, we present here three new magnetic anomaly maps used for an integrated interpretation of magnetic, morphological, and tectonic features. The study results provide valuable insights into the relationship between volcanic, magmatic, and tectonic activity, which may be useful for further investigations. Among the most notable findings are: the identification of the magnetic signatures of regional faults, previously unknown caldera structures, and a massive rock avalanche. Consequently, our research provides a significant contribution to seabed exploration aimed at identifying potential hazard factors in the study area.

The Evolution of the Land Drilling Rig

_ The earliest land rigs used materials like bamboo and iron and were powered by animals such as horses or oxen. These rigs used percussive drilling to create the bore, repeatedly raising and dropping heavy iron bits—effective but slow. By the time Edwin Drake was drilling the Titusville well in 1859, steam engines had been introduced to help power now metal pipe down into the Earth’s crust. By the 1950s, steam-powered rigs gave way to diesel engines. The 1960s would see the advent of self-elevating rigs—the transition from derricks to mast. During the 1970s, electrical power using on-site generators was introduced to drive systems on the rig, and the advent of new downhole tools would allow drillers to directionally drill while maintaining rotation. In the mid-1980s, the first steerable drilling system was introduced. Soon, the evolution would move from the drill floor and downhole into the doghouse (driller’s cabin). Gone were the mechanical hand brakes and foot pedal systems, replaced by touchscreens and joysticks. The land rig has come a long way. Hoisting capability and rig-up requirements were key drivers in the design of older units rather than an ability to store materials and move. Older rig-floor configurations were modified to accommodate pipe-handling equipment instead of designed to integrate pipe-handling equipment. These units were not driven by location sizes nor multiwell pad capabilities. Most of this would change with the coming of the new millennia, and by 2010, it would seem like new innovations would be integrated into land rig design every year—from larger variable skid systems allowing for pad and batch drilling to app-based automation driving efficiency and safety profile. Topdrives? Onshore? Most of what drove innovation in land rigs can be traced back to development in the offshore sector. Much of what would become standard technology on land had its roots offshore, starting with one of the most important technology transfers of the 1990s—topdrives.

Biodiversity and functioning of mesozooplankton in a changing Ross Sea

Literature on Ross Sea zooplankton is limited, although it is the most productive system and has the highest biomass of phytoplankton in the Southern Ocean. Energy transfer within the food web and response of continental shelf food web to climate change depend on the knowledge of the density and distribution of zooplankton. We evaluated its density, composition, spatial distribution and their potential relations with environmental factors and specific water mass presence. Particular attention was given to copepods. Mesozooplankton samples were collected between 14 January and February 11, 2017 from 14 stations in the western Ross Sea and Terra Nova Bay, while other micronekton samplings were completed at 6 stations. Results highlighted three pools of stations: one inside Terra Nova Bay with the highest densities, one on the platform with lower mean density, and the third represented by a N–S transept at 175°E with the lowest mean density. This partitioning of the region fit with the grouping of stations according to a ternary plot based on the different percentages of water masses in each station and reflected the similarity of zooplankton. The presence of specific water masses and their contribution in the upper 200 m influences zooplankton biodiversity and density. A phylogenetic tree of the zooplankton was constructed to analyse the distance among the observed taxa. The area located near the coast exhibited the highest degree of phylogenetic overdispersion. In coastal waters, typical copepod species constituted the main part of the neritic zooplankton of Terra Nova Bay and Ross Sea. Oithona similis was the most abundant species both in coastal and offshore sectors, followed by pteropods, polychaetes and euphausiids.

The influence of professional engineering certifications on offshore industry standards and practices

The offshore engineering industry plays a critical role in global energy production and infrastructure development. Ensuring quality, safety, and efficiency in offshore operations is paramount to the success and sustainability of these projects. This paper explores the significant impact of professional engineering certifications on offshore industry standards and practices, specifically focusing on how certifications contribute to enhancing quality, safety, and efficiency. Professional engineering certifications validate the skills and expertise of individuals working in the offshore sector, providing assurance to stakeholders that industry standards are being met. Through a comprehensive review of existing literature and case studies, this paper examines the role of certifications in maintaining quality assurance, ensuring safety protocols, and enhancing operational efficiency. Certified professionals play a crucial role in implementing and adhering to stringent quality standards throughout offshore projects, ultimately reducing the risk of costly errors and project delays. Moreover, certifications equip professionals with the necessary knowledge and training to identify and mitigate safety hazards, thereby minimizing the likelihood of accidents and environmental disasters. In addition to quality and safety considerations, certifications also contribute to improving efficiency in offshore operations. Certified professionals are equipped with the latest industry best practices and technologies, enabling them to streamline processes, optimize resource utilization, and deliver projects on time and within budget. While professional certifications are instrumental in raising industry standards and practices, challenges such as access to training, certification maintenance, and evolving regulatory requirements remain. Addressing these challenges and promoting the adoption of certification programs are essential steps towards further enhancing the quality, safety, and efficiency of offshore engineering operations. Overall, this paper underscores the critical role of professional engineering certifications in shaping the future of the offshore industry, providing a roadmap for stakeholders to leverage certifications effectively to achieve their operational objectives. Keywords: Professional Engineering Certifications, Offshore Industry Standards, Quality, Safety, Efficiency, Offshore engineering operations.

A methodology to evaluate seawater corrosion on quasi-static tensile properties of a structural steel

With the wind turbine industry growing and increasingly turning its focus to the offshore sector, it is important to grasp the challenges that come with it: the logistic challenges related to transport and maintenance, the exposure to wave and wind action and also the vulnerability to corrosion. The marine environment is a complex and aggressively corrosive environment. The S690 steel, as a structural steel of high mechanical strength, offers weight reduction advantages that are of interest to the sector. However, its behaviour in a corrosive medium is still not well known. As such, this work is part of an effort to characterize S690 steel under marine environment conditions. A methodology for inducing accelerated pre-corrosion on quasi-static tensile specimens of S690 steel, while simulating the environment, has been developed and applied. The effect of this pre-corrosion on the tensile mechanical properties is evaluated through testing in accordance with the ASTM E8 standard. It was found that the induced surface pre-corrosion, equivalent to six months of exposure, did not have a significant effect on the investigated mechanical behaviour.

Measurement-based carbon intensity of US offshore oil and gas production

The United States (US) produces oil and gas from six offshore regions: the North Slope of Alaska, Cook Inlet in Alaska, offshore California, and three Gulf of Mexico (GOM) sub-regions: state shallow, federal shallow, and deep waters. Measurement-based assessment of direct greenhouse gas emissions from this production can provide real-world information on carbon emissions to inform decisions on current and future production. In evaluating the climate impact of production, the carbon intensity (CI, the ratio of greenhouse gases emitted compared to the energy of fuels produced) is often used, though it is rarely quantified with measurements. Here, we complete an observational evaluation of the US offshore sector and present the largest current set of measurement-based CIs. We collected airborne measurements of methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen oxides from the North Slope, Cook Inlet, and California and combined with prior GOM results. For Alaska and California, we found emissions agree with facility-level inventories, however, the inventories miss some facilities. The US offshore CI, on a 100 year GWP basis, is 5.7 g CO2e/MJ[4.5, 6.8, 95% confidence interval]. This is greater than double the CI based on the national US inventory, with the discrepancy attributed primarily to methane emissions from GOM shallow waters, with a methane dominated CI of 16[12, 22] for GOM federal shallow waters and 43[25–65] for state shallow waters. Regional intensities vary, with carbon dioxide emissions largely responsible for CI on the North Slope 11[7.5, 15], in Cook Inlet 22[13, 34], offshore California 7.2[3.2, 13], and in GOM deep waters 1.1[1.0, 1.1]. These observations indicate offshore operations outside of the GOM in the US have modest methane emissions, but the CI can still be elevated due to direct carbon dioxide emissions. Accurate assessment of different offshore basins, with differing characteristics and practices, is important for the climate considerations of expanded production.

Critical supply chains and Australian maritime training requirements

The Offshore and Specialist Ships Australia paper has focussed on two of the program themes being: access to the right skills including STEM, with STEM being a critical part of both Deck and Engineer Officer training and improving and securing supply chain connectivity. We see these two items are critical elements for the Maritime requirements of the Offshore sector for Oil and Gas export plus both construction and demobilisation of offshore facilities, pilotage of vessels and the requirement of internal maritime knowledge within organisations. The focus on this document will be twofold: Firstly, the current critical lack of qualified deck and engineer officers and how this can be rectified. The lack of domestic training has recently been identified by both Maritime Industry Australia Ltd and Australian Resources & Energy Employer Association as being at a crisis point. Secondly, the lack of an Australian strategic fleet (including a viable Australian International Shipping Register (AISR)) and the consequent vulnerability of our critical maritime export and import supply chains. We believe that both these theme items are mutually dependent and are in urgent need of the attention of both the wider energy export industry and Federal and State Governments.

Innovation and opportunity through regulatory change

Adapting to change and seizing opportunities is a constant process for all involved in offshore energy, government and industry alike. The offshore energy sector continues to adapt approaches and adopt new ways of doing business as community expectations and the regulatory framework continue to evolve. As industry explores new frontiers in carbon capture and storage and infrastructure reuse for renewables, the historic challenges of legacy wells and decommissioning remain at the forefront of planning considerations. Recognising this changing landscape, the regulator has undergone its own evolution from investigations to drive change and enhance safety standards through to consultation best practice based on cultural awareness. This change has been driven by a refocusing of priorities and increased emphasis on where the greatest regulatory impact can be achieved. This paper outlines critical learnings from the past year – what industry is doing well and ongoing opportunities for improvement, the changes being implemented by the regulator and what they mean for industry, and what lies ahead for the offshore sector in the broader legislative and regulatory regime.

The size of the offshore sector in the Norwegian economy

ABSTRACT Writers on Norwegian economic history often claim that industries related to the sea played a major role in the Norwegian economy for centuries. However, little has been done to quantify this sector’s contribution to the economy. The present paper seeks to quantify the size of the key offshore industries compared to GDP and exports. To do so it has been necessary to draw on new historical national account calculations and export data in addition to compute new series Based on these calculations we find that the offshore sector made up a significant part of Norwegian GDP, and a dominant part of exports, 1816–2021. As a share of the total economy the sector’s traditional industries, i.e. fishing ari and ocean transport were in sum stable until the late 1950s in the long-run. Thereafter they shrunk rapidly, when the takeoff of the new offshore industry, oil and gas extraction from the continental shelf from the 1970s, made the offshore economy reach new heights in the decades to follow. This paper quantifies this development.

PREREQUISITES AND CONSEQUENCES OF THE USE OF OFFSHORE JURISDICTIONS BY UKRAINIAN BUSINESSES

Offshore zones, as legal, financial and tax entities, attract the attention of both governments and the business environment. These zones are used for a variety of purposes, including reducing the tax burden, ensuring confidentiality, privacy and asset protection, as well as facilitating business. However, the use of offshore zones is also associated with risks, which include tax abuse, tax evasion, corruption and money laundering. One of the catalysts of the “offshorization” processes on a global scale was scientific and technical progress, the wide and rapid development of modern means of communication and communication. The emergence and development of the global Internet, satellite communications, etc. have reduced the time required for communication between fairly remote parts of the world to a minimum. The listed points together created qualitatively new opportunities for the comprehensive and rapid development of the offshore sector of the world economy, which allowed it to reach a qualitatively new level. Recent years have been characterized by growing attention to transparency and the fight against tax evasion at the international level. Ukraine is implementing measures to control transactions with offshore jurisdictions and ensure transparency in taxation. The study of this topic allows to reveal the peculiarities of the legal, financial and tax environment of offshore jurisdictions, to identify the advantages and risks of their use, as well as to understand the influence of offshores on the economy and international relations.

Noise and Vibration Recorded on Selected New Generation DP Class Shuttle Tankers Operated in the Arctic Offshore Sector

Noise and Vibration Recorded on Selected New Generation DP Class Shuttle Tankers Operated in the Arctic Offshore Sector

Electrolysis as a flexibility resource on energy islands: The case of the North Sea

Energy islands are meant to facilitate offshore sector integration by combining offshore wind energy with power-to-x technologies and storage. In this study, we investigate the operation of electrolysers on energy islands, assess their potential contribution to flexibility provision, and analyse different market integration strategies of the islands. For this purpose, a two-stage stochastic optimisation model is developed to determine the cost-efficient dispatch for an integrated day-ahead and balancing electricity market. For the market integration of the energy island, we align our approach to the current debate and compare the case of a single offshore bidding zone to a case where the energy island is integrated into a home market zone. We find that electrolysers on energy islands will run at low capacity factors and provide flexibility in 29–36% of their run time. In addition, offshore electrolysers produce more hydrogen when they are allocated to an offshore bidding zone, and thus earn higher profits. We conclude that combining offshore wind with electrolysers on an energy island relies on additional economic incentives if their main role is envisioned to be the delivery of balancing flexibility.

Theoretical Performance Evaluation of Sustainable Refrigerants in Marine Engineering Practice

Refrigeration is, and has been an essential component of marine engineering practice for the past several decades, however, with increasing worldwide awareness of the detrimental effects refrigerants can have on the environment, this “niche” area of the marine engineering profession has undergone major regulatory changes. This article lists the regulatory changes with their enforcement and phase-out date for the most commonly used marine refrigerants, proposes suitable environmentally acceptable alternatives detailing their performance evaluation, and describes the most common problems encountered during the conversion process for existing marine HVAC and provision refrigeration installations both in the off-shore sector and on ocean-going vessels based on statistical data and practical real-world examples witnessed by me in my professional practice

Fluid-Related Features in the Offshore Sector of the Sciacca Geothermal Field (SW Sicily): The Role of the Lithospheric Sciacca Fault System

The Sciacca basin extends in the southwestern part of Sicily and hosts an important geothermal field (the Sciacca Geothermal Field) characterized by hot springs containing mantle gasses. Newly acquired high-resolution seismic profiles (Boomer data) integrated with a multichannel seismic reflection profile in close proximity to the Sciacca Geothermal Field have documented the presence of numerous active and shallow fluid-related features (pipes, bright spots, buried and outcropping mud volcanoes, zones of acoustic blanking, and seafloor fluid seeps) in the nearshore sector between Capo San Marco and Sciacca (NW Sicilian Channel) and revealed its deep tectonic structure. The Sciacca Geothermal Field and the diffuse submarine fluid-related features probably form a single onshore–offshore field covering an area of at least 70 km2. This field has developed in a tectonically active zone dominated by a left-lateral transpressive regime associated with the lithospheric, NNE-striking Sciacca Fault System. This structure probably favored the rising of magma and fluids from the mantle in the offshore area, leading to the formation of a geothermal resource hosted in the Triassic carbonate succession that outcrops onshore at Monte San Calogero. This field has been active since the lower Pleistocene, when fluid emissions were likely greater than today and were associated with greater tectonic activity along the Sciacca Fault System.

An evaluation of Oman’s National Fisheries Development Strategy (NFDS) 2013–2020: Wealth or welfare maximisation?

This paper evaluates Oman’s National Fisheries Development Strategy 2013–2020 (NFDS) which was adopted in 2012 to guide the future development of the country’s fisheries sector. The NFDS is an ambiguous document which gives rise to two different interpretations. First, it can be interpreted as a radical model of fisheries development which is driven by the principle of wealth-maximisation and entails a massive expansion and modernization of the fishing industry, transforming it from its traditional artisanal inshore form into a high-tech industrial form with an emphasis on a large new offshore sector. Alternatively, it can be interpreted as a traditional artisanal inshore fishery model which is driven by the principle of welfare-maximisation upholding the long-established cultural values of fisheries-dependent communities. The paper discusses these two different interpretations of the NFDS, drawing on the literature as well as the insights of 176 respondents obtained from 44 key informant interviews, 10 focus group discussions, and 92 survey questionnaires. The findings are that the government has settled for a hybrid model consisting of a diluted version of the radical vision - encouraging the development of a moderately sized offshore sector - while continuing to strongly support the traditional artisanal sector. Judging by the fourfold increase in fisheries production in Oman since 2012, this hybrid model seems to be successful in expanding the size of the sector. The wider lesson to be drawn from this study is the importance of balancing economic benefits of modernisation with social benefits of traditional communities – a balance that many other countries (both developing and developed) are struggling to strike.

Stakeholders’ Perspectives on Generative Voluntary Safety Reporting Culture (GVSRC) in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Oil and Gas (O&G) Sector Using the Offshore Safety Action Program (OSAP)

To fill a gap in understanding of the Generative Voluntary Safety Reporting Culture (GVSRC) in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Oil and Gas (O&G) sector, perspectives of stakeholders based on their experiences were explored using attributes of a proposed Offshore Safety Action Program (OSAP) modeled after the Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP). A phenomenological approach encompassing semi-structured interviews (n = 18) and five focus-group sessions (n = 18) was used to collect data from a cross-section of top management, supervisors, regulatory representatives, and subject-matter experts (SME). Four themes emerged from a Thematic Analysis: (1) Voluntary safety reporting culture, (2) Voluntary safety reporting bottlenecks, (3) Universality, and (4) Organizational review of safety events. Most respondents strongly supported the OSAP because it ensures a formalized adjudication of voluntary safety reports by an Event Review Committee (ERC) with representation from employees, management, and regulators. Most respondents supported the non-punitive and confidential attributes of the OSAP as a means to enhance GVSRC. However, there were varying perspectives on defining intentional disregard for safety under the OSAP. Due to the enumerated challenges of cost, respondents agreed that organizations use a scalable process commensurate with the complexity of their operations when adopting the OSAP. A veritable framework for data-driven corrective actions, organizational learning, and enhanced GVSRC in the offshore sector is a potential policy implication of adopting the OSAP.

Mental wellbeing; Human reliability assessment of seafarers during the COVID-19 era

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic took the world by storm and disrupted global trade and maritime activities. Seafarers suffered immensely as most of their activities were affected due to the lockdown and travel restrictions placed by most governments to protect their borders. This had an impact on mostly their mental health as most of their routine became disrupted, travel plans were cancelled, and some fear of losing their jobs due to uncertainty. This research focuses on the impact the lockdown had on the mental health of seafarers and how it affects their human error probability value during COVID-19 by utilizing the HEART methodology. The conventional HEART technique is not precisely developed to be applied in the marine and offshore sector, so it was imperative to modify it to capture the key factors this research would be measuring which include fatigue, poor communication, depression, sleep deprivation, and how they influence the Human Error Probability (HEP) value of seafarers. To properly factor in these influencing factors, a questionnaire was developed and distributed to expert seafarers to weigh each factor in other to develop the Error Influencing Factor (EIF) table to further boost the accuracy of this research. For this research, the scenario used is a pre-mooring task carried out by seafarers. The result shows that the HEP value changes by over 55% from 6.1676E–2 before covid-19, to 6.1960E–1 during covid-19. Event Tree analysis was also carried out using the individual HEP values to calculate the probability of failure of the mooring ropes. The result shows that the probability of failure during COVID-19 is higher when compared. The application of this modified HEART technique confirms that COVID-19 lockdown had a negative impact on these factors that influence the mental well-being of seafarers.

Guidelines on Asset Management of Offshore Facilities for Monitoring, Sustainable Maintenance, and Safety Practices.

Recent activities in the oil and gas industry have shown an increasing need for monitoring engagements, such as in shipping, logistics, exploration, drilling, or production. Hence, there is a need to have asset management of these offshore assets (or facilities). Much of the offshore infrastructure is currently approaching or past its operational life expectancy. The study presents an overview on asset management of offshore facilities towards monitoring, safe practices, maintenance, and sustainability. This study outlines the major considerations and the steps to take when evaluating asset life extensions for an aging offshore structure (or asset). The design and construction of offshore structures require some materials that are used to make the structural units, such as offshore platform rigs, ships, and boats. Maintaining existing assets in the field and developing new platforms that are capable of extracting future oil and gas resources are the two key issues facing the offshore sector. This paper also discusses fault diagnosis using sensors in the offshore facilities. The ocean environment is constantly corrosive, and the production activities demand extremely high levels of safety and reliability. Due to the limited space and remote location of most offshore operations, producing cost-effective, efficient, and long-lasting equipment necessitates a high level of competence. This paper presents the guidelines on asset monitoring, sustainable maintenance, and safety practices for offshore structures. In this study, the management of offshore structures were also presented with some discussions on fault monitoring using sensors. It also proposes sustainable asset management approaches as guidelines that are advised, with policy implications.

Seafloor characterisation of the offshore sector around Scoglio d’Affrica islet (Tuscan Archipelago, northern Tyrrhenian sea)

ABSTRACT We present a very high-resolution bathy-morphological map of the offshore sector around the Scoglio d’Affrica islet (northern Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy). The study area covers a sector of 45 km2, between 3 and 85 m depth. Its central part, i.e. the apex of the Ridge, is characterised by a flat or gently sloping seafloor, where three mud volcanoes, and 250 pockmarks are recognised. Differently, the western and eastern Ridge flanks are steeper and characterised by 60 quasi-rectilinear escarpments and small ridges, more than 20 morphological highs, and elongated channels occasionally floored by bedforms. The seafloor shallower than 40 m is covered by Posidonia oceanica, forming compact and continuous or fragmented meadows intermingled with sandy patches. The main map represents the bathy-morphological setting of the area, which is largely affected by fluid seepage, providing insights for habitat mapping and preliminary marine geohazard assessment due to the violent gas outburst from mud volcanoes.