Blowout Preventers

Blowout Preventers

Doubts arise on reliability of key safety device in deep water

Chron headline: “The blowout preventer, which BP had said failed to seal off a well, continues to draw scrutiny.”

Chicano Nation wrote: Yes, for the last 7 years most people in the know knew about potential problems with the BOP's operating in the ocean depths. The Macondo blowout should come as no surprise.

“The 10-page report, delivered at the 2003 Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, suggests that the industry was so focused on drilling that it was willing to pay higher maintenance costs to keep rigs operating and avoid downtime rather than address some of the fundamental problems with the blowout preventers.

"Floating drilling rig downtime due to poor BOP (blowout preventer) reliability is a common and very costly issue confronting all offshore drilling contractors," the report said, adding that every major disruption could cost $1 million.

The report said the reliability issues were directly related to the fact that drilling companies didn't have detailed design and functional specifications to give companies that manufactured blowout preventers. “The preventers were being rushed into the field with limited testing, and if one malfunctioned, the pressure to keep drilling meant it was fixed with little time spent trying to figure out what had caused the malfunction.

"Because of the pressure on getting the equipment back to work, root cause analysis of the failures is generally not performed," the report said. "In many operations, high maintenance is accepted as a necessary evil to prevent downtime."

See link to the '03 report. (pdf)

Is offshore gear up to task?

Macondo Blowout - Wikipedia

I Have A Hankerin' For Some Chinese!

Politicians have a choice. Keep bowing to the demands of big oil or stand up for the American people.