BSEE Releases 2017 Blowout Prevention Report
Based on follow-up documents submitted to SafeOCS, only 12 of the 18 components involved in unplanned stack pulls were sent to shore for further analysis by the original manufacturer or a third party, "despite the expectation of a root cause failure analysis (RCFA) for every stack pull," the report says.
The federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement's SafeOCS program, which facilitates confidential data sharing about industry safety systems, released its 2017 annual Blowout Prevention System Safety report earlier this month. The report analyzes failure data and notifications, as mandated by BSEE's well control regulations, and information such as operational impact, failure causes, and possible data improvement opportunities.
The 2017 report shows 18 operators with rig operations in the Gulf of Mexico reported 1,129 equipment component failure events; these occurred on 45 of the 59 rigs operating in the Gulf during the period. Equipment component failures while not in operation for rigs with subsea blowout prevention stacks increased. In addition, based on follow-up documents submitted to SafeOCS, only 12 of the 18 components involved in unplanned stack pulls were sent to shore for further analysis by the original manufacturer or a third party, "despite the expectation of a root cause failure analysis (RCFA) for every stack pull," it says.
"We inherited a program with a three percent participation rate and have increased that to 59 percent, but we are not stopping there. Increasing participation in SafeOCS and sharing safety data across industry are critical for generating meaningful analysis," said Scott Angelle, BSEE's director. "The ultimate goal of this program is to identify proactive steps to mitigate risks and ensure offshore operations are safe, reliable, and environmentally sustainable."