Preventing the Next Big Well Control Event – A Leading Indicators Approach

A blowout in Ohio in 2018 was the first ever where the emissions could be measured from space, though it was at best a rough estimate based on data gathered on the 13th day after the XTO Energy well control event began. A year later, a blowout of a Devon well near Victoria, Texas, was measured starting the day after it occurred, with data collected on 3 days over the next 2 weeks. Using the measurement of carbon dioxide, it was estimated that the flare was 87% effective in burning about 4,800 metric tons of the leaking methane gas. Emission estimates varied wildly, and both the Ohio (Pandey et al. 2019) and Texas (Cusworth, Duren, Thorpe et al. 2020) efforts to use satellites led to technical papers to consider how they addressed this challenge. For those with blowouts next year, chances are a lot better methane-emission data would be available because of the launch of a constellation of specialized methane-measurement satellites by the two groups that played a key role in the earlier tests. In presentations at CERAWeek by IHS Markit, GHGSat said it has two methane-detection satellites in orbit and plans the launch of eight more, and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) said it is moving forward with the launch of its first one next year. Both are aiming to cover the lion’s share of oil and gas operations and measure the flow rate of the gas rather than concentrations in the atmosphere. They said they can do that far more accurately than was possible with the general-purpose climate observation satellites by focusing their equipment on the wavelength of methane. GHGSat said its satellites, which are about the size of a microwave oven, can measure the potent greenhouse gas from an elevation of 500 km and up. They are placed in polar orbit, which allows them to cover the globe every 2 weeks as the Earth rotates. Launching more satellites will allow more frequent looks. There are differences in the GHGSat and EDF designs, reflecting their contrasting missions. The Canadian company GHGSat, whose satellite initiative was initially supported by Schlumberger and the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, is building tiny satellites with extremely high resolution to serve clients in the oil and mining businesses. During the presentation, Stéphane Germain, chief executive officer of GHGSat, displayed an image and said its satellites can tell if the methane is “coming from a particular facility and even tell what part of the facility it is coming from.” The company also sells the services of similarly equipped planes that can create more-detailed images using similar equipment at elevations of 3000 m and higher. EDF raised $100 million from donors, including Elon Musk, and has hired Raytheon to build a satellite equipped with a detector from Ball Aerospace. It can survey an area that is 260 km wide. That is far wider than the GHGSat satellites, which have the advantage of being able to zero in on smaller details when looking for leaks. The environmental group points out its device is more sensitive to methane emissions, detecting levels down to two parts per billion.

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MPD Called to a Post Well-Control Event to Free a Differentially Stuck Pipe

10.2118/194544-ms ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Akram Nabiyev ◽

Sagar Nauduri ◽

Martyn Parker ◽

Darin Fisher ◽

David Cunningham

Keyword(s):

Well Control ◽

Control Event

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Hydraulic Monitoring and Well-Control-Event Detection With Model-Based Analysis

Journal of Petroleum Technology ◽

10.2118/0914-0144-jpt ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 66 (09) ◽

pp. 144-147

Author(s):

Chris Carpenter

Keyword(s):

Event Detection ◽

Well Control ◽

Model Based ◽

Control Event ◽

Model Based Analysis

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Development of the Global Equipment Inventory and Network for Subsea Well Response

International Oil Spill Conference Proceedings ◽

10.7901/2169-3358-2021.1.1141381 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2021 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Neil A Munro ◽

Andy R Myers

Keyword(s):

Shallow Water ◽

Source Control ◽

Mutual Aid ◽

Gas Industry ◽

Well Control ◽

Remote Areas ◽

Response Network ◽

Industry Collaboration ◽

Control Event ◽

Drilling Operations

ABSTRACT 1141381 The Montara (2009) and Macondo (2010) incidents resulted in step change in safety for the oil & gas industry. Since then many improvements have been implemented to keep the highest standard of safety in drilling operations. Through industry collaboration subsea well response equipment not available at the time of these incidents is now globally accessible. Technology continues to be developed to provide comprehensive response capabilities. A recent area of focus for industry was how to cap an incident well in water depths less than 600 meters where vertical access may not be possible due to hydrocarbons at surface and a possible gas boil in the case of a gas well. An innovative concept was developed, manufactured and tested to deal with a loss of well control event in shallow water. The Offset Installation System (OIS) allows a capping stack to be deployed and installed on a blowing out well in shallow water, deployed and controlled by vessels offset from the incident well. In addition, the OIS can be used for debris clearance, removal of the lower marine riser package (LMRP), and deployment of other subsea response hardware. By virtue of their source control operational function capping stacks are relatively large and heavy pieces of hardware. Despite these physical characteristics, there is expectation by stakeholders and international regulators for capability to transport capping stack equipment across significant distances in an expeditious manner to respond to an incident. For remote areas of the globe, capping stacks air transported as a single unit could provide an effective solution. A key objective in responding to a subsea loss of well control event is the ability to effectively mobilise source control equipment and trained personnel to readily manage an emergency response scenario in a timely manner globally. A number of companies with a range of capabilities will be required to provide a comprehensive response. To further assist, initiatives focused on personnel resources have been developed including a global subsea response network, and continuing industry collaboration for mutual aid of personnel. This paper will provide information on the development of the global subsea response equipment inventory available to industry. Latest developments such as OIS and air freightable capping stacks for transportation to remote areas will be discussed in detail as well as the above-mentioned initiatives for personnel.

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