https://maritime-executive.com/article/gom-over-1-000-drilling-equipment-failures-reported-in-2017#gs.IMgRVHE
[images in online article]
Gulf Of Mexico: Over 1,000 Drilling Equipment Failures Reported in 2017
By MarEx 2018-07-16 19:38:46
The U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement’s SafeOCS
program has released its 2017 annual report on Blowout Prevention System
Safety, noting 18 of 25 operators associated with rig operations in the
Gulf of Mexico (GOM) reported 1,129 equipment component failure events.
The reported events occurred on 45 of the 59 rigs operating in the GOM
during the year.
The report summarizes blow out preventer (BOP) equipment component
failures that occurred on marine drilling rigs. The 18 reporting
operators account for 90.2 percent of new wells drilled. Both types of
BOP stacks (subsea and surface) were associated with component failures,
and the majority of notifications were associated with the more complex
subsea BOP stacks.
Leaks remained the most frequently reported observed failure and wear
and tear remained the most frequently reported root cause of failure
events in 2017 as they were in 2016.
There were 1,044 subsea events (92.5 percent of total events) reported
to SafeOCS, approximately the same percentage as reported in 2016 (91.8
percent of total events). Of those events, 86.4 percent occurred while
not in operation (i.e., on deck, during deployment or during retrieval),
an increase in not-in-operation events from 2016 to 2017. Of the
in-operation events, eight led to stack pulls, and one of the eight
resulted in a loss of containment event involving synthetic oil base mud
(drilling fluid).
Surface BOPs perform the same functions as subsea BOPs but are less
complex and tend to have fewer components. In addition, the equipment is
readily accessible on the platform for installation and maintenance
activities. Surface BOP stacks are normally used on fixed platforms,
jack up rigs, spar platforms, and tension leg platforms. 17 of the 45
rigs (37.8 percent) had surface offshore BOP stacks. However, surface
stacks account for just 7.5 percent of the failure notifications.
85 equipment component events occurred on surface BOP stacks in 2017. Of
those, there were 44 events while not in operation, 41 while in
operation and 10 stack pulls. The percentage of failures occurring while
not in operation was higher for subsea stacks (86.4 percent) than on
surface stacks (48.2 percent). This reflects the common field practice
of conducting more thorough predeployment testing and maintenance on
subsea stacks as compared to surface stacks.
