Houston - Over 100 offshore energy professionals attended the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement’s (BSEE) Well Control Rule Implementation Workshop August 17, 2016 at the Leland Federal Building in Houston. Regulatory staff from BSEE described key aspects of the rule including compliance dates, shearing, permitting and inspections, alternative compliance and departures, BSEE Approved Verification Organizations (BAVO) and failure reporting. Throughout the workshop, BSEE staff reiterated their willingness to remain engaged, adding that the bureau has established a primary email account for any questions on the rule, wellcontrolrule@bsee.gov. BSEE has been posting answers to emailed questions on the bureau’s web site.
Jarvis Outlaw, a supervisory petroleum engineer with BSEE’s Engineering Technology Assessment Center, explained to participants that industry standards included in the rule covered areas such as choke and kill systems, blowout preventers (BOP) and drill-through equipment, control systems and diverters, packers and bridge plugs, quality management systems, and risers for floating production facilities. Outlaw enumerated ten specific American Petroleum Institute (API) standards that the rule now requires. According to API’s website, those standards were created to enhance the safety of industry operations, assure quality, helps keep costs down, reduce waste, and minimize confusion. Outlaw explained that incorporating the API standards into the law means that the well-accepted practices must be followed by everyone involved in offshore oil and gas exploration and production.
The final Well Control Rule was published April 29, and went into effect 90 days later, on July 28. The rule’s phased-in approach allows industry additional time to come into compliance for certain requirements. Kirk Malstrom, a Petroleum Engineer with BSEE’s Office of Offshore Regulatory Programs, described which aspects of the Well Control Rule went into effect on July 28, and which parts take effect one, two, three and five years after publication. For example, Malstrom pointed out that industry has until Apr. 29, 2021 to make sure that dual shear rams are installed on subsea BOPs, and that this timeframe also includes the ancillary requirements associated with the operation of dual shear rams. During the course of the workshop, multiple BSEE staff emphasized that some industry operators are likely to meet the rule’s specifications well in advance of the deadlines.
Throughout the workshop there was candid conversation on important aspects of the rule. BSEE officials said they hoped a spirit of transparency and cooperation would reign throughout the implementation process because it is in everyone’s best interests to avoid future losses of well control.