When you consider what Shell is proposing to use in the harsh Arctic environment to drill its exploration wells (the refurbished but antiquated Frontier Discoverer, with the obsolete and beat-up Kulluk as a backup rig), one wonders whether Shell USA management truly understands the nature of the environment they are going to be operating in.
From a former employee of Shell Oil USA
Attached is a link to an article about the ODECO Ocean Ranger (right), a large modern semi-submersible rig that sank during a storm. It was drilling a well for Mobil (now ExxonMobil) in the Hibernia oil field, offshore Nova Scotia, Canada.
(Ocean Ranger vanishes off Canada)
This case is interesting because there are parallels with the problems BP had with its production platform ‘Thunder Horse’, which almost sank in a hurricane that is was supposedly designed to withstand.
‘A design flaw (porthole too low) and poor worker training were the cause of the sinking of the Ocean Ranger. Poor worker training was essentially the cause of the Deep Water Horizon disaster. And a design flaw, a valve installed backwards, almost sank BP’s Thunder Horse production platform in the hurricane. All three incidents/accidents were avoidable if oil company and rig company management had been doing their jobs.’
Did I ever mention ‘Murphy’s Law’ to you? read more
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