Closing the GoM blow-out
OUR MULTI-YEAR CLIENT DELIVERED ESSENTIAL SUPPORT TO CLOSE THE WELL
The disaster with the blow-out and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil-rig in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010, is also a movie since 2017. A long-term Norwegian client of ours, the Aker Solutions corporation, operated an oil support vessel the "BOA SUB C" nearby (pictured below). As the distress call was sent, they quickly sailed to the rescue along with other ships in the area. Soon thereafter, they were entrusted a unique US national responsibility: to provide the Command & Control ship for the joint US Coast Guard and BP efforts in closing the runaway well on the ocean floor deep down.
The disaster with the blow-out and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil-rig in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010, is also a movie since 2017. A long-term Norwegian client of ours, the Aker Solutions corporation, operated an oil support vessel the "BOA SUB C" nearby (pictured below). As the distress call was sent, they quickly sailed to the rescue along with other ships in the area. Soon thereafter, they were entrusted a unique US national responsibility: to provide the Command & Control ship for the joint US Coast Guard and BP efforts in closing the runaway well on the ocean floor deep down.
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Meanwhile, a strategic partner of ours became the top-level advisor to the BP division responsible for quality assurance and operational excellence in the conscious efforts of rebuilding the seriously dented reputation of BP. Dented, as their corporate culture let profit overrule quality and excellence, in this case making an oil rig go down – with lives lost and an oil spill of historic dimensions as dire consequences. There is a better way.
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The fire and consequent sinking of the Deepwater Horizon in GoM
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STORY ON WIKIPEDIA
"The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion was the April 20, 2010, explosion and subsequent fire on the Deepwater Horizon semi-submersible Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU), which was owned and operated by Transocean and drilling for BP in the Macondo Prospect oil field about 40 miles (60 km) southeast off the Louisiana coast. The explosion and subsequent fire resulted in the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon and the deaths of 11 workers; 17 others were injured. The same blowout that caused the explosion also caused a massive offshore oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the world, and the largest environmental disaster in U.S."
"The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion was the April 20, 2010, explosion and subsequent fire on the Deepwater Horizon semi-submersible Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU), which was owned and operated by Transocean and drilling for BP in the Macondo Prospect oil field about 40 miles (60 km) southeast off the Louisiana coast. The explosion and subsequent fire resulted in the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon and the deaths of 11 workers; 17 others were injured. The same blowout that caused the explosion also caused a massive offshore oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the world, and the largest environmental disaster in U.S."
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Beyond the steady leadership of the United States Coast Guard, BP and its providers followed suit so that everything possible could be done to close the well as soon as possible. This page tells the story in a neutral way, and further below: From the view of the core provider Aker Solutions, our client over three years. |
Core CEO Learnings
Close to the rescue efforts and aftermath of the most serious oil spill in world history, we are still careful to draw any hard conclusions. This is about many leaders learning to be wiser. Do note the magnitude of this disaster, also reflected in the fact that BP settled the largest claims payment ever, $20 billion, and they paid up and survived – selling off assets. Read about the settlement on CNN >>
The following seems to be sensible conclusions to what should be taken notice of for CEOs who don't want to follow in the footsteps of ignorant management called leadership, there is indeed a better way:
The following seems to be sensible conclusions to what should be taken notice of for CEOs who don't want to follow in the footsteps of ignorant management called leadership, there is indeed a better way:
- DOLLAR vs SAFETY: Don't let short-term financial interests overrun the very safety of operations, where life and nature is at stake.
- LISTEN TO WARNINGS: Don't be overconfident, listen to warnings from those on location with responsibility for the safety and security of real-life operations.
- DOLLAR vs CULTURE: Don't let the entirety and complexity of your corporate culture be overrun by financial orientation.
- LOOK BEYOND AND BELOW: When the going gets tough, fixing the underlying issues is the way to go.
- SOLVE BIGGER PROBLEMS SWIFTLY: When in trouble, admit it, fix it; and start over with values & strategy done right.
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FURTHER INFORMATION
Here's some chosen articles on the many learnings from the BP oil spill disaster:
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Deepwater Horizon & Support Ships
Except the lower left picture, the three others are from a 2010 Norwegian "Teknisk Ukeblad" article. Read the Original Article >> English translation below.
Photo: Tannen Maury
Photo: Aker Solutions
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Photo: John Moore
Photo: John Moore
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Deeper: Report from Onboard
The following is an English translation and synopsis of the 2010 Norwegian article linked above. USCG & BP hands-on operational leadership were onboard the Aker Solutions owned BOA SUB C. Both SUB C and sister ship DEEP C continued being core to the well closing operations throughout.
Observing Deepwater Horizon sinking in the ocean was a totally surreal experience. |
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– Doug Duncan, senior superintendent on board the BOA SUB C.
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This spring and summer, the world's eyes have been directed at the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), where the tragedy of Deepwater Horizon caused a massive oil spill into GOM. Under BP's leadership, several teams from Aker Solutions have participated and played a decisive role in plugging the blow-out. When the accident occurred on April 20, Boa Sub C was on its way to GOM to perform tasks for BP on the Thunder Horse field. But along the way they received an alarming message from Deepwater Horizon. "Once the accident occurred, we told BP of our full support for the rescue work," says Erik Wiik, responsible for Aker Solutions in the United States.
As daylight dawned on April 21, and under the control of the US Coast Guard, the crew on Boa Sub C picked up parts of the lifeboats and lifted them on deck. The two remote controlled submarines (ROV) were made ready with intervening equipment to be able to descend and stop the leaks from the well. On April 22, the ROVs were lowered to close the safety valve (BOP) on well MC252. But it quickly became clear that Deepwater Horizon would sink so that the ROVs were hoisted aboard Boa Sub C and the vessel removed from the rig. After burning for about 36 hours, Deepwater Horizon sank on April 22 at 10:25. Unfortunately, 11 crew members were declared missing and later dead. Seven people were severely injured. "Observing Deepwater Horizon sinking in the ocean was a totally surreal experience." says Doug Duncan, senior superintendent on board Boa Sub C. The next four weeks were Boa Sub C, BP and the US Coast Guard's headquarters for the rescue operation at sea. The first task was to try and shut the valves, the so-called shear rams, on the injured BOP. The ROV was clarified and lowered, but it became clear that this was an impossible task. The next task was to assist the work of the so-called top-kill operation, where heavy drilling mud was pumped down into the well from above. This operation was unsuccessful. "Our core competency was beneficial during these operations. The vessel is tailor made for this type of deepwater subsea operations, which gives us a solid work platform. On the other hand, we are dependent on the expertise of our operators and engineers on shore, in order to carry out this type of task with the naval crew who controlled the vessel, "says Hallgeir Hauge, who is a shift chairman on board. 
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All work was done with a direct connection to BP's operating center in Houston. All the BOP cameras were streamed on the internet so anyone who wanted it could follow the work on the seabed [though with far lower resolution video (VGA) then insiders received (HD)]. "Everything we could see on the seabed BP's people see in Houston," says Håvard Holthe.
"BP often came up with a solution that would be implemented just a few days later, and expected our teams to come up with work procedures and analyzes immediately. Our engineering and project team had to work around the clock, to help BP in closing the well. We were happy to help," says Aker Solutions Project Manager Stephen Reid. Each scenario was reviewed with the same security and quality requirements as otherwise apply. While the oil spill went on, a lot of different tasks were performed on the field. This included putting down large suction anchors, manifolds, flexible connections and risers, saving underwater equipment, a multitude of BOP operations and infinite amount of work with ROVs. Working for BP, Aker Solutions' AMC, the Subsea division and many other engineering experts worldwide, were working hard to find a solution to stop the blow-out. They tried to find the right composts to seal the BOP. After all thought attempts failed, BP asked Aker Solutions to develop what they called an H4 Capping Collector (HPCC) to be placed on top of the injured BOP. "This was constructed and built in record time along with a backup in case the first one did not work as intended or was damaged during installation," said Guiton Ragsdale, who was the project manager for this H4CC. "Our engineers' ingenuity and knowledge were pushed to the utmost in this situation, and I'm pleased to say we delivered everything BP asked of us," he says. The H4CC is a high-pressure jacket that would be lowered onto the existing BOP. Oil from this section should be able to flow back to vessels that are in place to collect the oil. Aker Solutions and BP met on the evening of June 28th to review tasks BP had handed them. The concept was based on being able to utilize equipment that was available and put this together into an integrated solution and install it within 24 days. On July 1, the design was clear. "A guiding element was preparing the equipment for hurricanes, since we were in the hurricane season," explains Ragsdale. Final test of H4CC was completed within the deadline, but unfortunately for Aker Solutions - and luckily for BP and GOM - the Lower Marine Riser Package (LMRP) looked like achieving the task. "We now have an H4CC ready for use wherever in the world it would presume similar problems that BP had with Macondo," says Ragsdale. |
FINALLY CLOSING THE BLOW-OUT
The new cap was equipped with four valves to seal the blow-out. The crews on board the two Aker Solutions vessels worked together to shut down first three of those valves, then: "There was a joyous moment on board when we closed the fourth valve and the oil stopped leaking. We continued to monitor the well for another 48 hours and everything looked great, says Holthe.
It was on July 16th, at 2:22 pm Houston time, that the Macondo oil spill stopped in the Gulf of Mexico. Top kill work continued, and on August 6, the well was completely plugged and cemented. A total of 16 ROVs had worked to shut down the Macondo well. "We are proud of the efforts our people have made at sea and on land in the important work they have done to shut down the Macondo well," says Erik Wiik.
The new cap was equipped with four valves to seal the blow-out. The crews on board the two Aker Solutions vessels worked together to shut down first three of those valves, then: "There was a joyous moment on board when we closed the fourth valve and the oil stopped leaking. We continued to monitor the well for another 48 hours and everything looked great, says Holthe.
It was on July 16th, at 2:22 pm Houston time, that the Macondo oil spill stopped in the Gulf of Mexico. Top kill work continued, and on August 6, the well was completely plugged and cemented. A total of 16 ROVs had worked to shut down the Macondo well. "We are proud of the efforts our people have made at sea and on land in the important work they have done to shut down the Macondo well," says Erik Wiik.
EXPERIENCING THE BETTER PART OF BP – IN THE EFFORTS TO CLOSE THE WELL
"BP has been criticized for being slow. After working with them over the past three months, we are left with the opposite impression. We were impressed that we got everything we requested, and usually faster than expected. All their resources have been geared towards achieving this closure." Holthe said.
BP had overall responsibility for the closure, but in turn reported to the US Coast Guard. Aker Solutions' impression was that BP was responsive to all input and advice that came their way. Ideas were examined, discussed and all decisions were thoroughly communicated and documented. "That's how we worked in the field," Holthe says.
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