HUMAN CAPITAL DEFICIT, AND
HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS ARE TWO OF THE TOP TEN RISKS FACING THE
OIL & GAS BUSINESSES
https://sites.google.com/site/metropolitanforensics/human-capital-deficit-and-health-safety-and-environmental-risks-are-two-of-the-top-ten-risks-facing-the-oil-gas-businesses
Scene
from the 2008 Gas Well explosion near Lenovo, PA.
The
after the fact assessments of incidents occurred at oil & gas production
sites have a very common theme:
·
“greenhats”
were doing work that they were not properly trained to do;
·
standard
operating procedures for well control, wellhead work, and the like were not
followed;
·
the
personnel was not properly trained or was not familiar of the proper procedures
to be used for a specific assembly of equipment;
·
no
qualified personnel were available at the time the specific task needed to be
executed, and so on.
Here
are some illustrative examples:
·
June
3, 2010 well blowout in PA: Untrained
personnel and the failure to use proper well control procedures were the
principal causes of a June 3 natural gas well blowout in Clearfield County,
according to an independent investigation that was released today by the
Department of Environmental Protection.
·
Feb.11,
2014 explosion and fatal fire at Chevron Appalachia’s Lanco well pad in Dunkard
Township. The state Department of
Environmental Protection issued its report on the fire last week that
attributed the cause to human error, noting a lock pin improperly secured on a
well head assembly by an inexperienced worker may have allowed gas from the
pressurized well to escape and ignite.
·
The report criticized
Chevron for failing to properly oversee contractors at the site which, among
other things, allowed an inexperienced “greenhat” employee of Cameron to do
work for which he was neither trained nor properly supervised.
·
January
2012, Golf Region. Failure to Properly Bleed Tubing Hanger Void Results in
Injury. Prior to well temporary abandonment
operations, the surface controlled subsurface safety valve had been isolated
and replaced with a subsurface controlled safety valve. During the abandonment
operation, pressure was bled off the top of the wellhead and the casings, and
the 2-7/8 inch tubing was cut below the wellhead when the injured person (IP)
began backing the tubing hanger pins off the tubing hanger during wellhead
dismantling. During removal of the fifth tubing hanger pin the entire tubing
hanger pin and packing nut were ejected from the tubing hanger head, striking
the IP on the shin. the BSEE recommends
to the Lessees, Operators, and their contractors that: Proper supervision should be employed to
ensure personnel dismantling a wellhead are properly trained, and that proper bleed-down
tools are used to verify any tubing head void space has been properly bled.
·
October 2011,
Golf Region. Worker’s claims arise
from an injury that he suffered, in October 2011, while working for Alliance
Oilfield Service (“Alliance”) on a plug and abandonment project on a Gulf of Mexico
platform owned by Alliance. On the night
in question, the Alliance crew was removing the wellhead, or “Christmas tree”
assembly, from the platform, and the tubing from the well itself.
·
The parties’ submissions reveal that this task usually is accomplished
by using a wrench to loosen vertical bolts connecting the Christmas tree casing
to the platform such that the tree and tubing can be removed as one unit. In
this instance, however, rust on the bolts made removal problematic and eventually
stalled the crew’s progress. After
several hours without success, the crew proposed using a cutting torch to
simply cut the bolts. Alliance’s on-site
“company man”, Kruse Gribble, however, advised the Alliance crew that, because
of safety concerns, a cutting torch could not be used. Thus, the crew instead proceeded to attempt to
“back out” (loosen) hanger pins holding the tubing in place to allow the removal
of the Christmas tree followed by the tubing hanger and tubing. The worker loosened four of the hanger pins
without problem. As he backed the fifth pin away from the tubing hanger
assembly, however, the pin and the packing gland suddenly ejected, because of
unexpected pressure in the void of the wellhead, and struck the worker’s shin.
·
January 2014, Brooklyn
Township, Susquehanna County. The PA Department
of Environmental Protection (PADEP) announced it has fined Cabot Oil & Gas
Corp. of Pittsburgh $76,546 for a January well control incident at the
company’s Huston well pad in Brooklyn Township, Susquehanna County. “Cabot lost control of the Huston J1 gas well
for 27 hours, to which the department responded to promptly to ensure there
were no significant environmental impacts,” DEP Director of District Oil and
Gas Operations John Ryder said. “In this incident, mostly gas was released,
which dissipated quickly to background levels within 100 feet from the well.”
·
The incident
began the morning of Jan. 5 when a Cabot subcontractor was replacing equipment
on the wellhead. The subcontractor did
not follow standard operating procedures for the process by failing to first
warm the wellhead prior to conducting any work in the freezing temperature.
This resulted in damage to a wing valve.
Health, safety and environmental issues have
risen on the oil and gas industry’s agenda, reflecting both increased public
pressure and more complex operational challenges. In May
2006, Range Resources Corporation provided the SEC with a prospectus. In a
surprisingly forthright moment, Range Resources explained to potential
investors the risks of hydro-fracturing:
"Our
business is subject to operating hazards and environmental regulations that
could result in substantial losses or liabilities. Oil and natural gas operations are subject to many
risks, including well blowouts, craterings, explosions, uncontrollable flows of
oil, natural gas or well fluids, fires, formations with abnormal pressures,
pipeline ruptures or spills, pollution, releases of toxic natural gas and other
environmental hazards and risks."
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