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Drilling & Production — Quick Takes
BSEE OKs BP's first drilling permit since Macondo
The US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) approved a drilling permit for BP PLC to drill for oil and gas in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The permit, which BP originally submitted in January, is BP's first drilling permit approved since the April 2010 Macondo deepwater well blowout and resulting explosion and fire that killed 11 crew members on Transocean Ltd.'s Deepwater Horizon semisubmersible. BP operated the Macondo well, which spilled nearly 5 million bbl of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
The application is under a supplemental exploration plan that was approved last week following a site-specific environmental assessment by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (OGJ Online, Oct. 21, 2011).
"BP has met all of the enhanced safety requirements that we have implemented and applied consistently over the past year. In addition, BP has adhered to voluntary standards that go beyond the agency's regulatory requirements," BSEE Director Michael R. Bromwich said. "This permit was approved only after thorough well design, blowout preventer, and containment capability reviews."
BSEE said the proposed exploratory well is part of BP's Kaskida prospect in the gulf's Keathley Canyon area 246 miles south of Lafayette, La., in 6,034 ft of water.
In addition to meeting the bureau's rigorous standards, BSEE verified that BP has met the additional standards it volunteered to adhere to in July, including the use of blind shear rams and a casing shear ram on subsea BOPs, third-party verification of BOP testing and maintenance, and laboratory testing of cement slurries, BSEE said.
As part of its approval process, BSEE reviewed BP's containment capability available for the specific well proposed in the permit application.
BP has contracted with the Marine Well Containment Co. to use its capping stack to stop the flow of oil if a blowout occurs, according to BSEE.
The capabilities of the capping stack meet the requirements established by the specific characteristics of the proposed well, it said.
Repsol boosts Libya's production to 500,000 b/d
Libya's oil output has reached 500,000 b/d after Repsol YPF SA began producing 60,000 b/d of oil from its El Sharara field, according to interim Oil Minister Ali Tarhouni.
"As of an hour ago we are up to 500,000 b/d with the Sharara field resuming operation," Tarhouni told a news conference in Benghazi after the Spanish firm resumed work at its field on Block NC115.
Prior to the outbreak of civil war, Libya produced 1.65 million b/d of crude oil, according to the US Energy Administration. Repsol YPF produced 360,000 b/d of that total from its two main blocks, NC-115 and NC-186.
Analyst Samuel Ciszuk of IHS Global Insight said that Libya's recovery is so far "beating many forecasts" and is achieving results that should make the country's ruling National Transitional Council proud.
The current output increase certainly puts Libya well ahead of estimates by the International Energy Agency that earlier said the North African country would produce no more than 400,000 b/d by yearend.
The International Monetary Fund likewise said that the end of the conflict in Libya can set the stage for an economic rebound, "although rehabilitation of the hydrocarbon complex may take considerable time."
However, Ciszuk also sounded a cautionary note against the idea of a continued rapid recovery, saying, "The worst surprises might still be to come as returning some of Libya's oldest and largest fields to full production after the emergency shutdowns might not be straightforward."
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