Hurricane preparedness

July 29, 2013
Typically, the months of June through November—known collectively by those dwelling in the Northern Hemisphere as Atlantic hurricane season—can be a precarious span of time for oil and gas companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico and along the Gulf Coast.

Typically, the months of June through November—known collectively by those dwelling in the Northern Hemisphere as Atlantic hurricane season—can be a precarious span of time for oil and gas companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico and along the Gulf Coast. Many, if not all companies with operations in the pathway of a potential storm maintain a heightened sense of awareness during hurricane season for any signs indicating the development of the next "Big One." In fact, even smaller hurricanes or tropical storms can greatly affect companies' day-to-day operations in and along the gulf.

Like residents of coastal waters, companies drilling in and along the Gulf Coast require additional preparations and safety practices during hurricane season and act on those plans when their facilities are in the direct path of any pending storm. Oil and gas companies improve upon and rehearse these safety measures every year.

The importance of such rigorous storm-season preparedness training for industry is a critical part of safely maintaining facilities and protecting workers operating offshore.

Past hurricane seasons have aided companies in identifying and developing protocols that would minimize any potential environmental disasters that may result from a hurricane's direct hit. After 2005's active hurricane season, during which Katrina and Rita blew through Louisiana and Texas, the swells were larger and the winds stronger than what many expected.

These events prompted the American Petroleum Institute to take a closer look at some of their recommended practices, or RP, for industry processes for the gulf. In 2008, API released a publication to revise the RP 2SK: Design and Analysis of Stationkeeping Systems for Floating Structures (design and operations) and the RP 95J: Jack up Operations for Hurricane Season (guidance for locating jack up rigs on more stable sea floor and platform decks higher above sea surface).

With these proposed modifications to practices and design, the offshore industry has not experienced nearly the amount of destruction that was endured during the 2005 hurricane season.

Preparedness plans

API, along with the International Association of Drilling Contractors and the Offshore Operators Committee, helped reassess design standards as well as how members share valuable experiences from past hurricanes. Upstream businesses have developed standards and guidelines to prepare for and to help bring production back online safely and quickly, such as:

• Guidance to better secure platform equipment.

• Guidance for design of offshore structures.

• Guidance of post-hurricane structural inspection and assessment.

• How to use updated metocean (wind, wave, and water current measurements) data for the region.

Plan of action

As an impeding storm approaches an affected offshore drilling and production facility, operators will first evacuate all nonessential personnel. The designated core group that stays behind will then start the shutting down of production as well as securing all equipment. Upon completion, that group will be evacuated out to a designated command center where operators can monitor their facilities and operate equipment by remote-control. Drill ships may also move to a safer location.

Once the storm is no longer a threat, companies will evaluate their offshore facilities by air to assess any damage, infrastructure issues, or spills. Once all safety concerns are evaluated, then work crews will return to the structure where damage can be fully assessed and a remobilization plan will be executed. This "remob" is harder to implement than the evacuation plans because of the virtually unknown damage that they may face.

Almost yearly, hurricanes and tropical storms affect the US Gulf Coast, which is home to more than 3,000 offshore platforms. The Gulf Coast supplies 18% of the oil and 6% of the natural gas produced in the US. If production was interrupted because of a hurricane, it could cause supply shortages to Gulf Coast refiners and a subsequent rise in gasoline prices. In order to keep up with consumer demand and, more importantly, the safety of work crews, companies must follow these preparedness plans to help resume all operations as quickly and safely as possible.