'Inadvertent shutdown' occurs on Mars oil pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico
By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, May 24 -- Shell Oil Co. Monday reported an "inadvertent shutdown" of the safety valves on the 250,000 b/d, 18-in. Mars oil pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico occurred on Saturday. The pipeline extends about 40 miles from the Mars tension-leg platform to West Delta Block 143 in the gulf. Subsequently, the units on the TLP also were shut down, Shell said.
From West Delta 143, the pipeline connects with a 24 in. line that comes ashore 55 miles away at Fourchon in South Louisiana. From there, the line for 29 miles parallels the pipeline connecting Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) to LOOP storage facilities at Clovelly, La.
Shortly after the shutdown, an oil sheen was observed on the water at the Mars TLP, a Shell spokeswoman told OGJ. Shell used the TLP's remotely operated vehicle to investigate the source of the sheen, she said, adding that it was determined that the oil was coming from the underside of the departing oil pipeline's flexjoint.
Shell estimated that about 3.3 gal of oil was released during the incident. "Proper regulatory notifications were made promptly. The oil pipeline from the Mars TLP remains shut-in until repairs can be made. At this point in time, we have no estimate of how long this will take," the spokeswoman said.
Other industry sources, however, speculated that repairs on the line could take anywhere from 10 to 60 days.
Mars start-up
Units of Shell and BP America Inc. claimed several records with the July 8, 1996, start-up of the $1.2 billion Mars development project (OGJ, Aug. 26, 1996, p. 21).
Shell Deepwater Production Inc. and BP Exploration Inc. set a new water depth production record from the gulf when they installed the Mars TLP in 2,940 ft of water on Mississippi Canyon Block 807, about 130 miles southeast of New Orleans.
Also, the first Mars well produced as much as 15,000 b/d of oil, marking the greatest sustained daily flow rate reported in the gulf at the time.
Current design capacity from the Mars TLP is about 220,000 b/d of oil and 220 MMcfd of natural gas. Shell Deepwater, operator of Mars, holds 71.5% interest in the project, while BP holds the remaining 28.5%.
Production loss implications
The Shell spokeswoman said that the company would not speculate on how the markets might react to the current shut-in or what effect, if any, the incident would have on the White House's controversial plans to fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve by mid-2005.
The loss of oil production from Mars, however, could have obvious political implications for plans to refill the SPR because the program, since the administration of former President Bill Clinton, relies on royalty oil from the gulf.
Gulf crude, however, is not physically put into storage. US officials exchange the offshore production for oil more suited for SPR storage. Under current exchange agreements, US officials anticipate about 32,000 b/d of oil will be shipped to SPR caverns in Louisiana and Texas in June, a level much lower than in prior or future months.
In July, the scheduled delivery number jumps to 130,000 b/d, then another 104,000 b/d is slated to be sent in August.
Under the current White House's May 2001 energy policy plan, President George W. Bush pledged to fill the reserve to its full 700 million bbl capacity. The president recently reinforced that intention, despite recent calls by Congress to temporarily suspend fill shipments.
Some lawmakers, mainly Senate Democrats from the US Northeast, want the US Department of Energy to release SPR oil to help modulate escalating crude prices.