The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement this week oversaw testing of Shell’s proposed Arctic-ready capping system, a key piece of containment equipment that is considered the line of defense in the case of a major blowout while drilling in the remote arctic waters of the Chukchi Sea. The tests were carried out before BSEE personnel in Washington's Puget … [Read more...]
Dynamic Positioning Incident Results in Sheared Wellhead
The U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) and the U.S. Coast Guard have today issued a Joint Safety Alert in response to a dynamic positioning incident involving an Offshore Supply Support Vessel while conducting critical activities on the Outer Continental Shelf, resulting in the loss of position. Without going into detail on where and when the incident … [Read more...]
U.S. Issues Proposed Rules for Safety of Arctic Drilling Offshore Alaska
The U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) have released proposed regulations that they say will ensure the safety of future exploratory drilling activities in the U.S. Arctic by holding operators accountable over the full spectrum of operations from mobilization to drilling and emergency response. The … [Read more...]
Transocean Drilling Rig Drops Traveling Block During GoM Well Operations [UPDATE]
![Transocean Drilling Rig Drops Traveling Block During GoM Well Operations [UPDATE]](https://gcaptain.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/500nautilus-207x125.jpg)
UPDATE: Deepwater Nautilus Incident Photos The U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) is responding to a significant equipment failure on board a Transocean ultra-deepwater semi-submersible drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 100 miles south of Fourchon, Louisiana. The offshore oil and gas operator, Shell Offshore Inc., reported that … [Read more...]
BSEE Funding Arctic Oil Spill Response Research
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has announced that it is investing up to $600,000 for targeted oil spill response research in Arctic ice. The announcement follows a call from the Bureau for white papers on new mechanical technologies for cleaning up oil spills in drifting ice conditions that could be found in an Arctic environment. BSEE says it … [Read more...]
VADM Brian Salerno to Assume Top Position at BSEE
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today named former Vice Admiral Brian Salerno as the Director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), which provides federal oversight for oil and gas operations on the Outer Continental Shelf. Salerno, who retired from the U.S. Coast Guard last year as its Deputy Commandant for Operations, … [Read more...]
Hercules Rig Fire Incident: BSEE Fails Test
A well blew out, a rig is abandoned, and a fire raged uncontrollably in the Gulf of Mexico for an entire day this week. For many, it was a stark reminder of the dangers involved in offshore drilling and in particular, the Deepwater Horizon disaster, an epic tragedy that unfolded in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Since then, the oil and gas industry has encountered enormous … [Read more...]