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The US BSEE has issued a safety alert summarizing its findings and recommendations from a recent risk-based inspection. BSEE’s team of inspectors and engineers developed several recommendations from inspection findings to reduce risks associated with fired vessels. Fired vessels are hydrocarbon-processing vessels on offshore oil and gas facilities with self-contained, natural or forced draft burners.

As the drilling begin to reactivate some sixth-generation drilling rigs, lessons are being learned about the concerns that are being identified, whether electrical, mechanical or relating to control systems. Chris Goetz, Partner at Kingston Systems, noted that he has seen a trend in increasing concerns around control systems. The percentage of concerns that are characterized as critical have also risen during these rig reactivations. To find out more, watch this video from the 2018 IADC Critical Issues Latin America Conference on 16 October in Mexico City.

BP has announced that it has started up the Thunder Horse Northwest Expansion project in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, four months ahead of schedule and 15% under budget. This is the fourth upstream major project to begin production for BP globally so far this year, following seven that started up in 2017 and six in 2016. BP expects that new projects beginning production between 2016 and 2021, part of its strategic focus on growing gas and advantaged oil production, will provide it with 900,000 BOED of new production by 2021. “Our business in the Gulf of Mexico demonstrates our Upstream strategy in action,” Bernard Looney, BP’s Upstream Chief Executive, said. “Leveraging our world-class position and facilities, we are bringing new barrels ...

The SPECTRE disintegrating frac plug was developed in collaboration with operators who sought an anchoring grip that would completely disintegrate, leaving no debris in the wellbore that could compromise long-term operations. Baker Hughes, a GE company, recently introduced the SPECTRE low-temperature (LT) plug, which extends the tool's reliable disintegration envelope to temperatures as low as 100°F.