Response Plans for Arctic Oil and Ice Encounters

1999 ◽  
Vol 1999 (1) ◽  
pp. 639-646 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick W. Glover ◽  
David F. Dickins
Keyword(s):  
Open Water ◽  
North Slope ◽  
Action Plans ◽  
Response Strategies ◽  
Arctic Conditions ◽  
Oil Spill Response ◽  
Ice Conditions ◽  
Ground Truthing ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Alaskan North Slope

ABSTRACT Ice conditions, in dynamic stages of development and degradation, are present for over 280 days out of every calendar year in the Beaufort Sea adjacent to the operating oilfields on the Alaskan North Slope. Additionally, wind driven ice invasions during the open water season, July through September typically, may also occur for short periods throughout the season. This presence combined with extreme arctic conditions routinely presents a challenge to mounting a safe and effective oil spill response action. In order to overcome this challenge responders must develop response action plans not only with an understanding of the physical environment but also with a basic understanding of the effect this environment will have on the fate and behavior of the spilled oil. Arctic spill response strategies, worldwide, have been developed through years of experience with both offshore and onshore drilling and production operations in all types of sea and ice conditions. North Slope response action plans are based on this experience, intense field training, and ground truthing of related research and development projects.

HERDING AGENTS THICKEN OIL SPILLS IN DRIFT ICE TO FACILITATE IN SITU BURNING: A NEW TRICK FOR AN OLD DOG1

2008 ◽  
Vol 2008 (1) ◽  
pp. 673-679 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Buist ◽  
Tim Nedwed ◽  
Joe Mullin
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spills ◽  
Cold Water ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Us Army ◽  
Ice Coverage ◽  
Air Temperatures ◽  
Oil Spill Response ◽  
Ice Conditions

ABSTRACT In situ burning is an oil spill response option particularly suited to remote ice-covered waters. The key to effective in situ burning is thick oil slicks. In loose drift ice conditions oil spills can rapidly spread to become too thin to ignite. Fire booms can collect and keep slicks thick in open water; however, even light ice conditions make using booms challenging. A multi-year joint industry project was initiated to study oil-herding agents as an alternative to booms for thickening slicks in light ice conditions for in situ burning. Small-scale laboratory experiments were completed in 2004 and 2005 to examine the concept of using herding agents to thicken oil slicks among loose pack ice for the purpose of in situ burning. Encouraging results prompted further mid-scale testing at the US Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL), the Ohmsett facility, and the Fire Training Grounds in Prudhoe Bay, AK. The non-proprietary cold-water herder formulation used in these experiments proved effective in significantly contracting oil slicks in brash and slush ice concentrations of up to 70% ice coverage. Slicks in excess of 3 mm thick, the minimum required for ignition of weathered crude oil on water, were routinely achieved. Herded slicks were ignited, and burned equally well in both brash and slush ice conditions at air temperatures as low as −17°C. The burn efficiencies measured for the herded slicks were only slightly less than the theoretical maximums achievable for equivalent-sized, mechanically contained slicks on open water.

RESULTS FROM OIL SPILL RESPONSE RESEARCH—AN UPDATE

1993 ◽  
Vol 1993 (1) ◽  
pp. 541-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward J. Tennyson
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Management Service ◽  
Response Strategies ◽  
Yield Information ◽  
Broken Ice ◽  
Oil Spill Response ◽  
Ice Conditions ◽  
Spilled Oil

ABSTRACT Recent large oil spills from tankers have reaffirmed the need for continuing technology assessment and research to improve oil spill response capabilities. This paper discusses Minerals Management Service concerns, as reinforced by the acceleration of its research program in 1990. It briefly assesses current state-of-the-art technology for major aspects of spill response, including remote sensing, open-ocean containment and recovery, in-situ burning, use of chemical treating agents, beachline cleanup, and oil behavior. Specific research projects have begun to yield information that will improve detection and at-sea equipment performance; current projects, include the development of an airborne laser-fluorosensor to determine whether apparent slicks contain oil. Additional projects involve the development of improved strategies for responding to oil in broken-ice conditions, for gaining an improved understanding of the fate and behavior of spilled oil as it affects response strategies, and for defining the capabilities of available dispersants and development of improved formulations. Recently progress has been made on the development of safe and environmentally acceptable strategies to burn spilled oil in situ. The Ohmsett facility has been reopened and will be used to test prospective improvements in chemical treating agents and to develop standard procedures for testing and evaluating response equipment. Results of research published since the last Oil Spill Conference are discussed.

Advancing Oil Spill Response in Arctic Conditions: The Arctic Oil Spill Response Technology - Joint Industry Programme

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 (1) ◽  
pp. 960-971 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph V. Mullin
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Research Integrity ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Response Strategies ◽  
Arctic Conditions ◽  
Oil Spill Response

ABSTRACT The oil and gas industry has made significant advances in being able to detect, contain and clean up spills in arctic environments. To further build on existing research and improve the technologies and methodologies for arctic oil spill response, nine oil and gas companies (BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Eni, ExxonMobil, North Caspian Operating Company, Shell, Statoil, and Total) established the Arctic Oil Spill Response Technology Joint Industry Programme (JIP). The goal of the JIP is to advance arctic oil spill response strategies and equipment as well as to increase understanding of potential impacts of oil on the arctic marine environment. Officially launched in January 2012 at the Arctic Frontiers Conference in Tromsø, Norway, the JIP has six technical working groups (TWG) each focusing on a different key area of oil spill response: dispersants; environmental effects; trajectory modeling; remote sensing; mechanical recovery and in-situ burning (ISB). There is also a field research TWG to pursue opportunities for field releases for validation of response technologies and strategies. Each TWG is led by recognized subject matter experts with years of experience in oil spill response research and operations. This JIP is bringing together the world's foremost experts on oil spill response research, development, and operations from across industry, academia, and independent research centres. Research integrity will be ensured through technical peer review and public dissemination of results. This paper describes the scope and current progress of this Joint Industry Program (JIP).

Ground Truthing Resources at Risk in Indonesia

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 (1) ◽  
pp. 2017421
Author(s):  
Rene Bernier ◽  
Maria Hartley ◽  
Josh Gravenmie ◽  
Scott Walker
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Commercial Fishing ◽  
Sensitivity Index ◽  
Environmental Response ◽  
Government Organizations ◽  
Response Strategies ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessments ◽  
Oil Spill Response ◽  
Ground Truthing

Resources at risk (RAR) are identified environmental, archaeo-cultural, or socio-economic sensitive sites, within (or close to) an incident area that could potentially be impacted by a release. Examples of these include breeding areas, wetlands, shipwrecks, recreational beaches, and commercial fishing areas. RAR provides the basis for decisions relating to developing and refining environmental response strategies and for identifying important social, cultural and economic aspects and are a key part of an Oil Spill Response Plan. Initial information about such resources or sites are gathered remotely from company Environmental Process requirements, environmental impact assessments (EIAs), environmental sensitivity index maps (ESI maps), government resources, local universities and non-government organizations (NGOs). This information is then validated and expanded upon by data QA/QC, and direct observation using a combination of boats, helicopter and ground transportation with local experts. Ground truthing is important to validate and document information such as local utilization of resources, habitat quality, and to identify locations where boom could be deployed, access points, outfalls, staging areas etc. through video, photo and mapping, that might otherwise be missed. RAR can help businesses focus on improved spill response capabilities by identifying credible oil spill scenarios to understand spill risk, generate an ESI Map with identified resources (ecological and socioeconomic) and lastly to create and exercise tactical plans for the protection and response to those resources.

The Design of Alaskan North Slope Production Wells

1970 ◽  
Vol 185 (1) ◽  
pp. 989-1001
Author(s):  
R. D. Koch
Keyword(s):  
North Slope ◽  
Frozen Ground ◽  
Design Problems ◽  
The North ◽  
Production Wells ◽  
Arctic Conditions ◽  
Seismic Reflections ◽  
Alaskan North Slope ◽  
Prudhoe Bay

In 1970, three senior members of BP's Exploration Department received the MacRobert award for their outstandingly successful Alaskan North Slope exploration, which led to BP's acquisition of the leases to over half of the great Prudhoe Bay oilfield, estimated to contain in excess of 1000m tons of recoverable high quality crude oil. Their determination of the distribution of the permafrost, permanently frozen ground, and the effect that permafrost had on seismic reflections, significantly contributed to their successes. While a great deal of information on operating under Arctic conditions and providing livable working conditions for hundreds of men was available, nothing was known of the effects of producing hot oil from wells completed through up to 2000 feet of permafrost. The paper traces the events leading to the discovery of oil on the North Slope and outlines some of the design problems which BP had to resolve to exploit this discovery.

scholarly journals Oil Spill Preparedness for Polar Bears in Alaska

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 (1) ◽  
pp. 299530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Majors ◽  
Susanne Miller ◽  
Shannon Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Polar Bear ◽  
North Slope ◽  
Polar Bears ◽  
Mutual Aid ◽  
Response Strategies ◽  
Fish And Wildlife Service ◽  
Working Together ◽  
Oil Spill Response

Oil spill response in the Alaska Arctic can be difficult. Responding to marine mammals which inhabit this area is even more challenging. One of these marine mammals is the polar bear which was listed as a threatened species in 2008. Recognizing the need for improved capabilities, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Alaska Zoo, and Alaska Clean Seas have been working together to improve the capabilities in Alaska. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has developed the Oil Spill Response Plan for Polar Bears in Alaska which identifies the resources available and response strategies. The Alaska Zoo led an experiment to determine the best method to remove oil from a polar bear hide and conducted a limited test on one of the polar bears at the zoo. Agreements and contracts have been put in place and equipment designed, constructed, and staged on the Alaska North Slope for polar bear response. During the annual North Slope Mutual Aid Drill in 2013, Alaska Clean Seas developed a short scenario to test these capabilities and identify additional improvements. The poster will describe these efforts for continued improvements for oil spill response in the Alaska Arctic.

Nonlinear Coupled Hydrostatics of Arctic Conical Platforms

2011 ◽  
Vol 134 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oddgeir Dalane ◽  
Finn Faye Knudsen ◽  
Sveinung Løset
Keyword(s):  
Operation Time ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Floating Structures ◽  
Good Design ◽  
Arctic Conditions ◽  
Restoring Forces ◽  
Ice Conditions ◽  
Exact Analytic Expression ◽  
Analytic Expression ◽  
Metacentric Height

The increased exploration of deeper Arctic waters motivates the designs of new floating structures to operate under harsh Arctic conditions. Based on several model tests and investigations, structures with conical sections at the waterline have been shown to be a good design for waters where drifting ice is present, because the approaching ice fails in bending, which induces smaller loads than a crushing failure of ice. However, in most Arctic waters ice features are only present during part of the year and a large portion of the operation time of these structures will be in open water. Therefore, the floating structures must perform well in both conditions.Conical sections at the waterline will induce nonlinear coupling in the hydrostatic restoring forces and moments. It is important to understand how this affects the behavior in both ice and open water conditions. In order to investigate the nonlinear coupled hydrostatic restoring forces, an exact analytic expression for the metacentric height of a regular cone is presented. This is further used to develop an exact analytic expression for the hydrostatic restoring forces and moments for any body whose waterline intersects the frustum of a cone. A platform of the shallow draft-type, the platform type for which exact hydrostatics is most important, is used as a basis for the discussion and the effect of the coupled nonlinear restoring forces is illustrated by comparison to a model test performed in both open water and ice conditions.

scholarly journals MUTUAL AID IN OIL SPILL RESPONSE: THE ALASKAN NORTH SLOPE MODEL

1993 ◽  
Vol 1993 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-22
Author(s):  
Bruce McKenzie ◽  
Norman Ingram
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Arctic Region ◽  
Oil Fields ◽  
North Slope ◽  
Mutual Aid ◽  
Incident Command ◽  
The North ◽  
Response Team ◽  
Oil Spill Response ◽  
Alaskan North Slope

ABSTRACT The Alaskan Arctic Region provides one of the world's most remote and challenging environments in which to mount an oil spill response. To facilitate the timeliness and appropriateness of the response, Alaska Clean Seas (ACS) and the operators of the North Slope oil fields have implemented a mutual aid concept for spill response. The concept is based upon each operator on the North Slope maintaining its own inventory of personnel [a spill response team (SRT)] and equipment that is available on short notice to respond to a spill. If the spill exceeds the responsible operator's resources, additional resources can be obtained from other operators and/or ACS through mutual aid. Individuals from diverse organizations are brought together in a mutual aid event. To allow different organizations to function effectively in a multi-organizational environment, a common management structure was required. The structure chosen for the North Slope was the incident command system (ICS). A key concern when discussing mutual aid is the provision of indemnification from liability for responders. For the North Slope, ACS and its member companies are indemnified when responding to a spill through provisions in the ACS charter and the ACS response action contract.

scholarly journals Leptospirosis in Ruminants in Yogyakarta, Indonesia: A Serological Survey with Mixed Methods to Identify Risk Factors

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 84
Author(s):  
Dyah Ayu Widiasih ◽  
Johanna Frida Lindahl ◽  
Wayan T. Artama ◽  
Adi Heru Sutomo ◽  
Pande Made Kutanegara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factor ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Small Ruminants ◽  
Case Fatality ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Serum Samples ◽  
Public Health Importance ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
The Individual ◽  
And Behavior

Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease occurring worldwide with reproductive symptoms and production losses in livestock, while humans can suffer fatal renal failure. In Yogyakarta Special Province, Indonesia, there have been several outbreaks with high case fatality, demonstrating the public health importance, but there is limited understanding of the epidemiology. This study used an EcoHealth approach to ensure transdisciplinarity and community participation. Seroprevalence of Leptospira in animals was studied between October 2011 and May 2013 in 15 villages. Serum samples from 1404 cattle and 60 small ruminants were screened by a Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT), first in pools, and then the individual positive samples were identified. Focus group discussions including farmers, village officials, and official stakeholders were used to explore knowledge and behavior of zoonotic diseases, particularly leptospirosis. Two small ruminants were seropositive for Leptospira icterohemorrhagiae. From the cattle, 3.7% were seropositive, and the most common serovars were Leptospira hardjo, followed by L. icterohemorrhagiae. Out of all farms, 5.6% had at least one positive cattle. Risk factor analyses showed that the risk of the farm being seropositive increased if the farmer used water from an open source, or if farming was not the main occupation. This study showed the presence of Leptospira spp. in ruminants in Yogyakarta and identified use of open water as a risk factor for the livestock. We also observed that the knowledge related to leptospirosis was low, and risky farm management practices were commonly employed.

Underbalanced Drilling with Coiled Tubing: A Case Study on the Alaskan North Slope, Which Proves the Benefits of Drilling a Straight Hole

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antoni Miszewski ◽  
Adam Miszewski ◽  
Richard Stevens ◽  
Matteo Gemignani
Keyword(s):  
Relative Effectiveness ◽  
Shallow Depth ◽  
North Slope ◽  
Coiled Tubing ◽  
The North ◽  
North Slope Of Alaska ◽  
Minimum Requirements ◽  
Bottom Hole Assembly ◽  
Alaskan North Slope ◽  
Future Work

Abstract A set of 5 wells were to be drilled with directional Coiled Tubing Drilling (CTD) on the North Slope of Alaska. The particular challenges of these wells were the fact that the desired laterals were targeted to be at least 6000ft long, at a shallow depth. Almost twice the length of laterals that are regularly drilled at deeper depths. The shallow depth meant that 2 of the 5 wells involved a casing exit through 3 casings which had never been attempted before. After drilling, the wells were completed with a slotted liner, run on coiled tubing. This required a very smooth and straight wellbore so that the liner could be run as far as the lateral had been drilled. Various methods were considered to increase lateral reach, including, running an extended reach tool, using friction reducer, increasing the coiled tubing size and using a drilling Bottom Hole Assembly (BHA) that could drill a very straight well path. All of these options were modelled with tubing forces software, and their relative effectiveness was evaluated. The drilling field results easily exceeded the minimum requirements for success. This project demonstrated record breaking lateral lengths, a record length of liner run on coiled tubing in a single run, and a triple casing exit. The data gained from this project can be used to fine-tune the modelling for future work of a similar nature.

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