Safety and emergency protocol for Gulf of Mexico

Paul Boughton
FES International, a global provider of fluid transfer systems has announced a partnership with Helix Energy to provide the official emergency protocol procedure in the Gulf of Mexico in case of another Deepwater Horizon disaster.

The safety and emergency protocol has been named the Helix Fast Response System (HFRS) and ensures that there will be a quick response to any rig that may experience problems in the Gulf.

In the case of Deepwater Horizon, precious time was wasted as there was no official protocol team in place in case of an emergency. The other main issue that added to the lengthy recovery operation is that the majority of oil drilling and production in the Mexican Gulf is conducted from fixed rig platforms as opposed to flexible and movable FPSOs or FPUs. When the spill occurred last year, the Helix Producer 1 was one of the only mobilised FPUs with a fully mounted disconnecteble transfer turret (DTS), designed by FES, which was capable of moving location and transferring fluid from the leak.

In the event of an emergency, the Helix Producer 1 will stop all oil production and move to any area where there is a spill in order to minimise environmental damage in the future.

“The FES disconnectable transfer turret system, which is currently aboard the Helix Producer 1, played a crucial role in the recovery operation for Deepwater Horizon last year,” says Rob Anderson, MD of FES International.

“We are very proud to be a part of the official safety protocol in the Mexican Gulf and to continue working with Helix Energy on such a worthwhile project.”

Earlier this year FES International and Helix Energy presented BOEMRE with a preliminary emergency procedure called the Helix Fast Response System (HFRS) that would cover the Gulf of Mexico in case of any future disasters helping to minimise risk in the region.

While this has been currently being adopted as the initial precaution safeguarding the gulf, FES has been working closely with Helix Energy to develop the permanent safety procedure which is set to be introduced in October 2011.

The key to the HFRS well capping and containment system is the offshore construction and intervention Q4000 Platform and the dynamically positioned Helix Producer 1. The Q4000 effectively capture’s the oil spill and brings it to the surface, then this reclaimed oil is off-loaded to the FPU Helix Producer 1 using a dynamic flexible pipe catenary.

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