Offshore Oil Rig System (Extraction) - Summary Reader Response Draft 2

The article "Application of robotics in offshore oil and gas industry- A review Part ii" by Shukla and Karki (2015), states that with the growing demand for energy and oil, it is important to implement advanced systems to extract oil safely and efficiently. 

The extracting system is a complicated technology for an offshore oil rig plant. This system consists of mainly three parts, the pump, the blowout preventer (BOP) and the pipe rams. With the advancement of technology, pumps can now extract oil 25% faster compared to older oil rigs, this can be seen from data posted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCED), which states that crude oil production more than doubled over the past decade (Grijpink et al., 2020). With pumping at such a high rate of velocity, safety features have also been improved to prevent blowouts. A blowout is an uncontrolled release of oil from a well that can cause the system to fail or explode, a notable case is the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico where a blowout caused massive damage to 11 lives lost and 87 days of continued oil flow into the sea (Pallardy, 2023). The safety features include a blowout preventer (BOP) as well as pipe arms. The BOP maintains and locks the pressure in, including sheer rams and a choke system in cases of emergency. A sheer ram cuts through the pipeline and seals the well, while the choke system slowly controls the oil flow rate to control the pressure (Shafiee et al., 2020). 

With the information on the oil rig extracting system (pump, BOP, pipe rams) mentioned, it becomes evident that with the advancement of technology, oil rig extracting systems are safer and more efficient than ever before to meet the demands for energy and oil.

Although pumps have significantly improved, countries are still finding ways to enhance its process focusing more on its efficiency, safety and environmental impact.  According to Zheng et al.(2022), China created a plan to increase its production of crude oil. Currently the majority of China’s crude oil is being imported from other countries. In order to meet the demands of crude oil production, China has established 5 new Research and Development Centers specialising in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR). 

To further elaborate, Zheng et al.(2022) mentioned China's ‘4th generation separated-layer water injection technology’. Water injection helps by pushing oil into production well, giving additional energy to the reservoir by aiding its displacement. This technology helped maintain pressure in mature oil fields by filling the cavity via water injection and with the addition of real time monitoring and control, oil wells in China are more efficient. The natural decline of oil production declined by 0.7 percentage points, saving about 326 million RMB (62 million SGD) . This is a huge step in research development in the oil industry.

Extraction of oil in offshore oil rigs became significantly safer as well. In the past oil rigs were considered to be a safe and efficient way to extract oil Skogdalen (2011). But after the Deepwater Horizon accident, engineers and safety investigators found that the reason it was safe was due to the poor safety culture. The deep water incident could have easily been prevented if safety protocol was being followed as there were clear signs and warning indicators leading up to the disaster. Investigations showed that although there were contingencies, the problems started to snowball when it did not work. From this unfortunate disaster, many improvements have been made, from a management/staff  standpoint, stricter safety guidelines have been implemented and organisations adopted higher standards for training. From a technological standpoint, BOPs were redesigned to further improve the reliability and safety, ‘Transocean developed an electric pumping station that will seal the well and cut anything left in the way’ Rassenfoss (2020). With the advancement of technology, offshore oil rigs have improved monitoring and control systems that provide real time data to operators, this allows operators to detect any anomalies, allowing the team to have an appropriate response. 

In conclusion, there is sufficient evidence that shows the improvement in both safety and efficiency with the advancement of technology. However, as much as technology can benefit the system, negligence and poor risk management can cause another Deepwater Horizon incident, thus proper training and safety guidelines must always be followed. Ultimately this proves that the industry as a whole is stepping towards the right direction. By innovating and improving systems, we can extrude oil safely and responsibly.

References 

Grijpink, F., Katsap, N., Verre, F., & Ward, R. (2020, November 6). How tapping connectivity in oil and gas can fuel higher performance. McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/oil-and-gas/our-insights/how-tapping-connectivity-in-oil-and-gas-can-fuel-higher-performance

Shukla, A., & Karki, H. (2016, January 1). Application of robotics in offshore oil and gas industry— A review Part II. Robotics and Autonomous Systems. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.robot.2015.09.013

Shafiee, M., Elusakin, T., & Enjema, E. M. (2020, July 1). Subsea blowout preventer (BOP): Design, reliability, testing, deployment, and operation and maintenance challenges. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlp.2020.104170

Skogdalen, J. E., Utne, I. B., & Vinnem, J. E. (2011, October 1). Developing safety indicators for preventing offshore oil and gas deepwater drilling blowouts. Safety Science. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2011.03.012

Pallardy, R. (2023, December 29). Deepwater Horizon oil spill | Summary, Effects, Cause, Clean Up, & Facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Deepwater-Horizon-oil-spill

Roberts, R., Flin, R., & Cleland, J. (2015, November 1). “Everything was fine”*: An analysis of the drill crew’s situation awareness on Deepwater Horizon. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlp.2015.08.008

Rassenfoss, S. (2020, June 30). Macondo Changed BOPs, but There Is a Limit. JPT. https://jpt.spe.org/macondo-changed-bops-there-limit

Zheng, X., Shi, J., Cao, G., Yang, N., Cui, M., Jia, D., & Liu, H. (2022, June 1). Progress and prospects of oil and gas production engineering technology in China. Petroleum Exploration and Development. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1876-3804(22)60054-5