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Drilling regulators stay after BLM Having accused the federal agency in June of possible safety violations, AOGCC looks for proof that well safety device was used Wesley Loy For Petroleum News
State regulators and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management continue to wrangle over alleged safety violations on a federal drilling project on Alaska’s western North Slope.
The latest twist is an exchange of letters between the BLM and the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which regulates drilling activity statewide.
The AOGCC, it appears, is attempting to verify whether BLM and its partners used a safety device known as a diverter on several wells drilled to test for coalbed gas near the remote village of Wainwright.
In its most recent letter, dated Sept. 20, AOGCC asked BLM for “all documentation concerning or referencing transportation of the diverter” to the drill site. AOGCC Chairman Dan Seamount sent the letter after the BLM failed to fully respond to an earlier written request.
Strained relations Relations between AOGCC and BLM have grown increasingly tense in recent months.
Officials with the state agency believe BLM — which acts as landlord for millions of acres in Alaska — has long neglected numerous “legacy wells” in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The AOGCC has been pushing BLM to properly plug and abandon more of the holes, some of which date back to the 1940s.
A separate issue, the Wainwright affair, reached a head on June 22 when the AOGCC hit the BLM with a “notice of violation,” saying the federal agency appeared to be in violation of state regulations in drilling wells without required safety equipment, and improperly securing suspended wells.
In the notice, Seamount said it appeared seven wells were drilled without the required diverter.
“BLM’s cavalier approach to well safety and regulatory compliance is unacceptable,” he wrote.
A diverter, which sits atop a well, is designed to direct any unexpected release of dangerous hydrocarbons safely away from the rig work area.
Follow-up request The Wainwright project is a joint effort involving BLM, the U.S. Geological Survey, the North Slope Borough and Arctic Slope Regional Corp. The USGS was operator on the drilling project, which began in 2007.
In a July 28 letter, the AOGCC asked BLM to provide the commission with the current location of the diverter, and documentation for its transportation.
Julia Dougan, a top BLM official in Alaska, responded with a Sept. 1 reply to Seamount.
“Regarding the disposition and location of the diverter, the diverter was initially mobilized during the drilling operation of the wells,” Dougan wrote. “The diverter remained onsite until June 1, 2010 when it was backhauled to Anchorage by USGS. After subsequent discussions between the USGS and the AOGCC, the diverter was transported back to the site on June 16, 2010 and used during plugging operations and witnessed by the AOGCC inspectors. Enclosed is a copy of the Transportation Service Order that was issued to ship the diverter from Anchorage to Barrow. ...”
From Barrow, Dougan continued, the USGS chartered a plane to carry the equipment west to Wainwright.
The USGS transport order, dated June 14, says Northern Air Cargo was to haul a 600-pound package to Barrow at a cost of $1,022.93.
Dougan’s response didn’t satisfy the AOGCC, which then sent the Sept. 20 letter requesting more information.
The letter diplomatically allowed that “due to the wording” of the initial request of July 28, the BLM might not have understood that the AOGCC wanted documentation on the diverter transport “from the time the diverter was initially mobilized for drilling operations,” and not just for the period after drilling was completed.
The AOGCC gave BLM an Oct. 15 deadline to supply all the requested information.
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