Joint Industry Project formed to establish BOP Reliability Database

A new joint industry project (JIP) to establish an industrywide BOP Reliability Database recently formalized the initial phase of work. The ultimate aim is to produce a single source of quality information on the performance of BOP systems.

The JIP was initiated jointly by IADC and the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP). Participating companies include oil and gas producers, drilling contractors and equipment manufacturers.

“The new JIP combines two groups who had previously worked in parallel to collect BOP performance data. The Subsea BOP Users Executive Group, or ‘Group of 7’, and the IOGP Wells Expert Committee BOP Task Force, realized a single JIP with a common language could more effectively track BOP data used for increasing safety and reliability of BOPs,” said Bob Blank, Vice President of Operations Excellence, Noble Drilling, one of the contractors who developed the original system. “The vision of the JIP is to develop an effective data collection methodology for blowout preventer equipment, together with a well-structured database that is underpinned by an effective governance process, based on input from both groups.”

“The JIP has been designed as a unique collaborative program with the objective of gathering high-quality, industrywide, statistically significant data to improve the industry’s approach to BOP maintenance and integrity management and to feed field experience back to designers,” Patrick Toutain, IOGP Safety Director, said.

Participants include the “Group of 7,” Ensco International, Noble Drilling Services, Diamond Offshore Drilling, Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling, Seadrill America, Pacific Drilling Services and Maersk Drilling USA. Also included are the three primary manufacturers and suppliers of BOP systems, Cameron, GE Oil & Gas and National Oilwell Varco; and operators, including Anadarko, BP, Chevron, CNOOC/Nexen, Kosmos, Petrobras, Shell, Statoil and Total.

Each participating company in the JIP has a seat on the Board of Directors, which met on 28 January in Houston. One of the Board’s first items of business was electing an Oversight Committee to handle day-to-day operations of the JIP. The Oversight Committee elected include contractors Diamond Offshore, Ensco, Noble Drilling and Pacific Drilling; producers include BP, Chevron, and Statoil; and all three manufacturers and suppliers. IADC will act as project coordinator.

The JIP is building on a database originally developed by the Group of 7. The database will support BOP system reliability, integrity and availability assessments; monitor BOP component reliability performance trends over time; support improvements in BOP testing and maintenance decisions and support long-term improvements in BOP system design.

Mark Siegmund, BP Advisor for Wells Reliability and Chair of the IOGP Wells Expert Committee BOP Task Force, said, “We have a committed group of companies and individuals who have a sincere interest in further enhancing the reliability of BOP equipment, and we believe that this effort will have a positive future impact.”