SAFETY AND POLLUTION CONTROL--OFFSHORE PETROLEUM PRODUCING FACILITIES

Blowout prevention and pollution control in offshore petroleum operations are of prime concern to industry, regulatory agencies, and the public. This paper reviews safety and anti-pollution equipment and procedures used in offshore oil production and discusses industry programs to achieve maximum protection. Safety and pollution control systems which are utilized include surface safety valves and subsurface safety valves in each well to provide automatic shut-in if an abnormal condition develops, the retention of oil leaks in sumps, and the installation of firefighting equipment on each platform to rapidly extinguish small fires before they can spread. As concluded by the author in this paper, various industry and regulatory programmes are providing the safety and pollution control that is needed, through continuing technological developments and reliability improvements. Current systems improvement efforts emphasize development of subsurface safety valve concepts applicable to all wells, better manufacturing quality control and standards and further reduction of human errors through training and safety programs.

Media Info

  • Features: References;
  • Pagination: p. 741-752

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00050919
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: National Maritime Research Center, Galveston
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Jan 31 1974 12:00AM