annual report 2019oesi was pleased to provide a webinar on future offshore safety research for the...

Annual Report 2019

...helping enable safer and environmentally responsible offshore energy operations

DisclaimerIt is sincerely hoped that the information presented in this document will be useful for all stakeholders. The report was prepared by the Ocean Energy Safety Institute (OESI) under a U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement contract (Award Number E14AC00001, NOFA Number E13AS00001). The report has been prepared and submitted on a best-efforts basis by the OESI staff and may or may not represent the opinions of the OESI Advisory Committee members, other OESI committee members, their employers, or any other individuals/organizations participating in the various activities of the OESI. The OESI and the member universities of OESI disclaim making or giving any warranties or representations, expressed or implied, including with respect to fitness, intended purpose, use or merchantability and/or accuracy of the content of the information presented in this document. The user of this document accepts any legal liability or responsibility whatsoever for the consequence of its use or misuse.

MissionHelp further enable safer and environmentally responsible ocean energy operations.

VisionTo be the Center of Excellence for process safety related issues impacting ocean energy operations through:

• Stakeholder dialogue• Science-based research closing

stakeholder-identified gaps• Training opportunities

from the deck plates to the boardroom

TABLE OF CONTENTS History 4 Introduction 5

STAKEHOLDER DIALOGUE 7 Creating Dialogue 8 Speaking Opportunities 11

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH 13 Develop Collaborative Research 14 Student Research 17

DEVELOP TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES 21 OESI Leadership 23

Annual Report 2019

Annual Report 2019 | 3

HISTORYIn the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster that killed 11 people and spilled approximately five million barrels of oil, then Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar proposed the concept of establishing an “Ocean Energy Safety Institute” designed to facilitate research and development, training and implementation in the areas of offshore drilling safety, blowout containment and oil spill response. The creation of the institute also stems from a recommendation from the Ocean Energy Safety Advisory Committee, a federal advisory group comprised of representatives from industry, federal government agencies, non-governmental organizations and the academic community.

On Nov. 7, 2013, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) announced that the team of Texas institutions led by the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station’s (TEES) Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center had been selected to manage the Ocean Energy Safety

Institute (OESI). The press conference was attended by U.S. Congressman Bill Flores (R-Texas) who praised the collaboration between government and academia. Also in attendance was BSEE director Brian Salerno, who traveled with his team to College Station for the announcement, and toured the facilities and met with university professors, TEES researchers and officials from the University of Houston and The University of Texas at Austin.

OESI was tasked with three primary efforts. First, create opportunities for dialogue between all stakeholder groups in the ocean energy realm. Second, develop collaborative research opportunities to help fill knowledge and technology gaps pertinent to enabling safer and environmentally responsible operations offshore. And third, create and provide training opportunities for the regulators to help them stay up to date on new technologies, processes and procedures.

4 | OCEAN ENERGY SAFETY INSTITUTE

INTRODUCTIONOperating on a no-cost extension (NCE), 2019 was an excellent year in the continuing research efforts of the Ocean Energy Safety Institute (OESI). OESI not only focused discussion on relevant and important ocean energy industry topics, but also began a new effort directed toward enabling safer operations offshore. Additionally, continuing education classes were developed and offered throughout the year.

This year we had to say goodbye to our program manager, Paul Robinson. Unfortunately, due to budget limitations imposed by the NCE, Paul left OESI in July. We greatly appreciate his contributions over the years and recognize his key contributions. Thanks, Paul.

This annual report provides a glimpse into the efforts of the OESI in 2019, and we hope that it increases your certainty

to continue working with us; or helps you make the decision to join us on our mission to, “further enable safer and environmentally responsible offshore operations.”

James Pettigrew (left) and Paul Robinson


STAKEHOLDER DIALOGUE


CREATING DIALOGUEThere are a number of ways that dialogue among OESI stakeholders is enabled. One of the primary methods is through Forums for Dialogue and workshops on topical issues. In 2019, we hosted dialogue opportunities centered around the refinement of Leading Indicators During Well Control Operations and the development of a leading indicators dashboard.

In April, we hosted a Forum for Dialogue at the Texas A&M University Hotel and Conference Center in College Station, Texas. This forum, entitled “Process Safety in Wells, Leading Indicators in Well Control,” was held on April 30, 2019. This event facilitated dialogue between industry, academia, regulators and non-governmental organizations. This one-day workshop aimed to further the development of additional tools to help offshore operators enhance safety in well operations and well-control by enhancing focus on leading indicators in well operations. In the future, leading indicators might be better displayed in a dashboard framework and used as an additional tool for decision-makers in preventing future well-control incidents. Bringing together expertise in leading indicators from the offshore industry, along with other industries using leading indicators, this day of dialogue discussed and moved forward the ideas of:

• Enhancement of process safety in well operations to prevent well-control incidents

• Development and use of leading and lagging indicators as tools to assess and predict barrier health and warning of emerging incident potentials in well control.

• Development of a leading indicators dashboard framework to aid in operational decision-making.

• Opportunities for industry and regulators to collaborate within process safety and use of leading indicators in the construction and execution of safer wells.

The event was graciously sponsored by Shell and Cudd Well Control. Presenters and facilitators included representatives from Industry, academia and the government who are experts in leading indicators and most importantly, how leading indicators can be used to increase safer well-control operations. The schedule of events included:

• The BSEE Perspective in Leading Indicators — Lisa Grant, BSEE

• Overview of Process Safety Research Related to Offshore Wells Operations — Nafiz Tamim, Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center (MKOPSC)

• Panel Discussion: Why is Process Safety So Important in Offshore Wells Operations? — Charlie Williams, COS; Dirk Kolnsberg, Ensco-Rowan; Rich Osmond, BP; Robin Pitblado, DNV GL

• Airline Industry Perspective on Leading Indicators-ASAP — John Deleeuw and Vickie Toman, American Airlines

• NASA Perspective on Leading Indicators and Dashboarding — Roger Boyer, NASA

• COS Efforts to Identify Leading Indicators — Brad Smolen, COS/BP

• Panel Discussion: Developing Leading Indicators and Assessing Well Control Risks — Tamim Nafiz, MKOPSC; Terrance Sookdeo, Baker Hughes; Roland Moreau, BTS; Gene Sweeney, Cudd Well Control


The consensus among all participants was that development of a dashboard to display leading indicators across a well-control system was a good idea and worth pursuing. The next steps were determined and interested parties identified.

Participants represented several organizations and companies. These included American Airlines, Anadarko, API, BHP, Baker Hughes, Boots and Coots, BP, BSEE, BTS, COS, Chevron, Cudd Well Control, DNV GL, EnscoRowan, Ergonomic Human Factors Solutions, ExxonMobil, GeoServices, Halliburton, Hess, IADC, IOGP, Kosmos, Maersk Drilling, MKOPSC, NASA Johnson Space Center, Seadrill, Shell, Texas A&M University and the University of Houston.

As a result of this Forum for Dialogue, a follow-on workgroup was identified and met twice more in 2019. Terms of reference were developed, and candidate bowties were identified to help in developing a set of leading indicators to move forward with. The workgroup expects to make continued progress in 2020.

In October, at the Texas A&M University Hotel and Conference Center, the MKOPSC held their annual International Process Safety Symposium. Within this symposium, there were three offshore safety related tracks with over 20 presentations. Offshore safety research has become a core area of research for MKOPSC.


Continued outreach efforts by the OESI team help to further develop dialogue opportunities as well as spread the mission to further enable safer and environmentally responsible ocean energy operations.

Purdue University Boots & Coots RPSEA

ABS BP Baker Hughes

Kongsberg BSEE-HETC Marathon Oil

Center for Offshore Safety Texas A&M Energy Institute Wild Well

Transocean Department of Energy Chevron

ExxonMobil Rowan Company Cudd Well Control

Gulf Research Program National Science Foundation DNV GL

National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine

Arctic Domain Awareness Center

Ergonomic Human Factors Solutions

Society of Petroleum Engineers Arena Offshore OSHA

Shell U.S. Coast Guard BHP

Bayside Technical Solutions Maritime Administration Chemical Safety Board

IADC Norwegian Energy Center CGE Risk Management

API NOSAC NASA

Check Six Marine Technology Society Lamar University

Stress Engineering Schlumberger Louisiana State University

Halliburton NOIA University of Louisiana Lafayette

BSEE J. Connor Consulting Aramco

These outreach efforts provide the basis for continuing to build the network that OESI’s efforts are based on. Having an understanding among the stakeholders helps to create a deeper understanding of ocean energy gaps that can negatively impact safer and environmentally responsible operations. Additionally, industry stakeholders gain a greater understanding of the efforts and capabilities of the OESI and its partner university research programs.


SPEAKING OPPORTUNITIESIn 2019, we had a number of outreach activities and many of these opportunities include speaking activities. Some of those opportunities to publicly speak about the efforts and work of OESI are discussed below.

OESI presented research on early kick detection to the BSEE Houston Engineering Technology Center. This presentation focused on the doctoral research of a student at Texas A&M University. This research focuses on identifying technical and non-technical leading indicators, and modeling their interactions and relationships through a modeled Bayesian Network. BSEE was interested to understand how this research might impact mitigation of risk offshore.

OESI along with Research Partnership for a Secure Energy America (RPSEA) presented the OESI 21st Century Research Roadmap to the Offshore Technology Conference. This presentation highlighted the areas of future focus in research and generated interest in future research areas.

OESI was pleased to share with the Washington County Rotary Club the role of OESI and offshore oil and gas. The opportunity to address some pre-conceived notions of the oil and gas industry was useful and valuable.

OESI was pleased to provide a webinar on future offshore safety research for the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE). This webinar reached numerous SPE members worldwide. The discussion centered on the 21st Century Roadmap, and where the best opportunities for research might be.

OESI presented to the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC), well control committee. This opportunity focused on OESI’s leading indicator dashboard project. There was interest in what the end result for this project might be, and how it could assist in the well control realm.


COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH


DEVELOP COLLABORATIVE RESEARCHThe areas of collaborative research of OESI partners continued into 2019. A short discussion of these areas and other research is discussed below.

Human Factors EngineeringThe oil and gas extraction (OGE) industry continues to experience a fatality rate nearly seven times higher than that of all U.S. workers. OGE workers are exposed to intensive shift patterns and long work durations inherent to this environment. This leads to fatigue, thereby increasing risk of accidents and injuries. In the absence of any regulatory guidelines, there is a critical need for the development of comprehensive fatigue assessment practices specific to OGE operations that take into consideration not only the various OGE-specific sources of fatigue, but also the barriers associated with effective and feasible fatigue assessments in OGE work.

Supported and strengthened by industry collaborations, our goal is to validate our measure—the Fatigue Risk Assessment & Management in high-risk Environments (FRAME) survey—and refine its implementation technique, using both qualitative and innovative quantitative methods, that are feasible for hazardous environments. To date, we have developed the FRAME survey from existing work-related fatigue scales, refined the survey for content validation, brevity and relevance to OGE workers through qualitative methods involving OGE workers and stakeholders, and developed a Spanish version of the survey.

The objectives of the proposed work are to assess the reliability and validity of the FRAME survey; use physiological and performance measures of fatigue from offshore OGE workers to identify variables (e.g., work schedules, rig operations) related to differing levels of fatigue; and through


DEVELOP COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH

interviews with OGE personnel at all levels (management as well as rig floor personnel), develop a feasible assessment practice that employs FRAME responses, worker characteristics and planned workload/schedules.

Zonal IsolationThe well containment screening tool (WCST) has been adopted by deepwater oil and gas operators, in the aftermath of the Macondo/Deepwater Horizon tragedy, to evaluate well integrity during worst-case survival loads. It favors a more conservative deepwater casing scheme with thicker casing walls and narrower cementing annuli for the same borehole diameters. These design changes may increase the risk of cement loss during narrow-annuli cementing, possibly compromising the cement barrier. Thus, the WCST may actually increase the risk of another well control incident. To examine this possibility, we developed a model to simulate and quantify fluid and cement loss in narrow casing-formation annuli. This model analyzes the influence of design parameter changes, such as a change in casing wall thickness, on generating additional zonal isolation risk in deepwater. Our analysis suggests that a minor increase (within 0.1”) in casing thickness, through increasing outer diameter, has little influence on the risk of cement loss, as does a slight decrease in mean open-hole diameter. Larger increases in casing diameter and reductions in open-hole diameter, however, increase the risk of cement integrity failure, particularly at flow rates above 100 gpm, because of increased cement loss risk, as expected. Beyond the specific problem we analyze, the quantitative risk-analysis approach described here allows for quantification of risk associated with deepwater well design and cementing changes.

New MaterialsDevelopment of resilient materials for high-temperature and high-pressure applications are ongoing. The most recent effort has involved the development of machine-learning methods to better design and predict material systems and their properties for a broad range of HPHT applications. As a first step toward this UH has assembled a broad range of original data sets of both quantitative and image (electron microscopy and optical imaging) based information as part of the training of the machine-learning algorithms. This has required setting up collaborations with Solvay, Schlumberger and BHGE, and the work is ongoing.

Riser Gas UnloadingThis is an OESI facilitated partnership between Texas A&M University and Louisiana State University (LSU) that resulted in a fully funded research project from the Gulf Research Program. The project, “Experiments on Multiphase Flow

of Live Muds in a Full-Scale Wellbore with Distributed Sensing for Kick and Gas-in-riser Detection/Mitigation,” is entering its third and final year. The following is a short synopsis of progress to date and the focus of upcoming research.

In 2019, the project has been booming with activity. The year has seen more graduations of students and members from the group and the addition of new members and new skill sets to meet the growing impact of the project. The workover of Well #2 to retrofit the fiber-optics crowned the grand reopening of LSU PERTT Lab with its new, one-of-a-kind research capabilities. The new capabilities and the impacts of this project are already reaching industry through participation in key industry standardization subcommittees and communications by way of technical conferences and technical publications. The impacts are also creating opportunities for outreach and developmental opportunities not foreseen in the initial ideation of this project. The project is generating follow-on proposals and has already garnished several key grant wins, including another Gulf Research Program grant that joins forces between LSU and Portland State University.

Technical goals are being met with the completion of all major experimental facilities (the well at PERTT, the convection-diffusion experiment, the HTHP rheology rig) as well as spawning many small-scale scientific experiments that are pursuing fundamental questions surrounding key issues like multiphase flow in annuli, HTHP mud properties and solubility kinetics. Industry feedback has allowed us to further refine the large-scale goals to guide how to properly plan for and handle gas in the riser. These key questions will be addressed in the final year of testing. The initial test of the fiber-optic distributed sensing system proved to be both elucidating and extremely promising as a new drilling diagnostic tool, and as a gas-in riser and kick warning system.

The fiber-optics brought on new expertise with the addition of Schlumberger as a partner for analyzing the complex and large data sets created by fiber-optics sensing.

The project is also spawning translational projects that are linking oil and gas with biomedical applications. The technologies for visualization of gas flows in rheological fluids, hydraulic system dynamics characterization, fiber-optics sensing technologies and gas solubility kinetics all have application to the medical field, as well as the oil and gas industry. The implications and full potential are yet to be seen in the following year. Overall, the LSU/Texas A&M project team is very proud of the progress and extremely grateful to the national academies for this opportunity to impact the Gulf Region and beyond with the Gulf Research Program.


STUDENT RESEARCH

Throughout the three partner universities, there is substantial ongoing research that is related to the mission of OESI. Captured here is a sample of that research in 2019

Cassio Ahumada (Texas A&M)Enhancing the Understanding of Deflagration-to-Detonation Transition (DDT)There are two main combustion modes in vapor cloud explosions: deflagration and detonation. Deflagrations occur when the flame front travels at subsonic speeds leading to overpressure with the same order of magnitude as the atmospheric pressure. Unlike deflagrations, detonations are characterized by supersonic flame propagation velocities and significant overpressures. Several experimental studies have shown that when proper conditions are met, the flame front may accelerate, reaching the detonation combustion mode. This phenomenon is known as deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT). However, more recent large-scale tests have demonstrated that intermediate states between laminar deflagrations and CJ detonations are more likely to happen for fuels with low and medium reactivity, such as methane and propane. Therefore, this research project focuses on studying experimentally and numerically intermediate combustion regimes during DDT transition. The ultimate goal is to understand the effects of layout and fire suppressants on the final flame speed.

Tatiana Flechas (Texas A&M)Modeling of Liquefied Gases Discharging Through a Pipeline Full Bore RuptureLarge amounts of substances are transported in pipelines worldwide. This activity represents a hazard that needs to be quantitatively assessed through discharge models that are capable of accurately predicting the outflow when a pipeline ruptures. When a pipeline transporting a pressurized liquefied gas ruptures (e.g., CO2, LPG pipelines), the expansion generates a phase transition that results in a two-phase release. Numerous researchers have developed one-dimensional models to describe the discharge of liquefied gases when a pipeline full-bore rupture occurs. However, a systematic study on how the accuracy of different equations of state affects the depressurization prediction is lacking for this case. The main objective of this research is to propose a two-dimensional discharge model using computational fluid dynamic (CFD) tools in order to predict the pressure and temperature profiles along the pipeline, as well as the discharge rate and phase transition, while investigating the effect of different equations of state on the predictions for the full bore rupture scenario. In order to validate the 2-D discharge model, full-bore rupture experiments with dense-phase CO2 pipelines are used. The validation step evaluates the assumptions to model the transient phenomenon. Once the full-bore rupture study is completed, the subsequent


step will be to propose a 3-D model to predict the behavior of liquefied gases discharging through punctures. The previous scenario will complete the picture for predicting the discharge of flashing liquids when a pipelines ruptures.

Christopher Gordon (Texas A&M)Maintenance Planning Using Machine Learning and Multi-Objective Stochastic OptimizationMaintenance planning and process operations in chemical manufacturing plants are subject to several sources of uncertainty ranging from volatile feedstock prices to uncertainty in equipment failure times. In the context of assuring the mechanical integrity of assets in aging plants, the present research employs process systems engineering principles to develop novel optimization algorithms for preventive and predictive maintenance planning in the presence of uncertainty. The research spans different approaches to plant maintenance and consists of three aspects: (1) predictive maintenance using deep neural networks and support vector machines: (2) scheduling of turnaround activities subject to resource constraints using global event-based continuous-time optimization; and (3) preventive maintenance planning using multi-objective multi-stage stochastic programming with integer recourse. The results of the research can be used to prioritize maintenance actions, improve overall equipment availability and maximize plant productivity.

Richard Gustafson (Texas A&M)Effects of Hydrogen on the Strength and Fracture Characteristics of Multigrain MetalsThe presence of atomic hydrogen in metals plays an important part in metals in the process industries; Metal grain structure also plays an important role in determining the strength and mechanical properties of metals. The generation, migration and diffusion of hydrogen is difficult to experimentally study. Hydrogen’s interaction in multi-grain systems is less well understood. By developing a hydrogen multi-grain model and mapping changes in properties to failure through a model system of palladium-hydrogen, insight is developed into the hydrogen concentration and grain-size effects on properties of metals exposed to hydrogen.

Zohra Halim (Texas A&M)Cumulative Risk Assessment Model to Analyze Increased Risk Due to Impaired Barriers in Offshore Oil and Gas Facilities The Deepwater Horizon incident, as well as many other large-scale disasters, reminds us that multiple factors can contribute to a catastrophe, and these factors can be technical, operational, human or organizational in nature. Even though we carry out investigations to learn from these incidents, incidents keep happening as we fail to incorporate

those learnings into risk assessment models. There is a need to carry out better risk assessments that will incorporate learning from the past, consider how the various factors are deviating from their safe state and predict the cumulative risk arising from the deviations. Existing risk-assessment methods use expert opinion to consider the contribution of human and organizational factors to risk and rely on generic data that cannot capture the deviation of various factors. This research focuses on bridging the gap for a better cumulative risk assessment that will remove complete reliance on expert opinion. It uses learnings from past incidents and current plant data to update the information about how various technical and non-technical factors are deviating in a facility so that their influence on the failure probabilities of barriers can be better understood and managed.

Trent Parker (Texas A&M) Risk-Based Optimization of Alarm Systems Used in Industrial ApplicationsAlarm systems serve a critical role in the safe operation and control of plants by alerting operations staff of possible process deviations from normal operation. However, even with alarm systems installed, up to 90% of process incidents are attributable to human error. Thus, user-friendly alarm systems are crucial to ensure effective operator responses and thus safe plant operation. Alarms may fall into the categories of process alarms or critical safety alarms. However, there often exist a large number of alarms that fall in the range between these two categories. At times, the role of alarm management for operations staff can become unclear, particularly when multiple alarms occur simultaneously. This research aims to provide a framework to determine the optimum combination of audible and visual signals so as to prioritize operator response time to safety issues and process upsets based on relative risk and minimize the likelihood of alarm flooding.

Nafiz Tamim (Texas A&M) Developing Leading Indicators Framework for Predicting and Preventing Offshore BlowoutsLeading indicators are effective organizational tools that can identify vulnerabilities in a system. Offshore drilling operations and well activities have always been very challenging due to technological and operational complexities, and it is quite difficult to develop well-specified risk indicators for these high-risk operations. This research aims to develop leading risk indicators-based probabilistic models for offshore drilling and other well operations (e.g., workover) to predict gas kicks and possible blowout scenarios. This work proposes a cause-based approach to develop sets of leading indicators for different categories and organizational levels. Probabilistic models are developed for evaluating the relative importance of different leading indicators and for assessing their impacts on the key causal factors of well control barrier failure. This work


continues to build comprehensive risk models combining real-time indicators with operational and organizational factors to predict and prevent blowout incidents.

Ala Eddine Omrani (UH) Gas Kick Early DetectionUsing data-driven modeling for drilling system condition-monitoring. Real-time sensors’ sampled data is analyzed and processed to determine the well condition and early detect gas influxes. In addition to kick prediction, real-time downhole gas volume can be determined, allowing the adjustment of the control strategy. A multiphase flow transient model is developed and used to estimate the gas flowrate using the sampled data.

Junxiao Zhu (UH) Development of PZT-based Impact Detection System for Subsea-Tree StructuresStructural impact events, such as impact events on structures by foreign object debris, always endanger the integrity of the structures and lead to serious consequences, which highlight the structural health monitoring with the capability of detection and location of the impact events in a rapid pace. An innovative algorithm and sensing model of piezoelectric ceramic sensors was developed to estimate the propagation distances of versatile ultrasonic guided waves, thus both detecting and locating the impulse events for various structures.

Sai Anudeep Reddy Maddi (UH)Field Test for Real-time Monitoring of Piezoresistive Smart Cement to Verify the Cementing OperationsWith some of the reported failures and growing interest in environmental and economic concerns in the oil and gas industry, integrity of the cement sheath is of major importance. The disaster at Macondo claimed 11 lives and caused severe injuries and record-breaking sea pollution

by the release of about five million barrels of crude oil. Therefore, proper monitoring and tracking of the process of well installation and the performance during the entire service life has become an important issue to ensure cement integrity. Smart cement has been developed, which can sense any changes going on inside the borehole during cementing and during curing after the cementing job. The smart cement can sense the changes in the water-to-cement ratio, different additives, temperature and any pressure applied to the cement sheath in terms of piezoresistivity. The failure compressive strain for the smart cement was 0.2% at peak compressive stress and the resistivity change is of the order of several hundreds, making it over 500 times more sensitive.

Carolyn Leigh Powell (UT)Deriving Rock Strength from MSE and Drilling DataAs the industry works to reduce costs and enhance completion techniques, engineered completions have emerged as a promising method to improve hydraulic fracturing efficiency. However, the method remains cost and labor intensive, limiting widespread adoption. A cost effective and easily implemented approach to engineered completions is needed. A data-driven method utilizing mechanical specific energy (MSE) has been proposed to denote relatively homogeneous sections of rock along the wellbore using only commonly available drilling data. This work investigates the MSE-based engineered completions methods presented in the literature, and argues that the parameters that drive the MSE term may be more compelling indicators of rock heterogeneity. Additionally, automated pattern recognition methods to identify characteristic parameter response behaviors to either a rock strength or drilling efficiency change are explored. A random forest algorithm for defining characteristic parameter behaviors is presented and discussed, indicating promise for machine-learning methods to define a library of parameter responses to energy changes that can be automatically detected while drilling the well, with positive implications for both completions design and drilling optimization.


DEVELOP TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES

DEVELOP TRAINING OPPORTUNITIESDuring 2019, OESI focused on providing continuing education opportunities for our stakeholders. Leveraging the work of the MKOPSC, OESI offered the following classes throughout 2019.

• Gas Explosion Hazards in Petrochemical Facilities: Onshore and Offshore

• Process Hazard Analysis — Fundamentals & Facilitation

• Functional Safety Management of Safety Instrumented Systems

• Alarm Management

• Layer of Protection Analysis – Fundamentals and Applications

• Performance Assessment of Safety Instrumented Systems

• Safe Automation in the Process Industry

• PHA Fundamentals and Facilitation

• LOPA Fundamentals and Applications


OESI LEADERSHIP

Principal Investigator, Director of Operations

James PettigrewCaptain, U.S. Navy (Ret.)

Co-Principal Investigator

Dr. Ramanan Krishnamoorti University of HoustonChief Energy Officer


Dr. Rashid HasanTexas A&M UniversityLarry Cress Fellow


Dr. Eric Van OortThe University of Texas at AustinPetroleum Engineering

Program Manager

Paul Robinson


The Ocean Energy Safety Institute (OESI) is a collaborative initiative between the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station’s Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center, partnering with Texas A&M University, The University of Texas

at Austin and the University of Houston. The institute provides a forum for dialogue, shared learning and cooperative research among academia,

government, industry and other non-governmental organizations in offshore energy-related technologies and activities that ensure safe

and environmentally responsible offshore operations. While there have been efforts to identify scientific and technological gaps,

and to recommend improvement of drilling and production equipment, practices and regulation, the OESI will strive to coordinate and focus these products. Initial funding of the

institute came from the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.

20_2888

oesi.tamu.edu

annual report 2019oesi was pleased to provide a webinar on future offshore safety research for the...

Documents