Oil & Gas
New La. drilling safety rules stricter than any other state
Louisiana Commissioner of Conservation James H. Welsh has issued two new permanent rules and a new policy which combine to give Louisiana some of the most stringent oil and gas drilling safety rules in the country.
The two new permanent rules, which were effective as of Dec. 20, 2008, track the federal government’s requirements on the drilling it regulates, and, as of Jan. 12, a new office policy bans wells within 1,000 feet of the crossing of Interstate highways over major waterways.
The 1,000-foot ban includes such areas as the I-10 crossing of the Sabine River, Calcasieu River, Atchafalaya Basin, Mississippi River, Lake Pontchartrain and Pearl River; the I-12 crossing of the Amite River; and the I-20 crossing of the Red, Ouachita, Tensas and Mississippi Rivers, among others. Most oil and gas producing state have no rules addressing distance between oil and gas drilling operations and roadways, and the few that do require no more than a 100-foot distance.
One of the new permanent rules places many new requirements on well operators to ensure the proper design, testing and use of blowout preventers and diverters, as well as new requirements for the quick operation of valves controlling in-pipe gas and fluid flow. The rule also requires operators to ensure that employees of contracted drilling companies receive recurring training on well control practices and establish procedures to ensure employees retain the knowledge, skill and competency to perform their well control duties.
“The new rules have placed new burdens on oil and gas exploration companies, but they too recognize the need to make the drilling process as safe as possible for their employees and the public,” Welsh said.
Some of the new safety requirements on blowout preventers and diverters include:
- Requiring diverter systems in areas where drilling hazards are known and anticipated to exist, requiring testing of those systems, dual diverter lines with remote-controlled valves and at least two diverter control stations.
- Ensuring blowout preventers are of the proper size and rated to handle pressure beyond the maximum anticipated surface pressure to which they might be subjected.
- Independent primary and backup hydraulically actuated accumulator systems capable of closing all blowout preventer components and holding them closed.
- A remote blowout preventer control system in addition to one on the drilling floor of the rig.
- Two valves, with wrenches to fit each stored in a readily accessible location, capable of shutting off in-pipe flow.
- Daily visual inspections of blowout preventers.
- Low and high pressure tests to be conducted at the shop prior to transport to a drilling location, immediately after installation on site, every two weeks after installation and other times specified by different conditions, with some types of blowout preventers to have function tests every week.
- The dates, times and results of all pressure tests, function tests and inspections of the blowout preventer system are to be recorded in the drillers report and retained for inspection at the well site for the duration of the drilling operation.
- Weekly well control drills are to be conducted for each drilling crew, covering a range of drilling operations, to be recorded in the driller’s report, to include time required to close blowout preventer systems and time to complete the entire drill.
The safety rules were developed after extensive study by the state Department of Natural Resources’ Office of Conservation and the Commissioner’s Ad Hoc Committee on Drilling Safety earlier this year. The committee included representatives from the state, the oil and gas industry, and landowner interests.
In drafting the rules, the Office of Conservation and the Committee reviewed the drilling safety and well location practices of other states and used the federal Mineral Management Service (MMS) drilling safety rules applied to drilling operations in federal offshore waters as a template for the safety requirements.
In addition, the second rule that went into effect on Dec. 20 requires applicants for drilling permits within 1,000 feet of an interstate highway to furnish copies of approved drilling permits and certified location plats to state and local authorities, including all emergency responders.
“The reporting requirement for wells within 1,000 feet of an interstate is a step we in Louisiana have taken above and beyond what we have seen in other states’ regulation of oil and gas drilling,” Welsh said.
Commissioner Welsh began moving last December to review existing regulations and find ways to reduce the likelihood of well blowouts near interstate highways. He initially placed temporary moratorium on drilling within a quarter of a mile of interstate highways, while his staff and the Committee completed their research, before issuing two Emergency Rules similar to the new permanent rules in late June. Public hearings and comment on the new permanent rules followed before the final rules were set.
Based on the research of the Office of Conservation and the Committee, distance from interstate roadways was rarely used as a safety mechanism, and Louisiana’s existing law mandating that wells be further from interstates than the height of the drilling derrick already gave it the furthest required distance between roadway and well.
Far more common in states with the strongest regulations was following the example of the MMS rules designed for the demanding conditions of offshore drilling.
“The rules we have now put in place, with input through the public hearing process, provide not only for safer operations near an interstate, but for safer operation of all wells throughout the state,” Welsh said. “We want to minimize as much as humanly possible, all potential well blowouts, no matter where the well is located.”
Welsh said that after taking steps to make drilling equipment and on-site practices as safe as possible, he also wanted to address potential concerns about stretches of elevated Interstate highways crossing major waterways.
He said his concerns were twofold, including the restricted movement of traffic and emergency responders in such areas and the potential exposure of the support structure of the elevated roadway to extreme heat in the event of a blowout too close to the roadway.
“While we are taking every step possible to minimize well blowouts, and they have been rare even before the new rules, we realize that the potential for such incidents exists,” Welsh said. “I believe moving drilling operations 1,000 feet from such roadways will protect traffic flow on the interstates, allow emergency responders to take the actions they need to and give ample distance for any heat generated from a blowout fire to dissipate before affecting the roadway support structure.”
Welsh said that the policy he has implemented will have the force of a permanent rule and give him and his staff time to further research the best practices for maintaining the balance of protecting the public and supporting responsible oil and gas exploration in the state.
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