Interior plans new rules on subsea ‘blowout preventers’

Interior Department officials are planning new regulations to bolster subsea blowout preventers at offshore oil-and-gas rigs.

The blowout preventer — a supposedly fail-safe device to contain runaway wells — did not deploy correctly when BP’s Macondo well ruptured in the Gulf of Mexico last April.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told reporters on a conference call Tuesday that regulators are examining issues including instrumentation and the need for a more robust system of so-called blind shear rams.

A federally commissioned forensic report on the blowout preventer used at BP’s well found that its shear rams — powerful metal arms intended to close off wells — were unable to close around a piece of pipe that became trapped during the accident.

Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes said officials are working with the department’s recently established Ocean Energy Safety Advisory Committee. The department intends to offer a so-called advanced notice of proposed rulemaking in coming months that will solicit input on what sorts of upgrades are needed, he said on the call.

Officials are examining potential requirements for new blowout preventers and existing devices in use on ocean rigs.

The recent forensic report recommended that the industry review a range of issues — such as the blade surfaces of shear rams — that should be addressed in the design of future blowout preventers and the need for modifying existing devices.

The March report (available here) was commissioned as part of an ongoing joint Interior-U.S. Coast Guard probe of the BP spill.

Interior has already issued a series of new offshore safety requirements as a result of last year's spill, covering issues including well design and the ability to swiftly contain spills from deepwater wells.