On 15 May, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) published in the Federal Register the Blowout Preventer and Well Control Final Rule, which will enter into force on 15 July 2019. The Final Rule includes:
- BSEE is not revising the 0.5 ppg default drilling margin requirement or the requirements for justifying any alternative downhole mud weight. However, based on comments received, BSEE is revising 250.414(c)(2) to allow operators the option to submit the required justification for BSEE approval at an earlier date rather than waiting to submit with APD as the previous rule required.
- BSEE is retaining the existing requirement to maintain the capability to position the pipe within the shearing blade, however BSEE will not require that this be achieved using a separate mechanism and will allow this capability to be accomplished with the shear ram itself.
- BSEE is keeping the language in existing 250.734(a)(1)(ii) that requires “both shear rams to be capable of shearing” the specific equipment in the hole.
- BSEE is clarifying that the accumulator bottles for the autoshear/deadman systems need to be located subsea.
- BSEE is revising 250.737 to allow the use of a 21-day BOP testing frequency instead of the previous 14-day interval if an operator meets certain critieria and if BSEE approves an operator’s 21-day BOP testing frequency request.
The Final Rule document can be found on BSEE’s website.
