The US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) this week issued the final drilling safety rule following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.
The rule finalizes safety reforms that were put in place after the spill and strengthens the requirements for safety equipment, well control systems, and blowout prevention practices on offshore oil and gas operations.
The new statute improves upon prespill regulations by establishing new standards for casing and cementing, such as testing requirements, third-party certification and verification requirements, blowout preventer capability, testing and documentation obligations, and standards for well control training.
The rule covers requirements for compliance, enhances description and classification of well control barriers, defines testing requirements for cement, clarifies requirements for the installation of dual mechanical barriers, and extends requirements for blowout preventers, well control fluids, well completions, workovers, and decommissioning operations.
