HWCG LLC, the deepwater well containment incident response consortium, has expanded its capture and process capabilities, more than doubling the fluid flowback rate to 130,000 bbl/d of oil and increasing the gas handling capacity to 220 MMcf/d.

This expansion marks the first ready response plan with cap, flow, process and storage capabilities meeting or exceeding 100,000 bbl/d. HWCG previously offered a flowback capacity of 55,000 bbl/d of oil and a gas handling capacity of 120 MMcf/d. The consortium voted to upgrade the equipment based on member need as the industry continues to explore new water depths and encounter higher well pressures and operating temperatures.

HWCG is a consortium of 16 deepwater operators in the Gulf of Mexico that have committed to developing a comprehensive and rapid deepwater well containment response system in order to protect people, property and the environment.

The group’s members contribute equipment resources and personnel through HWCG’s mutual aid program centered around common response protocols. The program creates a shared pool of knowledge from technical experts across every sector of the industry, which HWCG utilizes to continually drive advancements in subsea well containment.