With more than US $1 Bn invested so far in the Marine Well Containment Company’s containment system, a sudden call last year from the BSEE (Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement) put the system fully to the test.

Marty Massey, Chief Executive Officer of the not-for-profit MWCC, recalled the moment while giving a presentation at OTC about the capping stack: “I was sitting upstairs in my office, and got a call that said the BSEE wanted to see me about the capping stack. They were actually downstairs.”

And so an often-practised but never before used system for mobilising and installing the capping stack in the ultra-deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico sprang into action.

Massey said that in 2012 the MWCC had carried out 20 exercises with its 10 member companies, spending 28 days practising the call out of MWCC and the deployment of the system.

In this demonstration for the BSEE, Shell was the designated operator, working in partnership with the MWCC throughout the demonstration. The MWCC’s liaisons were deployed to Shell’s command centre throughout the exercise, with the BSEE team fully integrated with all the Shell and MWCC mobilisation activities.

Massey said that communication links were maintained with the Department of the Interior leadership in Washington throughout the exercise, with daily briefings provided to the BSEE.

Once all the kit had been pre-checked and tested, the capping stack was loaded onto the Laney Chouest and deployed to a simulated well in the U.S. Gulf. Once offshore, the capping stack was lowered approximately 2,103 m (6,900 ft) on a wire using a heave compensated landing system. It was latched onto a simulated wellhead, where all necessary functions were completed and pressure testing (up to 10,000 psi for 20 minutes) confirmed the ability to control the well.

The mobilisation, function and pressure testing performed as expected and were within the anticipated timeline, said Massey. The capping stack and ancillary equipment were then transported back to shore for checks and refurbishment.

He went on to outline what is next for the MWCC, pointing out that the system used is the interim containment system, which can handle a flow rate of up to 60,000 b/d and 15,000 psi. An expanded system will be ready by early next year which can handle flow rates of up to 100,000 b/d in a water depth of up to 3,048 m (10,000 ft), and again also handle pressures of up to 15,000 psi. The MWCC also has a dual ram 10,000 psi stack available, and is currently building another 15,000 psi dual ram stack.

The MWCC also recently selected Technip USA’s Mobile, Alabama as the shorebase location to house its subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines (SURF) equipment. MWCC will utilise the facilities and services of Technip and Core Industries to store, maintain and test the equipment.

It also recently announced an agreement with Wood Group PSN for the formation of an offshore reserve response team. Made up of 100 select reserve operations personnel, the team will be activated should MWCC’s modular capture vessels (MCVs) be called upon to respond to a well control incident in the GoM.