Emergency response capabilities: oilfield safety measures working well.

• Author: Stricker, Julie
• Position: OIL & GAS

In early October, a fire broke out on a natural gas platform eight miles offshore from Nikiski in cold, fast-flowing Cook Inlet.

Four workers on Hilcorp's Baker Platform were evacuated and the fire, after a couple of minor flare-ups, was extinguished. No one was injured, no petroleum or gas was spilled, and only a small amount of debris was visible in the water, says Lori Nelson, spokeswoman for Hilcorp Alaska LLC. Early investigation pointed to an electrical malfunction in a heater in personnel quarters, she says.

"From a response standpoint, it was basically a house fire offshore," she says, and Hilcorp's established evacuation plan and safety-related responses all worked as designed. Baker platform is one of twelve operated by Hilcorp in Cook Inlet.

The four workers on the platform had access to fire response equipment, but it was quickly deemed they didn't have the capability to fight the fire, so they were evacuated by helicopter. Brucker survival capsules were also on standby in case the helicopters couldn't fly. Response vessels battled the blaze, Nelson says.

At the time, only one well was active, which was shut down immediately according to Hilcorp's emergency shutdown procedures. "The risk of hydro carbon loss, from our perspective, was quite low," Nelson says. "All those things worked just as they were supposed to."

Basic Standards

Thousands of people work in Alaska's oilfields, which are concentrated in the Cook Inlet region and on the North Slope. Drilling for oil and gas involves heavy equipment, potentially explosive hydrocarbons, high-pressure lines and equipment, remote sites and, in Alaska, extreme weather conditions and frequent wildlife sightings.

A focus on safety is no accident for major oil companies working in Alaska, such as BP Alaska.

Michael Barnes, BP vice president of safety and operational risk, says safety is a core value for the company, which has 2,100 employees in Alaska, two-thirds on the North Slope. It also employs about 6,500 contract workers.

"(Safety) is our top priority," he says. "It comes from our CEO all the way down to our workforce."

He estimates BP Alaska has roughly half the injuries as the oil and gas industries as a whole, "but every injury is too many," Barnes says.

"We still have incidents, but we use them as learning tools so that we can prevent them in the future," he says. Since 2007, injuries to personnel have dropped 56 percent. "Every year we try to get better and better," he says.

While each operation and drill site has its own set of conditions and operating challenges, all of Alaska's oilfield operators and contractors voluntarily agree...