GE’s new blind shear ram can cut a thicker pipe, and it can cut it regardless of whether it’s centered in the well bore.  More »

Federal regulators are on track to propose new standards for boosting the reliability and performance of emergency devices safeguarding offshore wells later this year — but that doesn’t mean the industry will have to comply overnight.  More »

Bulky, heavy and designed for redundancy rather than beauty, blowout preventers are the last line of defense for a runaway well. National Oilwell Varco has staked a piece of the company’s future on expanding production of blowout preventers and exporting them around the world.  More »

Drilling specialists have been pumping heavy fluids into a gas well 50 miles off the Louisiana coast in a bid to halt natural gas moving among underground formations at the site.  More »

Apache is preparing to kill a Gulf of Mexico well after an uncontrolled flow of fluid in the well prompted workers to activate its blowout preventer.  More »

Drilling on roughly two dozen offshore oil and gas wells may be temporarily halted so companies can replace faulty bolts on emergency devices, after federal regulators identified problems with the equipment.  More »

Obama administration officials today outlined their plans for new regulations designed to boost the reliability of crucial emergency equipment safeguarding offshore wells. Fundamentally, said Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes, blowout preventers “need to be able to cut whatever is in their way and completely sell off the well.”  More »

Some offshore drillers are adding spare blowout preventers so one can protect their wells while the second is down for maintenance or inspection.  More »

After a blowout preventer failed to successfully shear drill pipe and seal off BP’s Macondo well, companies that make the emergency devices have been looking for new ways to boost their performance. At OTC this week, GE Oil & Gas unveiled new blind shear rams the company says can slash through thick tool joints and seal off the well hole.  More »

The Chemical Safety Board said today it is on track to issue a final report on the well blowout and explosion that killed 11 rig workers in early 2013, and it could issue recommendations to prevent a similar disaster as soon as this August. The independent federal agency, which has probed more than 50 industrial accidents, including the lethal Texas City refinery explosion in 2005 is the last remaining panel still investigating the Deepwater Horizon disaster, following the conclusion of several other probes.  More »

In a 136-page report released today on the 2010 oil spill, the National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council make a series of recommendations designed to prevent a repeat of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.  More »

Although the government imposed new regulations and requirements designed to boost the safety of offshore drilling in the wake of last year’s oil spill, the risks of another Deepwater Horizon disaster are still too high, environmentalists concluded Friday.  More »