China Daily reported that China largest offshore oil company is doing its best to ensure that its production facilities at sea do not repeat the mistakes of BP which is still struggling to contain the disastrous Gulf of Mexico spill.
Mr Zhou Shouwei vice president of China National Offshore Oil Corp said the company has ordered checks on every offshore oil and gas project to ensure safety. We are making every effort to make sure this does not happen.
He said that among improvements to technological capabilities for safety enhancement, CNOOC has started upgrading the blowout preventer system of its 3,000 meters deep water oil drilling rig which is being built in Shanghai.
After modification, the BOP is expected to shut down automatically when there is an accident. CNOOC will also upgrade its deepwater diving equipment in the next five years which will allow divers to work at 1,500 meters to 2,000 meters under water up from the current 800 meters levels to improve operations and repair capabilities.
Urging a more comprehensive emergency response system for oil leak accidents, Mr Zhou said CNOOC started developing its oil leak prevention systems seven years ago and has invested nearly CNY 500 million in the projects.
Mr Song Lisong general manager of the company QHSE department said that seven oil leak prevention bases had been built in China coastal areas by the end of 2008 and another seven will be ready by the end of the year. He said that "The global offshore oil and gas industry will see higher safety standards after the cause of the BP accident is pinpointed."
BP seemed to make headway on Sunday with its latest attempt to halt the spill a containment dome fixed atop the well. Chief Executive Tony Hayward said the dome was capturing a large proportion of the oil leaking from the oil and he hoped it would soon be able to channel the vast majority of the crude to the surface.
Leaking oil is pictured at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in this frame grab taken from a BP live video feed June 5th 2010.
(Sourced from China Daily)
