Response approach
overview
We leverage the best available technology and foremost industry experts to ensure we are always ready to respond.
Well Containment Solution
HWCG has developed unique solutions to well containment through sound engineering and analytics which offer solutions to capping a subsea blowout in water depths ranging from 350-ft to 10,000-ft, pressures up to 20,000-psi and temperatures up to 350°F. If a shut-in is not possible due to a loss of well integrity, then flow & capture at a combined rate of up to 130k BFPD and 220 MMSCFD can be performed while a relief well is drilled. HWCG provides its members with access to subsea dispersant injection equipment, an environmental common operating picture (eCOP), Source Control IMT responders, an emergency operations center (EOC) and a Response Portal on its Information Management Portal (IMP). Our equipment, procedures and processes are ready for immediate activation to any deepwater well control incident.
PLANNING AND PREPAREDNESS
In collaboration with the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), HWCG has developed a comprehensive Regional Containment Demonstration (RCD) template which provides detailed technical procedures and clearly identified response protocols for three different foreseeable deepwater containment scenarios. The RCD template is utilized by our members to tailor their RCD for their assets prior to submittal to BSEE. HWCG also offers editable procedures for each operation involving the deployment, testing and operation of the HWCG-owned equipment, as well as other equipment or operations that may be utilized or performed during an incident.
Each year, several operating members of HWCG conduct individual well containment exercises and HWCG may conduct a sponsored member mutual aid exercise to increase coordination and improve preparedness. We strive to test the various aspects of a response and focus on response protocols and various technical missions during these exercises.
EXPERTISE
EQUIPMENT
CAPABILITIES
- The ability to fully operate in water depths of up to 10,000 feet
- 2 Capping Stacks capable of Shut-In: 15,000 psi and 20,000 psi
- Subsea intervention equipment with the mechanical and structural integrity to allow flow and capture operations while drilling a relief well.
- Flow & capture process rates up to 130,000 BFPD and 220 MMSCFD gas.
- Subsea dispersant injection system, consisting of mudline components that transfer the subsea dispersant from the delivery system provided by the operator directly to the source of hydrocarbons entering the water column.
- Through one of our Response Providers, HWCG also offers the ability to monitor the water column for tracking the hydrocarbon flow stream as the blowout continues.
Leadership Team
WHAT IS THE ANNUAL DRILL?
To ensure HWCG is ready to respond to a deepwater incident, we host and participate in a large-scale annual source control exercise to test and train against our response solution. Our exercise brings together hundreds of experts through our member companies and Response Providers in conformance with our Mutual Aid program, which supplements our member’s institutional knowledge, equipment and resources.
Regulatory agencies will also be present at the annual exercise, including the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), the United States Coast Guard and the gulf coast states Regional Response Teams.
Read a detailed overview of our well containment process on Rigzone.
WHY DO WE ORGANIZE IT?
While offshore equipment is designed to prevent the loss of well control, offshore oil and gas operations must be ready to respond in the event of a deepwater blowout. Operating Members plan their response and practice their plan. HWCG supports its membership in the Gulf of America through sponsoring the annual drill which demonstratively represents our commitment to protect people, property and the environment.
WHAT WE DO
- Demonstrating the adequacy of the designed command post as an incident command venue
- Integrating HWCG Mutual Aid and core contractor resources into the member response organization
- Testing the capacity of communications systems for seamless information flow for regulators in locations remote to the incident command center and the Responsible Party
ANNUAL DRILL KEY PLAYERS
- Host Member
- HWCG Members through Mutual Aid Supporters
- HWCG Response Providers
- Member Vendors
- Government Regulatory Agencies
ANNUAL DRILL KEY PLAYERS
If you’re interested in learning more about HWCGs mission or more information about the annual drill, please fill out the form below:
MEDIA INQUIRIES
If you’re interested in learning more about HWCGs mission or more information about the annual drill, please fill out the form below:
Contact Information
Spill Response System & Capabilities
KEY COMPONENTS
Building upon the equipment proven effective in the Deepwater Horizon response and HWCG’s success at assisting its consortium members to receive the 1st drilling permit issued in the US GoM after the Deepwater Horizon incident, HWCG utilizes a combination of owned and leased assets to maintain a comprehensive offshore well containment system that is always “ready to respond”. Our response system is currently capable of stopping and/or containing the flow of hydrocarbons from a subsea well in water depths up to 10,000 feet and with wellhead shut-in pressures of up to 20,000 psi. If our well capping stacks cannot close the wellbore due to downhole integrity issues, ourflow and capture system can process a flow stream of up to 130,000 BFPD and 220 MMSCFD gas.
HWCG’s primary response equipment involves two capping stacks, which are stored and maintained in a “ready to respond” condition. One is a dual Ram Capping Stack (RCS) rated to 15,000-psi and 350°F fluid flowing temperatures and one is a Valve Capping Stack (VCS) rated to 20,000-psi and fluid flowing temperatures of 350°F. . Other core components of our system include a Subsea Accumulator Manifold (SAM Unit) which can provide hydraulic power to the Ram Capping Stack, if needed, a mudline subsea dispersant injection system consisting of flying leads and a subsea manifold, a surface-mounted production system for processing the fluid stream, two distinct MODU’s which can accommodate the surface production system, and the major components of two separate Intervention Riser Systems to facilitate the flow & capture of hydrocarbons, if needed.
Storage and logistics for HWCG’s assets are managed by Gulf Freight Management located at 1755 Federal Road in East Houston. This facility provides direct access to the Gulf of America via the Houston Ship Channel or nearby highways to allow for quick deployment of resources. The facility has been assessed for hurricane storm surge and is expected to remain dry in up to a direct hit from a category 4 storm. The indoor location of our core assets at GFM provides increased security and protection against normal weather conditions, and facilitates a more rapid deployment during severe weather events.
Our dedicated response headquarters at the IMR facility in Katy, TX is immediately available as a joint command center for any Source Control incident. The facility will serve as a base for operations and communication during an incident and is also home to our large annual drill that brings together our mutual aid members and Response Providers for a multi-day exercise.
PARTNERSHIPS & CONTRACTED EQUIPMENT
HWCG maintains dedicated contracts with certain Response Providers to obtain specialized equipment on an immediate basis during a response. Our leased assets include Helix Energy Solution’s Q-4000 and Q5000.
Our response vessels work daily in the Gulf of America, receiving seamless upgrades as new technology becomes available. Daily operation removes many of the unpredictable variables associated with idle, stacked assets, including slow startup times and unexpected maintenance or repairs. And because our Response Providers store, maintain and operate the equipment on a daily basis, they take full ownership of the process. This level of dedication far exceeds the commitment of any outside contractor typically retained for a response effort.
Additionally, the crew that will operate this equipment during an incident will be drawn from the same pool of personnel that routinely operates and trains on each piece of equipment. Familiarity with both the equipment and fellow crew members is a significant advantage during an emergency response.
HWCG ADVANTAGES
- No start-up delays
- Proven plans and vetted procedures in place for all operations
- Frequent equipment checks as our partners store, maintain and operate the gear
- Seamless upgrades to technology and equipment
- Tested and proven performance
- Close collaboration with subject matter experts on their own systems
- Addition of IMR, an experienced team of trained personnel who can mobilize quickly and initiate an efficient and seamless response
Learn more about our relationship with our service partners.
MODULAR DESIGN PHILOSOPHY FOR UPGRADES
The core components of our kit adapt to fit most vessels, offering a multitude of deployment options. We engineer each piece to be easily upgraded or replaced without interfering with the rest of the system, ensuring the kit remains available and always “ready to respond”.
This modular design approach increases our flexibility to respond in a variety of scenarios and allows us to make continuous upgrades without prohibitive costs or a disruption to coverage.
HWCG ADVANTAGES
- Additional flexibility – production kit can be used on any capable vessel depending on scenario
- Ability to make changes in the flow and capture system based upon flow rates, shut-in pressures and equipment availability at the time of an incident Assurance that Regulators are familiar with the HWCG system safety and design
Our Partnerships
THE CORE VENDORS COMMITTED TO OUR MISSION
These core vendor companies provide institutional knowledge and extraordinary depth of experience that elevates our response effort. These partnerships are an integral part of our team and they bring expertise, assistance and equipment. Meet the companies that our organization benefits from.
Our Response Providers
Founded on the use of tried-and-tested offshore oil and gas technology, HWCG LLC leverages unprecedented mutual aid and collaboration between industry operators to protect people, property and the environment.
MUTUAL AID AND COLLABORATION
Our industry-leading mutual aid program creates a shared pool of information, assets and experts that exponentially increase the resources available to our members. The rapid and effective containment of a subsea well control incident requires multiple problem-solving disciplines and an enormous commitment of resources, all of which we are able to access through mutual aid.
Our relationships and contracts with service companies provide additional expertise, assistance and equipment. These contract partners are an integral part of our team. Unlike a typical contractor and operator relationship, we fully include our service providers in our response effort. We recognize that our Response Providers are the subject matter experts for the services they provide, and our organization benefits from absorbing that institutionalized knowledge and extraordinary depth of experience.
PARTNERS IN SAFETY
Safety is a component of everything we do – including how we structure our organization. We engineered our committee system to promote regular interactions between our members and foster relationships between the leaders who will collaborate during a response effort. This cohesive approach leads to a safer, more productive response environment.
HWCG’s annual drill allows our membership to practice this collaborative response model and activate a portion of our mutual aid program. The benefits compound as each member broadens and deepens their experience of the deepwater spill response structure each year.
HWCG ADVANTAGES
- Mutually shared resources including information, expertise and assets
- Access to multiple problem-solving perspectives across disciplines
- Compounded learning and experience gains
- Organizational structure promotes cohesion and familiarity of response team
COS SEMS Certification
HWCG COS SEMS CERTIFICATION DOCUMENT
HWCG has obtained a SEMS Certificate from the Center for Offshore Safety (COS), becoming the only source containment consortium and first not-for-profit to voluntarily do so. Following an audit by CICS Americas and their later verification of our improvement plan implementation, we achieved this milestone. Amongst 24 different companies, only 45 certificates have been issued by COS since 2013, making HWCG the first non-operating company since 2019 to receive one. What makes this achievement significant is that SEMS audits and certificates are primarily oriented towards operators in the Gulf of America who must demonstrate regulatory compliance to COS-accredited Audit Service Providers, like CICS Americas. By HWCG voluntarily achieving this SEMS Certificate, it reflects our dedication to protecting people, the environment, and the communities we support- it also demonstrates our unwavering commitment in response preparedness to our members and response providers.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Our ready response system is currently capable of operating in water depths up to 10,000 feet. Change to information provided on previous pages
In the aftermath of Macondo, offshore energy companies joined together to form HWCG with the mission of developing a comprehensive and rapid deepwater containment response system for the Gulf of America. Utilizing the lessons learned during that response effort, our system builds on the equipment ultimately proven effective in the containment of the Macondo well.
WHO ARE THE MEMBER COMPANIES?
WHAT ARE HWCG’S CONTAINMENT CAPABILITIES?
Our ready response system is currently capable of operating in water depths up to 10,000 feet. Change to information provided on previous pages
WHY WAS THE HWCG CONSORTIUM FOUNDED?
In the aftermath of Macondo, offshore energy companies joined together to form HWCG with the mission of developing a comprehensive and rapid deepwater containment response system for the Gulf of America. Utilizing the lessons learned during that response effort, our system builds on the equipment ultimately proven effective in the containment of the Macondo well.
WHAT HAPPENS IN THE EVENT OF A WELL CONTAINMENT EVENT?
While offshore equipment is carefully engineered to prevent the loss of well control, offshore oil and gas operators must be ready to respond in the event of a deepwater blowout. A blowout refers to the uncontrolled release of formation fluids and pressure from a well. HWCG’s mission, equipment and processes are engineered to contain the flow and bring a blown out well back under control.
If a deepwater well containment incident occurs, the Responsible Party will activate its Oil Spill Response Plan, which includes a Regional Containment Demonstration. All subsea operators must submit these plans to BSEE before drilling a well.
Once our dedicated emergency response line receives a call, equipment and personnel begin to mobilize immediately. A pre-planned alert goes out to our members who have pledged to assist each other under mutual aid protocols in the event an incident occurs.
After the health and safety of all personnel onboard the rig or floating production facilty is secured, response operations begin through the Source Control incident command structure. Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) will be deployed to assess subsea conditions. Any debris blocking access to the well will be cleared or towed away. Subject to EPA approval, subsea dispersants may be applied to diffuse a subsea oil plume.
The key piece of equipment, a capping stack, will be deployed to seal the BOP ram and stop the flow of hydrocarbons. Once the stack is successfully latched to the wellhead, operators will submit a well kill procedure to BSEE for approval.
WHAT TOOLS OR EQUIPMENT ARE USED FOR WELL CONTAINMENT?
The key piece of equipment required for well containment is the capping stack. A capping stack uses stored hydraulic pressure to seal off the damaged blowout preventer and stop the flow of hydrocarbons. HWCG maintains two capping stacks rated for pressures up to 15,000 psig and 20,000 psig.
A Subsea Accumulator Manifold (SAM) provides hydraulic pressure to power the capping stack. An Underwater Distribution Base (UDB) may be utilized to recharge the SAM unit as reserve pressure is depleted.
An intervention riser system may be used to facilitate the capture and flow of hydrocarbons for safe storage and processing in a surface vessel.
HWCG maintains dedicated contracts with vessels that work daily in the Gulf of America for immediate assistance in the event of a well containment incident. These specialized assets include Helix Energy Solutions Group’s Q4000 and Q5000 vessels for containment and AET’s Aframax tankers for storage and off-loading of captured fluids.
HOW HAS DEEPWATER WELL CONTAINMENT RESPONSE AND PROCESSES FOR RESPONSIBLE OFFSHORE DRILLING PROGRESSED?
Since the consortium was established in 2011, HWCG has continually upgraded equipment and processes to meet member needs. We have added a second capping stack and engineered improvements to our capture and flow processes that have increased our capacity by more than 100,000 barrels per day.
HWCG’s Deepwater Intervention Technical Committee continues to review and prioritize further upgrades to our technology. We employ a modular design philosophy, which means we engineer each response system component to be upgraded or replaced without interfering with the rest of the system. This gives us flexibility as our response system continues to progress.
WHAT IS THE RESPONSE/CONTAINMENT TIME? HOW HAS IT IMPROVED SINCE MACONDO?
HWCG is ready to respond immediately and comprehensively. We begin mobilizing equipment to the scene within 24 hours.
In 2013, we successfully completed an unannounced, full-scale deployment drill with our member, Noble Energy, in less than one week. This demonstrates significant improvement since Macondo, which took 87 days to contain.
HOW IS THE SOLUTION TESTED/HAS THE SOLUTION BEEN TESTED?
Yes, we host and participate in a series of drills and exercises throughout the year to test and train against our response solution. Our large, annual source control exercise brings together hundreds of experts, including our members, mutual aid partners and regulators, to simulate an incident and response scenario.
Additionally, we have successfully completed an unannounced, full-scale deployment drill with our member, Noble Energy. During the drill, our capping stack was deployed in the Gulf of America in over 5,000 feet of water and pressurized to 8,400 pounds per square inch.
HOW IS HWCG KEEPING UP WITH THE INCREASINGLY CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENTS OF OFFSHORE DRILLING?
We created a Deepwater Intervention Technical Committee (DITC), comprised of more than thirty industry experts, to promote the technological advancement of our response system. These committee members recommend and prioritize technical upgrades, such as thermal and pressure rating increases for our equipment, to ensure we stay ahead of member needs.
WHAT IS RESPONDER IMMUNITY AND HOW DOES IT WORK?
Under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90), Congress created a provision that protects emergency responders from frivolous lawsuits. It is considered the maritime equivalent of a Good Samaritan law. The goal of responder immunity is to encourage emergency responders to take immediate action to contain or cleanup an offshore oil spill.
Under responder immunity, the Responsible Party is still liable for all removal costs and damages resulting from an offshore oil spill. However, the Responsible Party does benefit from responder immunity because it encourages other organizations to help minimize the amount of oil spilled and contribute to cleanup efforts.
After Macondo, the current responder immunity provision proved inadequate to protect response organizations from frivolous lawsuits. HWCG advocates for a strengthened responder immunity provision to protect people, property and the environment.
WHY WAS THE HWCG CONSORTIUM FOUNDED?
In the aftermath of Macondo, offshore energy companies joined together to form HWCG with the mission of developing a comprehensive and rapid deepwater containment response system for the Gulf of America. Utilizing the lessons learned during that response effort, our system builds on the equipment ultimately proven effective in the containment of the Macondo well.
WHAT GROUPS ARE INVOLVED IN AN OFFSHORE OIL SPILL RESPONSE AND WELL CONTAINMENT EFFORT?
HWCG works closely with each of our member companies to ensure their understanding of the consortium’s response solution as reflected in their submittals to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE). All offshore operators must file Oil Spill Response Plans with BSEE prior to drilling in the Gulf of America.
During an incident, we assist the Member-Operator of the Consortium who operates under an Incident Command System. The ICS includes key personnel from the U.S. Coast Guard and BSEE, who represent the Federal Government on response operations. Additionally, HWCG’s Mutual Aid program harnesses the experience and knowledge of over two hundred industry experts who are committed to the rapid and effective containment of a subsea blowout.
WHY BECOME A MEMBER COMPANY OF HWCG?
HWCG has invested in the best available technology, engineering and minds, applying important lessons learned from the past, to create a comprehensive well containment solution.
Our unique approach to retaining availability to the best equipment in the industry provides us with a significant advantage with immediately available equipment in the event of an emergency.
Additionally, our industry-leading mutual aid program creates a shared pool of information, assets and experts available to our members. Our relationships and contracts with over thirty service companies provide expertise, assistance and equipment.
HOW DOES HWCG CURRENTLY WORK WITH EXISTING ENVIRONMENTAL AND SAFETY REGULATIONS?
HWCG works alongside its member companies in the development of response plans and protocols, which the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) reviews according to regulatory standards.
We work within the guidelines set forth by BSEE in its Notice To Lessees (NTL) No. 2010-N10 and Federal Codes to help regulators evaluate and operators demonstrate adequate well containment resources.
HOW OFTEN WOULD YOU EXPECT TO DEPLOY THE WELL CONTAINMENT SOLUTION LIKE HWCG’S RESPONSE SYSTEM?
Due to the additional planning and requirements introduced by BSEE after Macondo, the likelihood of a blowout has been significantly reduced.
Deepwater blowouts are relatively rare occurrences. There have been two major blowout events affecting the Gulf of America in approximately forty years – the explosion of PEMEX’s Ixtoc well and the blowout of the Macondo prospect.