Improving Bop Reliability - a Back to Basics Approach

As a major player in the rig survey and training market, improving BOP reliability is one of our highest

priorities. But even with the equipment improvements seen over the years, BOP system reliability is still

at a level that other industries would find intolerable.

Recent industry announcements, such as GE Oil & Gas taking ownership and management of four new

BOP systems for Diamond Offshore, and NOV’s and Cameron’s new BOP condition monitoring systems

“RigSentry” and “Cognition,” respectively, are moves in the right direction. Yet none will address

fundamental weaknesses in our current maintenance:

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Outdated time-based preventive maintenance,

Non-implementation of modern predictive maintenance tools,

Poor-quality and non-standardized maintenance procedures,

No industry-standard recruitment and training policies,

Inadequately trained maintenance personnel.

Concentrating efforts to improve these areas would have an immediate effect on BOP reliability.

Focusing on training our personnel and modernizing our maintenance philosophy would significantly

mitigate these weaknesses at minimal cost.

Since the early ‘60s, subsea drilling equipment has used time-based, as opposed to condition-based,

overhauls and replacements to maintain system reliability; an expensive, wasteful and ineffective

method. During this time, other industries have changed their maintenance philosophy by employing

reliability centered maintenance (RCM) to reduce costs and improve reliability. They also employ

predictive maintenance tools, applying modern technology to monitor equipment condition.

To move the industry to a RCM system requires a number of steps, of which the first is to gather

reliability data from the field. The joint industry project (JIP), announced earlier this year and sponsored

by the IADC, will do just that. Composed of all the major drilling contractors, manufacturers and

operators, the JIP will compile a reliability database of...