Demonstrations

Under the supervision of the Department of Interior through the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), MWCC mobilized and deployed its Single Ram Capping Stack onto a demonstration well in 7,000 feet of water. During this live demonstration of MWCC’s source control capability, the organization, along with our members and BSEE, stood up a full Incident Command System (ICS) Unified Command structure that operated 24/7, beginning at the time of activation through proof of concept.

The capping stack was deployed in the Walker Ridge region of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico from the Laney Chouest vessel. The capping stack was then guided into position and latched onto the demonstration wellhead.

MWCC’s team successfully demonstrated operations for all necessary functions of the capping stack. Most importantly, MWCC validated the capping stack could undertake its peak capacity pressure and control a compromised well. The deployment of the capping stack was supported by more than 300 staff who worked a combined 40,000 hours to successfully execute the verification of our capping capability.

To provide confidence to our members and the U.S. government, MWCC has completed comprehensive validation of our vessels and processing modules. Upon acceptance of the Modular Capture Vessels (MCV) and processing modules, BSEE oversaw the complete loading, connection and hook up of the 21-module hydrocarbon processing system. The processing modules were connected to the vessels and hooked up to each other in a System Integration Test. Through this testing, MWCC was also able to confirm vessel safety functions, including emergency shutdown capability.

Once fully outfitted with validated processing equipment, MWCC’s vessels embarked on sea trials to demonstrate deployment readiness, a process witnessed by the United States Coast Guard. In addition to the substantiation of basic deployment, MWCC validated Dynamic Positioning capability, which is where computer and satellite systems keep the vessel in a fixed location using advanced thrusters.

MWCC also engaged in further verification flowback of a deepwater well. During this specific exercise, MWCC successfully transferred hydrocarbons from a drill ship to the MCV, verifying loading and offloading capacity.

At alternating five-year intervals, the MCVs are dry-docked – fully removed from the water – to expose the hull and external equipment for detailed inspection. The dry dock also allows MWCC to verify that the mounts for connecting the processing modules remain fixed and have not moved or shifted. Once all inspections are complete, the MCVs are returned to service and ready to be outfitted and deployed when needed.