BP has focused some of its technology know-how on preventing drillsting failure in deepwater operations.
"These projects tend to push the technical limits of the industry," Michael Payne, BP's senior advisor for the upstream technology group, told attendees at the Louisiana Gulf Coast Oil Exposition today in Lafayette, Louisiana. He questioned, however, whether those technical limits are arbitrary.
One portion of BP's approach is improved ultrasonic testing inspection data, something Technical Industries is now providing with its Visonic software.
"We have the wall data and the outside diameter (OD) data. Put the two together, and you have a perfect representation of the pipe," Technical Indsutries' Jeffrey Banks, general manager, said.
BP also hopes to solve the "challenging engineering problem" of slip crushing, Payne said.
"It's very important that we have more understanding of this slip crushing behavior," he said, adding that slip failures have caused substantial problems in deepwater. Because this is an area not heavily regulated by the American Petroleum Institute or the International Standards Organization, he said, operators must rely on vendors to provide equipment that is fit for purpose.
The third side of BP's approach relates to solid welding.
"We need to make sure the weld rating is up to snuff," Payne said.