Guideline on Blow-Out Preventer Certification

The publication of the Guideline follows the first anniversary of the Macondo oil field incident in the Gulf of Mexico, during which the failure of the BOP from the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig contributed to lost lives and environmental damage. The event has highlighted the crucial need for operators to thoroughly inspect the reliability of this critical piece of safety equipment on a regular basis.

The new Guideline published by GL Noble Denton provides rules and procedures for certifying BOPs throughout their lifecycle, from the design and manufacture phase through to annual inspection during operation.

The Guideline will be used by GL Noble Denton as the standard to which the company will inspect and certify BOPs as part of its certification services for sub-sea drilling assets for its clients, including some of the oil and gas industry's best-known exploration and production companies. It has been published using the combined expertise of the GL Group's engineers in Houston, Aberdeen, Sandefjord and Hamburg.

The Guideline is divided into four distinct sections:

• The general certification process of a BOP, from the submission of a client's application for certification to the distribution of a certificate after design review and the regular review of the asset's integrity during operation
• The procedures that should be undertaken on a BOP to demonstrate its integrity to a third party such as GL Noble Denton, including methods to identify potential failures and their consequences
• The major design requirements of a BOP, based on internationally accepted codes and standards
• The inspections and tests that should be undertaken throughout the lifecycle of a BOP, including factory acceptance tests, site integration tests, annual inspections and inspections after modification.