|
Satellite altimetry in the Gulf of
Mexico on August 28, 2005 illustrating the heat stored in upper water
layers in terms of the Tropical Cyclone Heat Potential (TCHP). Katrina’s
track and intensity are shown as circles of different color and
size.
Source: NOAA/AOML. |
|
The heavy concentration of oil infrastructure in the
Gulf of Mexico, one of the nation’s largest sources of oil and gas
production, was dealt a one-two punch by category-5 Hurricanes Katrina
and Rita, causing destruction and substantial damage to offshore
platforms within a four-week period in August and September of 2005.
Based on central pressure, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were ranked as
two of the ten most intense Hurricanes to ever hit the Atlantic Region
and the greatest natural disasters to oil and gas development in the
history of the Gulf of Mexico.
Both hurricanes registered as category-5 storms with
maximum sustained winds of 175 mph, peak wind gusts up to 235
mph and central pressure as low as 902
mbar. MMS estimates that 3,050 of the Gulf’s 4,000 platforms and 22,000 of
the 33,000 miles of Gulf pipelines were in the direct path of either
Hurricane Katrina or Rita resulting in the destruction of 115 platforms,
damaged to 52 others, damage of 535 pipeline segments, and near total
shut-down of the Gulf's offshore oil and gas production. Fortunately for
all, due to the prompt evacuation and shut-in preparations made by operating
and service personnel, there was no loss of life and no major
oil spills attributed to either storm.
|
Hurricane Rita pictured here as a
Category-5 hurricane on September 21, 2005. |
|
Another important measurement is the hurricanes' impacts
longevity. Over nine months later, 22% of federal oil production and 13%
of gas production remained
shut-in resulting in the loss of 150 million barrels of oil and 730
billion cubic feet of gas from domestic supplies.
To aid MMS's effort to better understand these natural
events and to prepare and protect our nation's energy supply against the
devastating impacts that result, MMS funded the following four research
projects through the Technology
Assessment and Research (TA&R) Program. Click on the project number to
link to a summary and status report.
|
Hurricane Katrina and
Rita Projects |
|
571 |
Loads Due to Extreme Wave Crests |
|
578 |
Assessment of Fixed Offshore Platform Performance in
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita |
|
579 |
Joint Industry Project to Study Risk-Based Restarts
of Untreated Subsea Oil and Gas Flowlines in the GOMR |
|
580 |
Hindcast Data on Winds, Waves and Currents in
Northern Gulf of Mexico in Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (2005) |
|
581 |
Pipeline Damage Assessment from Hurricane
Katrina/Rita |
|
591 |
Evaluate Accuracy of Polyester Subrope Damage
Detection Performed by ROVs Following Hurricanes and Other Events |
|
592 |
Connector Designs for Top
and Bottom Tendon Connections |
|
593 |
Evaluate and assess the performance of jackup rigs
that were subject to Hurricanes Katrina or Rita |
|
599 |
Joint Industry Project to Quantify Risks in Deepwater
Production Facilities and Flowlines in the GOM |
|
603 |
Stability of Tension Leg Platforms with Damaged
Tendons |
|
604 |
Evaluation of Fatigue Life Models and Assessment
Practice for Tension Leg Platforms (Phase 1: Tendon System Fatigue) |
|
605 |
Cooperative Research on Extreme Seas and their Impact
to Floating Structures |
|
609 |
Reliability vs. Consequence of Failure for API RP2A
Platforms Using RP2MET |
|
645 |
The Performance of Drag Embedment
Anchors (DEA) |
In addition to the aforementioned projects, MMS is funding
research through the
Environmental Studies (ES) Program as identified below. Click on a topic
heading to link to it's summary. Click on a topic heading to navigate to
it's summary.
|
