Marine Well Containment Company
Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC) is an independent company with headquarters in Houston, Texas. The company provides well containment equipment and technology in the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico and "is committed to advancing its capabilities and technologies to keep pace with its members' evolving needs". MWCC's mission is to be continuously ready to respond to a deepwater well control incident in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
History
In response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010, ExxonMobil, Chevron Corporation, ConocoPhillips and Shell Oil committed to providing a new containment response capability.[1] These founding companies of MWCC recognized the need to be better prepared in the event of a deepwater well control incident. As a result of unprecedented industry collaboration, MWCC introduced the Interim Containment System in February 2011, improving previous response capabilities and helping the industry get back to work in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. In January 2015, MWCC accepted its Expanded Containment System forming the MWCC Containment System which builds upon the past system capabilities.
Capabilities
The Containment System is available for use in the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico in depths from 500 feet to 10,000 feet, temperatures up to 350 °F (177 °C) and pressures up to 15k psi. The system can cap or cap and flow an incident well and has the capacity to process up to 100,000 barrels of liquid per day and up to 200 million cubic feet of gas per day. Additionally, it is able to store up to 700,000 barrels of liquid in each of its two Modular Capture Vessels. The liquid is then brought onshore for further processing via shuttle tankers.
MWCC maintains components of the Containment System in a ready state at two shore base locations along the U.S. Gulf Coast and conducts drills and training sessions on a regular basis to ensure personnel and equipment are ready to respond. The Containment System is designed to be flexible, adaptable and ready to be mobilized upon incident notification.
Member companies
MWCC currently has 10 member companies: Anadarko Petroleum, Apache Corporation, BHP Billiton, BP, Chevron Corporation, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Hess Corporation, Shell Oil, and Statoil. Member companies are committed to deepwater drilling in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, and a majority of wells drilled in the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico are operated by these members. Membership remains open to all oil and gas operators in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
References
- ↑ Expanded system to enhance MWCC containment capacity Retrieved 2016-03-23.