HWCG LLC is a not-for-profit consortium of deepwater oil and gas companies. HWCG maintains a comprehensive deepwater well containment response model that can be activated immediately in the event of a US Gulf of Mexico subsea blowout. It comprises oil and gas companies operating in the Gulf and incorporates the consortium’s generic well containment plan. HWCG has a healthy mutual aid component whereby HWCG members will respond and support another member’s incident.

History

After the

Deepwater Horizon oil spill The ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill (also referred to as the "BP oil spill") was an industrial disaster that began on 20 April 2010 off of the coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect, considered ...

, President Obama announced a drilling moratorium on new permits for offshore wells and exploration in the Gulf of Mexico came to a standstill. In response to the suspension, twenty-four deepwater operators came together to establish well containment resources and plans according to the guidelines set forth in BOEMRE’s (BSEE’s) Notice To Lessees No. 2010-N10. These offshore oil and gas companies formed HWCG LLC with the common goal of establishing and maintaining the capability to quickly and comprehensively respond to a subsea blowout.

Response System Capabilities

The consortium’s response system builds on the equipment proven effective in the containment of the Deepwater Horizon blowout, including the

Helix Fast Response System {{unreferenced, date=December 2012 The Helix fast-response system (HFRS) is a deep-sea oil spill response plan licensed by HWCG LLC, a consortium of 16 independent oil companies, to respond to subsea well incidents. Helix Energy Solutions Group d ...

with the Q4000 intervention vessel and Helix Producer 1 from

Helix Energy Solutions Group Helix Energy Solutions Inc., known as Cal Dive International prior to 2006, is an American oil and gas services company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company is a global provider of offshore services in well intervention and ROV operatio ...

. HWCG’s core equipment includes two dual-ram capping stacks capable of operating in water depths through 10,000 feet. These capping stacks can effectively shut-in and contain a subsea well. If a flow and capture is required, the system is capable of a process volume of 130,000 barrels of oily fluids per day and 220 million cubic feet of gas per day. HWCG maintains contracts and operating agreements with over thirty service providers to leverage additional expertise, assistance and equipment. This integrated response solution yielded a tested deployment response time of less than seven days to cap a deepwater well, compared to the nearly 90 days needed to contain the Deepwater Horizon blowout. HWCG continues to run annual subsea incident response drills and collaborates with members, service sector companies and regulators in order to continually test and improve its response plan.

Members

HWCG currently supports seventeen member companies: Deep Gulf Energy LP, ENI US Operating Company Inc., EnVen Energy Ventures, LLC, Energy Resource Technology GOM, Inc., LLOG Exploration Company, LLC, Marubeni Oil & Gas (USA) Inc., Murphy Exploration & Production Company (USA),

Noble Energy Noble Energy, Inc. was a company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration headquartered in Houston, Texas. In October 2020, the company was acquired by Chevron Corporation. The company was known as Noble Affiliates, Inc. until 2002. As of December ...

Services, Inc., Petrobras USA Inc., Red Willow Offshore, LLC, Repsol Services Company, Ridgewood Energy WCG Member, LLC, Talos ERT, Talos Petroleum LLC, TOTAL E&P USA, INC, Walter Oil & Gas Corporation and W&T Offshore, Inc.

References

{{Reflist Petroleum organizations Petroleum industry in the United States Trade associations based in the United States