Last Friday the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) responded to a report of an emergency disconnect and production shut-in onboard the Helix Producer 1 located approximately 100 miles southwest of Houma, La.
Talos which is the operator of the facility reported to BSEE that the facility experienced an electrical black-out at approximately 1:45 p.m. CDT. The emergency response team performed an emergency disconnect of the transfer system buoy which is set to cause a full production shut-in. As a result of this shut-in and by design a small amount of hydrocarbon (less than one gallon) was released.
Electrical power has been restored on the facility. Production from the facility remains shut-in. There are no reports of injuries to personnel. Currently BSEE is coordinating with the Coast Guard on the investigation.
The HP-1 is a dynamically position production ship that is designed for safety reasons to automatically shut-in and disconnect whenever a loss of power causes it to drift from its static location. The HP-1 is stationed on Green Canyon Block 237 in 2000 feet of water in the Gulf of Mexico where it is the host facility for the Phoenix Field which is currently producing at a rate of 13,500 barrels of oil per day.
Sources: BSEE, Talos Energy LLC
Officer of the Watch 
Leave a Comment