Subsea Well Response

 

The Subsea Well Response Project (SWRP) is a non-profit joint initiative between several major oil and gas companies working together to enhance the industry’s capacity to respond to subsea well-control incidents.

In 2013, SWRP delivered advanced capping and dispersant equipment for use by the international oil and gas industry, marking the achievement of its four core objectives:

• SWRP designed and developed a capping toolbox with a range of equipment to allow wells to be shut in
• SWRP designed and developed hardware for the subsea injection of dispersant
• SWRP collaborated with Oil Spill Response Ltd on an international deployment mechanism so that the equipment is now available to the wider industry
• SWRP completed studies to determine the feasibility of global containment systems

With the backing of BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Petrobras, Shell, Statoil and Total, SWRP is now developing a global containment toolkit that can support subsea well incident response if well shut-in is not immediately possible. When used in conjunction with standard available hardware, this equipment is designed to bring leaking oil from a subsea wellhead in a controlled way to the surface for storage and disposal.

SWRP was established in 2011 on the recommendation of the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (OGP). In light of recent serious oil spill incidents, such as Macondo, in the Gulf of Mexico, OGP created a dedicated Global Industry Response Group, which examined how the oil industry could possibly further improve the prevention of, and response to, subsea well-control incidents. SWRP is one part of a wider industry effort that is taking forward these recommendations.

Shell is the operator of the Project, overseen by an Operating Committee, comprising of one representative from each participating company. The Project operates out of Shell Headquarters in Stavanger, Norway.

 

Keith Lewis

Keith Lewis is the Project Manager for the Subsea Well Response Project (SWRP).

Previously Keith enjoyed an international career with Shell, spanning 30 years working in Europe, Middle East, Africa and USA.

Keith Lewis’s latest position was Vice President of Project Development, based in Houston, Texas.
 
 

Tormod Slåtsveen

Tormod Slåtsveen is the Communications Lead for the Subsea Well Response Project (SWRP).

Tormod came from the Eldfisk II project at ConocoPhillips before joining SWRP, and previously spent twenty years at the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD).

Tormod also spent more than two years in Ministry of Mines and Energy, Namibia.