| 11/20/2023 |
Additional Details provided by the operator: Gas Flare Meter |
| 11/20/2023 |
Corrective actions provided by the operator: Oxy is limited in the corrective actions to eliminate the cause and potential reoccurrence of gas flowline rupture caused by a third party vendor. This event was caused by the sudden, unavoidable breakdown of equipment or process that was beyond the owner/operator's control and did not stem from activity that could have been foreseen and avoided, and could not have been avoided by good design, operation, and maintenance practices. An action Oxy can take in circumstances such as this is to communicate with the third party vendors who caused such ruptures to occur to better maneuver their vehicles or equipment so as not to damage flowlines and/or facility equipment in the future. |
| 11/20/2023 |
Primary Equipment identified by the operator (Other (Specify), with additional details: Emergency Flare > Third Party > Gas Flowline Rupture) |
| 11/20/2023 |
Steps taken to prevent waste provided by the operator: This facility is unmanned, except when Oxy production techs are gathering data daily or conducting daily walk-throughs to ensure that there are no problems, circumstances and/or assist other personnel on-site for maintenance purposes. It is OXY's policy to route its stranded gas to a flare during an unforeseen and unavoidable emergency or malfunction, as the part of the overall process or steps to take to limit duration and magnitude of flaring. Oxy personnel are in the field 24/7 and can physically see when we are flaring which in turn are communicated to additional Oxy field personnel. Internal OXY procedures ensure that upon notice of flaring, malfunction gas compressor unit and/or multiple unit shutdown alarms, increased sensor line pressure alarms, etc., field production technician personnel are promptly notified, and are instructed to assess the issue as soon as possible to take prompt corrective action and minimize emissions. Oxy production technicians must assess whether the issue or circumstance is due to damage and repair is needed, or whether there are other reasons for its cause. . In this case a third-party vendor backed into a gas flowline which in turn caused a rupture to occur, triggering a flaring event to happen suddenly and unexpectedly. Oxy field personnel were alerted by third party vendor and Oxy productions techs in the area were dispatched to assist with this issue. Upon arrival to the facility, Oxy production techs began to isolate the rupture flowline, while additional field personnel began shutting in wells to stop production until the flowline was repaired. Once all wells were shut in and gas production was completely stopped, did flaring cease. |
| 11/20/2023 |
Incident updated by the operator, upon the submission of a amendment for flaring of natural gas report. |
| 11/20/2023 |
The (11/20/2023, C-129A) application [287321] was assigned to this incident. |
| 09/28/2023 |
The (09/28/2023, C-129) application [270332] was assigned to this incident. |
| 09/28/2023 |
Additional Details provided by the operator: Gas Flare Meter |
| 09/28/2023 |
Corrective actions provided by the operator: Oxy is limited in the corrective actions to eliminate the cause and potential reoccurrence of gas flowline rupture caused by a third party vendor. This event was caused by the sudden, unavoidable breakdown of equipment or process that was beyond the owner/operator's control and did not stem from activity that could have been foreseen and avoided, and could not have been avoided by good design, operation, and maintenance practices. An action Oxy can take in circumstances such as this is to communicate with the third party vendors who caused such ruptures to occur to better maneuver their vehicles or equipment so as not to damage flowlines and/or facility equipment in the future. |
| 09/28/2023 |
Primary Equipment identified by the operator (Other (Specify), with additional details: Emergency Flare > Third Party > Gas Flowline Rupture) |
| 09/28/2023 |
Steps taken to prevent waste provided by the operator: This facility is unmanned, except when Oxy production techs are gathering data daily or conducting daily walk-throughs to ensure that there are no problems, circumstances and/or assist other personnel on-site for maintenance purposes. It is OXY's policy to route its stranded gas to a flare during an unforeseen and unavoidable emergency or malfunction, as the part of the overall process or steps to take to limit duration and magnitude of flaring. Oxy personnel are in the field 24/7 and can physically see when we are flaring which in turn are communicated to additional Oxy field personnel. Internal OXY procedures ensure that upon notice of flaring, malfunction gas compressor unit and/or multiple unit shutdown alarms, increased sensor line pressure alarms, etc., field production technician personnel are promptly notified, and are instructed to assess the issue as soon as possible to take prompt corrective action and minimize emissions. Oxy production technicians must assess whether the issue or circumstance is due to damage and repair is needed, or whether there are other reasons for its cause. . In this case a third-party vendor backed into a gas flowline which in turn caused a rupture to occur, triggering a flaring event to happen suddenly and unexpectedly. Oxy field personnel were alerted by third party vendor and Oxy productions techs in the area were dispatched to assist with this issue. Upon arrival to the facility, Oxy production techs began to isolate the rupture flowline, while additional field personnel began shutting in wells to stop production until the flowline was repaired. Once all wells were shut in and gas production was completely stopped, did flaring cease. |
| 09/28/2023 |
New incident created by the operator, upon the submission of a flaring of natural gas report. |
| 09/11/2023 |
The flaring of natural gas discovered by the operator. |