CHEVRON PIPE LINE CO

Incident Narrative

HURRICANE IDA MADE LANDFALL NEAR PORT FOURCHON, LA AT 1155 CDT ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 30TH. THE SOUTH TIMBALIER 130 PIPELINE INCURRED DAMAGE RESULTING FROM IMPACTS RELATED TO HURRICANE IDA. ON SEPTEMBER 20TH, 2021, CHEVRON PIPE LINE COMPANY (CPL) COMPLETED INSTALLATION OF A REPAIR SLEEVE AT THE SOUTH TIMBALIER 41 (ST-41) LOCATION AND ACHIEVED AN APPARENT SUCCESSFUL NEGATIVE PRESSURE HOLD VACUUM TEST. AT OR ABOUT THE SAME TIME, ANOTHER OPERATOR REPORTED A SHEEN SIGHTING IN THE SUBJECT BAY MARCHAND DISCHARGE AREA AND ADVISED THAT IT HAD TEMPORARILY PLUGGED A SEVERED PIPE AND WAS ABLE TO STOP THE REPORTED SHEENING. BECAUSE OF THE SUCCESSFUL VACUUM TEST AND THE FACT THAT THE REPORTED LOCATION WAS 1,400 FEET FROM CPLS 12 INCH PIPELINES DOCUMENTED LOCATION, CPL DID NOT BELIEVE IT WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE REPORTED SHEEN. ON SEPTEMBER 22ND, AFTER FLY-OVERS CONFIRMING NO SHEENING IN THE ST-41 AREA, CPL BEGAN PURSUING A STAND-UP PRESSURE TEST TO CONFIRM THE INTEGRITY OF THE COMPLETED REPAIR, WHEN VISIBLE SHEENING WAS OBSERVED IN THE SUBJECT DISCHARGE AREA. CPL CEASED THE STAND-UP TEST AND REINSTITUTED THE NEGATIVE PRESSURE HOLD. THE PIPELINE AGAIN SUCCESSFULLY HELD THE NEGATIVE PRESSURE. ON THE MORNING OF SEPTEMBER 28, DURING A ROUTINE VACUUM TEST, FLOW WAS UNEXPECTEDLY ESTABLISHED IN THE NORTHERNMOST PORTION OF CPLS 12 INCH PIPELINE AND THE REPORTED SHEEN AT THE SUBJECT LOCATION SUBSIDED AND EVENTUALLY STOPPED. CPL CONTINUED TO PULL SUCTION ON THE PIPELINE FOR 20 HOURS TO CONTROL THE SOURCE AND CLEAR THE PIPELINE SECTION OF ANY RESIDUAL OIL. THE NRC NUMBERS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SHEEN ARE #1317564 & #1318101, AND THE LOUISIANA STATE POLICE INCIDENT NUMBER IS 21-04738. A SURVEY VESSEL WAS MOBILIZED ON SEPTEMBER 29, 2021, TO MAP THE PATH OF THE DAMAGED LINE. THE SURVEY VESSEL DETERMINED THAT APPROXIMATELY 10 MILES OF CONTINUOUS PIPE HAD BEEN PULLED FROM ITS DITCH, WAS EXPOSED AND OUT OF ITS RIGHT OF WAY. DIVERS SECURED THIS PIPELINE FROM FURTHER RELEASE BY SEALING EXPOSED PIPE. THE SURVEY VESSEL WAS NOT ABLE TO MAP THE NORTHERN END OF THE LINE BACK INTO ROW DUE TO THE CONGESTION OF DEBRIS ON THE SEAFLOOR AND SHALLOW WATER DEPTHS. FOR THIS, A DIVE VESSEL WAS THEN MOBILIZED TO WALK THE LINE ON JANUARY 13, 2022. THE DIVE TEAM WAS ABLE TO BOTH TRACK THE LINE BACK TO ITS ROW AND PROPERLY ACCOUNT FOR THE REMAINDER OF 12' PIPE AMONGST THE DEBRIS ON THE SEAFLOOR. THE VESSEL'S CREW SEALED ALL FOUR SEVERED 12' ENDS MITIGATING FURTHER RISKS OR RELEASE. A PLAN WAS DEVELOPED, AND PERMITS AND EQUIPMENT SECURED, TO SAFELY DE-OIL THE PIPELINE BY SPLITTING THE LINE SOUTH OF THE DAMAGED SUBSEA TIE-IN AT ST-41. ON JULY 2, 2022, A FLEET MOBILIZED TO THE FIELD TO BEGIN DE-OILING THE PIPELINE SEGMENTS BY DISPLACING THE CONTENTS WITH SEAWATER. THE PIPELINE CONTENTS WERE CAPTURED ON A LIGHTERING VESSEL AND TRANSPORTED TO INLAND BARGES. FROM THERE, THE INLAND BARGES TOOK THE CONTENTS TO AN ONSHORE FACILITY. THIS PROCESS WAS COMPLETED OVER MANY WEEKS. ONCE OFFLOADED INTO TANKAGE THE CONTENTS WERE GIVEN TIME TO SETTLE AND SEGREGATE. A THIRD-PARTY INSPECTOR WAS UTILIZED TO MEASURE THE VOLUMES IN THE TANKAGE. THE INSPECTORS' REPORTS WERE LATER CONFIRMED BY CHEVRON SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS TO FOLLOW APPLICABLE API STANDARDS AND PROCEDURES. THE CRUDE OIL MEASURED AND THE LINE FILL OF THE PIPELINE AT THE TIME OF THE STORM, ACCORDING TO PROCEDURES, WERE USED TO CALCULATE AND VERIFY THE ESTIMATED VOLUME RELEASED DURING THE STORM OF APPROXIMATELY 10,367 BBLS. THERE WERE NO KNOWN IMPACTS TO WILDLIFE OR NEARBY BEACHES AS A RESULT OF THIS RELEASE. AFTER INVESTIGATION, CPL BELIEVES THE DAMAGE TO ST130 WAS A RESULT OF THIRD-PARTY VESSEL COMING IN CONTACT WITH THE PIPELINE DURING HURRICANE IDA. THIS IS DUE TO THE AMOUNT THE PIPELINE MOVED DURING THE STORM, THE SEVERING OF THE LINE IN THREE PLACES, AND OTHER INFRASTRUCTURE DAMAGED IN THE IMMEDIATE AREA.