| Description | EDWARD JOHN ROBERTS born Ilford, Essex 10.2.1929. Details re names of siblings. Details re maternal grandparents, Flemings. Great great grandfather Fleming was a provost in Scotland. Grandfather's love for pet birds. He worked for London Bus Company as mechanic in spite of losing thumb in first war. Recalls grandparents' hospitality, grandfather's aviaries, his Scottish accent. Describes grandmother, her small size, strong personality. Describes mother, parents' different approaches to discipline. Details re father's work. He worked for Regent Petroleum. He became expert fire prevention officer, fire fighter. Details his personality, involvement with 16 5th Lancers in Lucknow, India. His involvement with boxing, other sports. Explains own keen interest in fitness, sport. Went to live in Boston area. Father's work in Trimpell refinery on fire fighting gear etc. National Service 1947-49. Went to Trinidad 1950. Mentions parents divorce. Worked at Trimpell after leaving school as Analytical Laboratory Assistant. Began career in oil business in Trinidad (1950). Effect of Depression on father's career. Father spent a lot of time away on work - effect on family social life. Compares with grandparents' social life. Mother spent period working as Refinery Operator at Trimpell. Mentions her other jobs as waitress etc. Own role in childhood home as senior male. Changes after entering army. Own leadership tendencies, attitude to bullies. Recalls involvement in fights. Education at Morecambe Grammar School, Friends College, Lancaster. Details. Mentions being a choirboy.
Tape 1 (F10303) Side A: Experience at Friends College, Lancaster. Details re football involvement. Attitude to fighting. Mentions corporal punishment at Morecambe Grammar. Feelings re soccer, rugby. Attitude of principal at Friends. Feelings at being asked to help with school soccer etc. Describes situation at Friends. Little fighting there. Liking for taking part in argument except on religion, politics. Own political tendency; explains lack of interest. Impact of parents' divorce, their later lives. Details re own confrontation with a stepfather. Mentions own experience in Military Police. Feelings about stepmother, later relationship with her and father. Mentions job in Trinidad as a power caddy agent repairing golf trolleys. Background to job with Trinidad Leaseholds Ltd (later Texaco) as Refinery Operator. Details re refinery, facilities, accommodation etc. Work boring, repetitive. Details. Mentions short course done in Production Engineering at Loughborough. Next job in oil stocks control (1953-54). Details of duties involving channelling of oil stocks, paperwork etc. Soon became disenchanted with work. Joined Apex (later taken over by BP) (1954-63). Importance of years in Trinidad for later work in North Sea. Oil wells, like children, have to be treated differently. Explains. Example of a well in Trinidad involving a plunger lift. Details plunger lift, its role.
Tape 2 (F10304) Side A:
Detailed description of process treating a difficult oil well that needed a kick up the arse (cont'd). Recalls a difficult well in West Sole gas field that would hydrate up. Details re: need to give it a drink of methanol like giving a child a sweet. In Trinidad worked closely with drilling people. Became Production Superintendent for area of BP's operation. Details. Pressure to keep up production etc. Young male workforce then. Describes work routines. Recalls relationship between Texaco and other oil companies. Background to BP purchase of 5 other companies, effect on price of crude oil. BP a brilliant company to work with. Explains. Mentions problems in Trinidad after BP purchase of companies. Explanation of own joining BP family - a life commitment. Attitude of BP people to others. Main enemy was Shell in sports etc. No thoughts of North Sea at this time. Background to appointment to Eakring, Nottinghamshire (1963). Recalls re Eakring's wartime history. Own work to advise and train crews on well abandonment which most people there didn't care about. Compares with Eakring today. Eakring then a dying field looked after by dying people. Describes technique of well abandonment usually using water. Mentions reuse of well tubing, casing etc.
Tape 2 (F10304) Side B: Detailed explanation of well abandonment/plugging process (cont'd). Need to protect water sand. Pumping, processes involved, use of jacking tool, filling of old hole with cement. Usually two plugs in each hole. Land made useable for farming. Necessary to worry about water courses when plugging North Sea wells. Feelings re: quality of work done at Eakring. Explains permit system for well abandonment, programme of abandonment. Early inspectors in North Sea were out of date. Coordinator of Safety and Training at Sunbury (1964-65). At Das Island 'Alcatraz with a runway' (1965-67). Details re working, conditions. Learned, there, to work on offshore structures. No living accommodation on rigs. Use of Sikorsky helicopters. At Sunbury worked on 'consistometer' used when drilling well, using cement. Explains expression WOC (waiting on cement). Details re delays waiting for cement to go off - all dead time up to 12 hours. Recalls problems with cement going off too soon. Explains use of consistometer. Used on Sea Gem. Explains method of knowing that cement had gone off. Recalls hearing of Sea Gem disaster, its impact. Attitude of fishing people. Similar vessel to Sea Gem at Das Island checked after disaster. Reasons for Sea Gem collapse. Recalls Piper Alpha disaster. Sea Gem like a shipping accident, Piper Alpha an oil accident. Did fire safety work at Das Island. Explains. Background to appointment as Assistant Production Superintendent Easington (offshore North Sea) (1967-74). Details re: difficulties finding Easington gas field. Own approach to job, details re: need for improvements in protection of wells.
Tape 3 (F10305) Side A: West Sole field (cont'd). Drillers looked down on production people. Explains. Attitude of production people. Drilling and production at the same time would not be allowed now from same structure at same time without big barriers. Compares with early situation in West Sole field. Production people didn't know how to deal with drillers. Own attitude after own drilling experience, changes instituted on arrival eg. to accommodation. Hierarchy on drilling platform. Explains changes to hierarchy when production started in earlier days, more recently; appointment and authority of Offshore Installation Manager. Details re three platforms in West Sole field. Was first OIM in North Sea anywhere. Mentions own qualifications for job. Recalls an unsuitable BP OIM from naval background. Further details re: authority. Difference between rig, fixed platform. West Sole had first fixed platforms in North Sea. Explains hazards on gas platform with drilling, production side by side. Explains discipline routines, own approach. Recalls high BP and others' safety standards. Describes authority situation on Piper Alpha. Compares with own situation when senior OIM in Forties, Sun fields. Attitude to shutdowns. No pressure to produce from Government when in West Sole. Attitude of Department of Energy people who were ex BP; system of appointments. Attitude of BP to produce. Recalls visitors to platform from Gas Council etc. No union representation on platform. Attitudes re: unions. Details re: working hours. Own experience of unions. Never any pressure or demands from unions in own experience. Recalls visits from union representatives.
Tape 3 (F10305) Side B: Unions (cont'd). Details re: visits by union officials, lack of interest. Procedure followed re reports of unsafe situations, rewards. Trouble makers removed. Explains. Attitude of wives to offshore work; problems for them with husbands away, home for 2 weeks. Own procedure as OIM with BP people. Different situation re: contractors. Explains. Feelings about BP then. Main cause of pressure at work was pressure from home. Attitude of own late wife to job, her role in house bringing up family etc. Own situation when home. Details re: work on croft etc. Details re marriage, wife's, children's names. West Sole in production when arrived. Drilling people knew nothing about production. Details re production staff. Background to appointment to Forties Field (1974). Details re: West Sole platforms, E1 platform, first well drilled. Details re numbers of personnel manning platforms. No major problems on West Sole except hydrates, fluctuating production, staff understanding of process etc. Explains. Left West Sole as a going concern. Appointment to Aberdeen. Enjoyment of challenges. Details. Describes heartbeat, environment of platform, quiet etc. Describes situation onshore when all in order, green temperature, pressure indicator lights etc. Reference to Gas Council. Further description of calm environment offshore. Appointment as Senior OIM, Forties Alpha, biggest structure on bed of North Sea. Details re: responsibilities, building team etc. Few failures in appointments of staff. Details re: own line, scope of responsibility, challenge. Details re: organisation of equipment which manufactured all over world. Jackets built in Ardesier, Nigg. Production people brought to Aberdeen. |