American Petroleum Institute

Interim Guidance for Assessment of Existing Offshore Structures for Hurricane Conditions - First Edition
 N BULL 2INT-EX

Annotation

PREFACE

Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 resulted in considerable damage and destruction to fixed and floating facilities in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Several API committees are in the process of revising and updating standards to incorporate learnings from these and other recent large intense storms like Opal (1995) as well as other improvements to the industry's understanding of hurricane risk which have occurred over the past 15 years. One major change is a complete revision to the hurricane conditions presently contained in API RP 2A-WSD, 21st Edition, recognizing the higher level of hazard in certain parts of the GOM. Another is the revised understanding of the potential for local wave-in-deck damage. While work on standards development continues, in the interim the following documents are being issued to provide immediate guidance for the design and assessment of offshore Gulf of Mexico fixed and floating facilities in hurricane conditions:

• API Bulletin 2INT-MET Interim Guidance on Hurricane Conditions in the Gulf of Mexico, May 2007.

• API Bulletin 2INT-DG Interim Guidance for Design of Offshore Structures for Hurricane Conditions, May 2007.

• API Bulletin 2INT-EX Interim Guidance for Assessment of Existing Offshore Structures for Hurricane Conditions, May 2007.

The content of API Bull 2INT-MET is undergoing extensive review and evaluation. The final results are planned to be included in a new, stand-alone document (API RP 2MET) that will contain the metocean conditions for use with other API design standards. API RP 2MET will also serve as the basis for a revised U.S. Regional Annex in ISO 19901-1.