The 2009 blowout from the Montara wellhead resulted the total loss of the West Atlas drilling rig and caused massive ecological damage in the Timor Sea of Australia. The incident preceded the 2010 Macondo Deepwater Horizon blowout and shared many parallels. An analysis is performed to assess the Montara incident and finds it stemmed from a series of human errors including, but not limited to, miscalculations, procedural errors, hasty decision making, and failure to follow the American Petroleum Institute Recommended Practices 75 on drilling mud circulation. Twelve specific errors were identified and classified into eight categories. The results show that 10 of the 12 errors were latent errors preceded by the 2004 relaxation of the Australian Government's off‐shore drilling industry regulations. Following industry guidelines, best practice procedures, and safe work practices are crucial to avoiding a well disaster and these were not a key aspect of the Montara wellhead operations; ultimately, safety was not a top priority.

中文翻译：

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蒙塔拉井喷的人为错误分析

2009年，蒙塔拉（Montara）井口的井喷导致西阿特拉斯（West Atlas）钻机全部损失，并在澳大利亚的帝汶海造成了严重的生态破坏。该事件发生在2010年Macondo深水地平线井喷之前，并有许多相似之处。进行了分析以评估Montara事件，并发现该事件是由一系列人为错误引起的，包括但不限于计算错误，程序错误，仓促决策以及未能遵循美国石油协会关于泥浆循环的建议措施75。 。确定了十二个特定错误，并将其分为八类。结果表明，在12个错误中有10个是潜在错误，随后是2004年澳大利亚政府放宽了海上钻井行业法规。遵循行业准则，最佳实践程序和安全工作规范对于避免油井灾难至关重要，而这并不是Montara井口作业的关键方面；最终，安全不是重中之重。