Property Damage
Throughout the last few decades, the face of the oil & gas industry has evolved
dramatically with the introduction of new technologies and unconventional techniques.
Often, impractical or incorrect application of these new technologies can result
in severe oilfield accidents and costly damages to property and expensive wellsite
equipment.
Signa Engineering Corp.'s familiarity with the oil & gas industry allows us to serve
impeccably as expert witnesses when careless activity or negligence results in costly
property or equipment damage. Our staff is globally recognized for their knowledge of
operations, drilling methods, completion and production of oil and gas and environmental
issues. We are also completely proficient in all upstream equipment usage and oilfield
processes.
Case Histories
As part of their everyday performance, our engineering staff analyzes critical wells with
precision clarity to determine and mitigate hazardous drilling factors such as high
temperatures, high-pressured formations, sour gasses and dangers due to remote locations.
Subsequently, our staff can apply in-depth dissection skills to forensically evaluate wells
after an accident to determine mitigating factors in the catastrophe and why contingency
plans might have failed.
Our expert witness and litigation staff has served as consultants for many major oil & gas
drilling companies, exploration companies and numerous energy-based attorneys since 1995.
Signa has served in cases representing both plaintiffs and defendants in energy litigation
cases, utilizing our field-tested ingenuity to provide the most pertinent and concise
aspects of cases, such as:
- Signa Engineers were asked to utilize their experience in oilfield drilling and knowledge of wellsite equipment to testify what had caused a blowout and subsequent destruction of an oil well. Testimony involved clarifying drilling fluids, drillstring depth, describing downhole equipment and elaborating on alleged destructive elements that caused the fire.
- Signa engineers were asked to review a well in Webb County,Texas, for possible product liability in regards to a 10,000 psi Shaffer blowout preventer that two pipe rams had reportedly failed in while trying to control a flowing oil & gas well.
- An oil and gas operator had initiated the turnkey drilling of a well. During that operation, a section of the bottom hole assembly (drilling jars) failed, allegedly causing a loss of money (profit) for the turnkey contractor.
- A tool failure was alleged to have caused the loss of a constructed wellbore.
- Signa engineers were asked to review a well in Webb County,Texas, for possible product liability in regards to a 10,000 psi Shaffer blowout preventer that two pipe rams had failed in while trying to control a flowing oil & gas well.
- Signa graphic designers illustrated a case involving an accident at a wellsite by producing graphic illustrations needed for a basic education and introduction of the pertinent equipment and terms in the case.
Who to Call
When severe accidents occur at a wellsite, companies and individuals can suffer substantial
economic losses for which they might not be accountable. Signa can provide expert consultation
supported by demonstrative evidence to paint the clearest picture of responsibility in the
courtroom. Created in 1992 as a Engineering Service Company, Signa expanded its services to
offer expert witness and litigation support and has been instrumental in the resolution of
cases involving patent infringement, personal injury, product design, health & environmental,
contract disputes and equipment failures.
Signa has even developed its own Risk Mitigation Service for drilling operations. After careful
and thorough reviews of wellsite conditions and geology, Signa can provide a detailed Hazard
Identification (HAZID) and Hazard Operations (HAZOP) analysis to identify inherent risks in a
critical drilling program and ways to mitigate these problems.
We have experience in handling virtually every type of upstream oil & gas procedure. Contact
Dave Roseland with your expert witness needs, or simply check our
case histories or see our
client list in pdf format to get a better feel for what we do.




