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[Martin (Admin)]

Via email to Mayhem...

You may have heard the news in the last two days about the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig which caught fire, burned for two days, then
sank in 5,000 ft of water in the Gulf of Mexico. There are still 11 men missing, and they are not expected to be found.
The rig belongs to Transocean, the world’s biggest offshore drilling contractor. The rig was originally contracted through the year 2013 to
BP and was working on BP’s Macondo exploration well when the fire broke out. The rig costs about $500,000 per day to contract. The full
drilling spread, with helicopters and support vessels and other services, will cost closer to $1,000,000 per day to operate in the course of
drilling for oil and gas. The rig cost about $350,000,000 to build in 2001 and would cost at least double that to replace today.
The rig represents the cutting edge of drilling technology. It is a floating rig, capable of working in up to 10,000 ft water depth. The rig is
not moored; It does not use anchors because it would be too costly and too heavy to suspend this mooring load from the floating
structure. Rather, a triply-redundant computer system uses satellite positioning to control powerful thrusters that keep the rig on station
within a few feet of its intended location, at all times. This is called Dynamic Positioning.
The rig had apparently just finished cementing steel casing in place at depths exceeding 18,000 ft. The next operation was to suspend the
well so that the rig could move to its next drilling location, the idea being that a rig would return to this well later in order to complete the
work necessary to bring the well into production.
It is thought that somehow formation fluids – oil /gas – got into the wellbore and were undetected until it was too late to take action. With a
floating drilling rig setup, because it moves with the waves, currents, and winds, all of the main pressure control equipment sits on the
seabed – the uppermost unmoving point in the well. This pressure control equipment – the Blowout Preventers, or ‘BOP’s” as they’re
called, are controlled with redundant systems from the rig. In the event of a serious emergency, there are multiple Panic Buttons to hit,
and even fail-safe Deadman systems that should be automatically engaged when something of this proportion breaks out. None of them
were aparently activated, suggesting that the blowout was especially swift to escalate at the surface. The flames were visible up to about
35 miles away. Not the glow – the flames. They were 200 – 300 ft high.
All of this will be investigated and it will be some months before all of the particulars are known. For now, it is enough to say that this
marvel of modern technology, which had been operating with an excellent safety record, has burned up and sunk taking souls with it.
The well still is apparently flowing oil, which is appearing at the surface as a slick. They have been working with remotely operated
vehicles, or ROV’s which are essentially tethered miniature submarines with manipulator arms and other equipment that can perform work
underwater while the operator sits on a vessel. These are what were used to explore the Titanic, among other things. Every floating rig
has one on board and they are in constant use. In this case, they are deploying ROV’s from dedicated service vessels. They have been
trying to close the well in using a specialized port on the BOP’s and a pumping arrangement on their ROV’s. They have been unsuccessful
so far. Specialized pollution control vessels have been scrambled to start working the spill, skimming the oil up.
In the coming weeks they will move in at least one other rig to drill a fresh well that will intersect the blowing one at its pay zone. They will
use technology that is capable of drilling from a floating rig, over 3 miles deep to an exact specific point in the earth – with a target radius
of just a few feet plus or minus. Once they intersect their target, a heavy fluid will be pumped that exceeds the formation’s pressure, thus
causing the flow to cease and rendering the well safe at last. It will take at least a couple of months to get this done, bringing all available
technology to bear. It will be an ecological disaster if the well flows all of the while; Optimistically, it could bridge off downhole.
It’s a sad day when something like this happens to any rig, but even more so when it happens to something on the cutting edge of our
capabilities. The photos that follow show the progression of events over the 36 hours from catching fire to sinking.

[riggers24]

On Friday, April 30th 2010, an anonymous caller contacted the Mark Levin Show to clarify the events that preceded the Deepwater Horizon tragedy. Rigzone has transcribed this broadcast for your convenience. To hear the actual radio broadcast please visit www.MarkLevinShow.com.

 

Mark: Dallas Texas WBAP. Go right ahead, sir.

James: Just want to clear up a few things with the Petroleum Engineer, everything he said was correct. I was actually on the rig when it exploded and was at work.

Mark: Alright, let's slow down. Wait, hold on, slow down, so you were working on this rig when it exploded?

James: Yes sir.

Mark: OK, go ahead.

James: We had set the bottom cement plug for the inner casing string, which was the production liner for the well, and had set what's called a seal assembly on the top of the well. At that point, the BOP stack that he was talking about, the blow out preventer was tested. I don't know the results of that test; however, it must have passed because at that point they elected to displace the risers -- the marine riser from the vessel to the sea floor. They displaced the mud out of the riser preparing to unlatch from the well two days later and they displaced it with sea water. When they concluded the BOP stack test and the inner liner, they concluded everything was good.

Mark: Let me slow you down, let me slow you down. So they do all these tests to make sure the infrastructure can handle what's about to happen, right?

James: Correct, we're testing the negative pressure and positive pressure of the well, the casing and the actual marine riser.

Mark: OK, I'm with you. Go ahead.

James: Alright, after the conclusion of the test, they simply opened the BOP stack back up.

Mark: And the test, as best as you know, was sufficient?

James: It should have been, yes sir. They would have never opened it back up.

Mark: OK next step, go ahead.

James: Next step, they opened the annular, the upper part of the BOP stack

Mark: Which has what purpose? Why do you do that?

James: So that you can gain access back to the wellbore.

Mark: OK

James: When you close the stack, it's basically a humongous hydraulic valve that closes off everything from below and above. It's like a gate valve on the sea floor.

Mark: OK

James: That's a very simplistic way of explaining a BOP. It's a very complicated piece of equipment.

Mark: Basically, it's like a plug. But go ahead.

James: Correct. Once they open that plug to go ahead and start cementing the top of the well (the well bore), we cement the top, and then basically we would pull off. Another rig would slide over and do the rest of the completions work. When they opened the well is when the gas well kicked, and we took a humongous gas bubble kick up through the well bore. It literally pushed the sea water all the way to the crown of the rig, which is about 240 feet in the air.

Mark: OK, so gas got into it and blew the top off of it.

James: Right.

Mark: Now don't hang up. I want to continue with you because I want to ask you some questions related to this, OK? Including, has this sort of thing ever happened before, and why you think it may have happened, OK?

Mark: Alright, back to James, that's not his real name, Dallas WBAP. I'm not going to give the working title of what you did there either, James, but I wanted to finish. So, the gentleman was right about the point that obviously some gas got into the, I'll call it the funnel, OK?

James: Correct, and that's not uncommon, Mark. Anytime you're drilling an oil well, there is a constant battle between the mud weight, the drilling fluid that we use to maintain pressure, and the wellbore itself. There's a balance. The well is pushing gas one way and you are pushing mud the other way. So there is a delicate balance that has to be maintained at all times to keep the gas from coming back in, what we call the kicks. You know, we always get gas back in the mud, but the goal of the whole situation is to try to control the kick. Not allow the pressure to differentiate between the vessel and the wellbore.

Mark: Well, in this case, obviously, too much gas got in.

James: Correct, and this well had a bad history of producing lots of gas. It was touch and go a few times and was not terribly uncommon. You’re almost always going to get gas back from a well. We have systems to deal with the gas, however.

Mark: So, what may have happened here?

James: Well, the sheer volume and pressure of gas that hit all at once which was more than the safeties and controls we had in place could handle.

Mark: And that’s like a mistake on somebody's part or maybe its just Mother Nature every now and then kicks up, or what?

James: Mother Nature every now and then kicks up. The pressures that we're dealing with out there, drilling deeper, deeper water, deeper overall volume of the whole vessel itself, you’re dealing with 30 to 40 thousand pounds per square inch range -- serious pressures.

Mark: Not to offend you, but we just verified that you are who you are, which I'm sure you already knew that. I would like to hold you over to the next hour because I would like to ask a few more questions about this, as well as what happened exactly after the explosion, during the explosion and after. Can you wait with us?

James: Sure, I don't know how much of that I can share, but I'll do my best.

Mark: Alright, well I don't want to get you in trouble. So if you can stay, fine, but if you can't, we understand.
Part 2 of Mark's Interview:

Mark: We are talking to a caller under an assumed name who was on the rig when it blew up, and we've been talking about how it happened. And now James, I want to take you to the point of when it happened. What exactly happened? Where were you standing?

James: Well obviously, the gas blew the sea water out of the riser, once it displaced all of the sea water, the gas began to spill out on the deck and up through the center of the rig floor. The rig, you have to imagine a rectangle, about 400 feet by 300 feet, with the derrick and the rig floor sitting directly in the center. As this gas is now heavier than air, it starts to settle in different places. From that point, something ignited the gas, which would have caused the first major explosion.

Mark: Now, what might ignite the gas, do you know?

James: Any number of things, Mark. All rig floor equipment is what they consider intrinsically safe, meaning it cannot generate a spark, so that these types of accidents cannot occur. However, as much gas that came out as fast as it did, it would have spilled over the entire rig fairly rapidly, you know, within a minute. I would think that the entire rig would be enveloped in gas. Now a lot of this stuff, you can't smell, you can't taste it, it's just there, and it's heavier than oxygen. As it settled in, it could have made it to a space that wasn't intrinsically safe. Something as simple as static electricity could have ignited the first explosion, which set off a series of explosions.

Mark: Alright, so what happened? You're standing where? You're sitting somewhere? What happened?

James: Well, I was in a location that was a pretty good ways from the initial blast. I wasn't affected by the blast. I was able to make it out and get up forward where the life boats were. The PA system was still working. There was an announcement overhead that this was NOT a drill. Obviously, we have fire drills every single week to prepare for emergencies like this (fire and abandonment drills). Over the intercom came the order to report to life boats one and two, that this was not a drill, that there is a fire, and we proceeded that way.

Mark: So, the eleven men who died, were they friends of yours?

James: Yes sir, they were.

Mark: Did they die instantly?

James: I would have to assume so. Yes, sir. I would think that they were directly inside the bomb when it went off, the gas being the bomb.

Mark: So, the bomb being the gas explosion?

James: Correct. They would have been in the belly of the beast.

Mark: Now, let me ask you, and we have to be careful what we say because there are people that will run wild with ideas, so I just want to make sure

James: Sure.

Mark: So, let me ask you this, why would the government send in a SWAT team to a rig? What’s that all about?

James: Well, believe it or not, its funny you would mention that. Transocean, the drilling company, maintains a SWAT team and that's their sole purpose. They're experts in their field. The BOP, the blowout preventer, they call that subsea equipment. They have their own SWAT teams that they send out to the rigs to service and maintain that equipment.

Mark: Yeah but I'm talking about what are interior SWAT teams? What is that?

James: The interior, from the government now, I don't have an idea about that, that's beyond me. The other gentleman also mentioned the USGS that comes out and does the surveys. I've been on that particular rig for three years, offshore for five years, and I've seen a USGS one time. What we do have on a very regular basis is the MMS, which is the Minerals Management Service.

Mark: They're all under the interior department.

James: OK. Yes. As a matter of fact, we were commended for our inspection record from the MMS. We are actually receiving an award from them for the highest level of safety and environmental awareness.

Mark: Well, I thought you were going to receive that award. Didn't they put it on hold?

James: No, we have actually received that award. We received it last year. We may have been ready to receive it again this year.

Mark: Let me ask you this, so the life boats, how did you get into these life boats? Where are these life boats?

James: There are actually four life boats - two forward and two on the left, depending on where the emergency or the tragedy has taken place.

Mark: Did you wind up jumping in the water to get in to the life boat? Sometimes you have to do that.

James: I'll just say that there were five to seven individuals that jumped and the rest went down in the life boats.

Mark: Alright, I won't ask because you don't want to identify yourself that clearly. Good point. How fast were the rescue efforts? How fast did they reach you?

James: It is common to have a very large work boat standing by, to bring tools out, groceries, and supplies; it's a constant turn around. So we actually have a very large vessel real close by. It was actually along the side with the hose attached, taking mud off of our vessel on its own. It had to emergency disconnect and then pull out about a mile to stand by for rescue efforts. So, it was fairly quick.

Mark: How quick till the Coast Guard got there?

James: Mark, it's hard to say, between 45 minutes to an hour is when I recall seeing the first helicopter.

Mark: Which is actually pretty fast because you are 130 miles offshore right?

James: Correct. If you look at the nearest spill of land which would be Grand Isle, Louisiana, somewhere in that area, we were only about maybe 50 miles where the crew flies up. From civilization, such as New Orleans, it would be 200 miles. The helicopter was more than likely 80 to 100 miles away.

Mark: You are going to be beset by lawyers, with the government, and others looking for an opportunity to make money. It's going to get very, very ugly and the officials going there have really no backgrounds or experience... I mean, to what extent is that going to help anything? It's silly.

James: To me it seems knee jerk. The number one focus right now is containment. I like the idea about the boom. They are going to try to lower it down into the water to capture the leak.

Mark: How long might that take? I've been reading about this boom and it says that it could take 30 days to do that.

James: It very well could. You have to remember that this is a challenging environment. You know its 5,000 feet deep, there's a tangled wreck of a rig with the marine riser still connected and twisted into a big wad down there. So it's going to take some time to get all that stuff in place. The engineering has to be there; obviously they don't want to rush into it. You want to move it expediently but you are risking the lives of those men that are going to go out there and try to attempt it - that’s just not right.

Mark: I was just going say that. That's very dangerous, I mean extremely dangerous.

James: Absolutely, absolutely. There will be oil. There will be natural gases. All the same things that caused us to explode are still present, and they're there. The pressure had been cut off dramatically, from the simple fact of the folding of the riser. Basically take this big garden hose and kink it several times.

Mark: How old is this rig? How long has it been there?

James: It was put in service in 2001. It's a fairly new rig.

Mark: And, what is the sense in shutting down every rig in the Gulf of Mexico in response to this?

James: Absolutely senseless, whatsoever. This literally could very well be a once in a lifetime freak accident, or it could be negligence. That's for other people to figure out. From my position, it just seems like every now and then, you can't win against Mother Nature. She throws a curve ball that you are not prepared for.

Mark: But to shut down every rig in response to this? I mean... I'm not sure why.

James: The BOP tests are literally mandated from the Mineral Management Service and they are conducted like clockwork. I mean, if any of those tests ever failed, they would have immediately stopped operations, sealed the well up, pulled the BOP stack back up on the deck, which is 48 hours minimum, and made the necessary repairs or replacement parts, and then would get it back down, re-connect, re-test, and keep testing it, until it passed or kept on repairing it until it passed.

Mark: So this was a… I mean this must have been harrowing to you. I mean to experience something like this.

James: That’s putting it mildly.

Mark: Anything else you want to tell me?

James: No, I just got into the truck to make a short trip and I heard a gentleman say something about possible terrorism and I want to put that to bed now. I understand you have a large audience. I appreciate your point of view. I try to listen to you as much as I can, the terrorism call just needs to leave everyone's minds and let's focus on the 11 men that are dead and the survivors. That's where the focus of this country needs to be right now.

Mark: Alright my friend, we wish you all the best and I tell you that it's really God's blessing that you survived, it really is.

James: Yes sir, I completely agree.

Mark: Alright James, thank you very much for calling and we appreciate it.

James: Thank you, Mark.

Mark: Alright, God bless.

[Bryan Young]

Riggers....if all that is true (and I have absolutely no reason to believe otherwise), then that transcript makes a mockery of the political shenegans that are going on now. For instance, do the BBC or ITV have knowledge of this? From what was said, it would appear that "mother nature" was to blame, and not a hunman error as is being touted about.
A very good posting at the right time....BY.

[riggers24]

Bryan, if you didn't know I work for a company that supplies flexible risers and I subscribe to a website that is used in the offshore oil & gas industry and this is where I got the transcibe from. If you didn't know senior BP people were on the rig at the time it went up celibriting the safety record it had achieved.

And no it isn't one of our pipes that is on the rig it is a rigid steel pipe I am lead to believe.

riggers

[The Antipodean]

After watching what is unfolding in what is basically my neighbours back yard, as in any state south of where I am, I am pretty much on board with the other disgusted and angry people living here.
BP is still lying out it's back end and the blame-go-round is running at full speed still.
One of the pieces of information that was released on nationwide television was about an argument that occurred in front of most of a shift about who was in charge on the rig between BP and Transocean. Transocean called for following the procedure and installing three cement plugs in the well before pumping out the drilling mud, BP was all for using two plugs and pulling out the mud before it was done. BP sadly won, all for the sake of speed of removing the drilling rig to replace it for a processing rig.
This disaster comes down to greed, BP was in a hurry and decided that shortcuts at a depth they were not able to guarantee safety at due to lack of knowledge and research and is now keeping closed mouthed and not releasing information that has been requested by the American government.
It has got to the stage where they are requesting ideas from the public to help stop the leak and also to help with the oil slick itself.
This has gone into the billions of dollars already and no end is in sight after 40 days.

[sheerline]

Despite the technical difficulties, I never understood why the area immediately below the seabed is never excavated and a subteranean B.O.P or shutdown system is installed in the string as an emergency backup should a seabed surface catastrophe of this nature occurr. This is indeed a most serious situation with a such disasterous environmental impact that I would have considered such a backup as mandatory. In the end it all comes down to money and speed I guess but men have died out there for this, no one should lose their lives trying to earn a living.Now it it possible that a few more could perish trying to sort this out.
I understand the accute technical difficulties involved in such an operation but at the end of the day i suppose they are going to have to cut that folded string, expose the full flow and pressure of the well and inject another smaller diameter string with multiple expanding collars . Having said that, there are better brains than mine around and my simplistic armchair view is probably very wide of the mark.

Just my thoughts

[The Antipodean]

At the moment Sheerline you are at least putting forward something that seems feasible. BP is hiding behind fake sympathy and real lies.
The government is still handing out deep drilling permits after the President said the store is closed. Maybe these companies should research how to stop a leak at these depths before they risk the drilling? Closing the barn door after the horse has bolted but they need to put safety before profit for a change.

[Circlip]

Seen many "What ifs" on other Forums which all seem good ideas. If we didn't have such a love affair with oil, then the situation wouldn't have happened BUT when you look at the technology to drill so deep which relies on a few radio waves to keep the rig where it is to within three tenths of *** all, many would have scoffed a few decades ago. Look at all the things on this rig that DIDN'T go wrong, no consolation for the families involved, but sadly the price we pay for advancement.

  It will be interesting to hear what the REAL story is behind this rather than media sensationalisation.

  Regards  Ian.

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

This would seem to be the closest to describing the actual cause...

While the argument over control, and speed of the disconnect was an issue, the root of the 
blow out seems to have been caused by damage to the blow out prevention seal earlier
in the drilling process. This created false pressure readings and prevented the possiblity of
a safe sealing and and disconnect process.

Of course if there wasn't the rush to finish the well, then drilling would have stopped, and
the Blowout Preverter would have been pulled, repaired or replaced.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6490348n&tag=contentMain;contentAux

 

[Martin (Admin)]

 I've been following this with avid interest, shock, disbelief, despondency and other adjectives that don't readily come to mind.....

1. What is the current state of the leaking oil, ie. how much still being lost to open water?
2. If BP's next step is to drill two relief wells, that's going to take weeks, even if it is successful, is the current leak rate acceptable?
3. How do you seer a drill bit 10,000 down?
4. How do you hit a target ≈ 1M in diameter 18,000 underground?
5. Are efforts still being made to activate the B.O.P.?
6. Who wants to buy my portfolio of BP shares at 2009 prices?!!!


http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/incident_response/STAGING/local_assets/images/ReliefWellDiagram.jpg


BP website.
http://www.bp.com/managedlistingsection.do?categoryId=9033573&contentId=7062258
http://www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=9033571&contentId=7061708

[Circlip]

And we think we have problems making toy boats Martin.

  Regards  Ian.

[Navy2000]

The problems that we have with RC boats doesn't hurt any ones buisness like BP's oil spill.

Duane

[Martin (Admin)]

BBC, Gulf of Mexico oil well disaster: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/us_and_canada/10317116.stm

[Boatswain]

Folks, as a native to the Gulf Coast, I have found this incident to be devastating.  I have family and friends in Louisiana who's places of recreation and in many cases, source of livelyhood have been destroyed.  I grew up in Port Arthur, Texas.  It is home of companies like Texaco and Gulf.  Just about every American oil or refining company in the US has a facility in my hometown.  Granted, the oil hasn't reached Texas shores, but hurricane season is yet to come!  August will be the month to sweat through, both literally and figuratively.  I personally think it was horrible that BP's boss said he wanted HIS life back!  Wow, the nerve of some people, eh!  

Also, as a former enlistedman of the US Coast Guard and a person who knows Admiral Thad Allen, I can tell you that all he's waiting for is someone to drop the hat and tell him, "Make it happen."  I can't think of a better man to lead the effort than Thad Allen.  He was the district commander during hurricanes Rita and Katrina in 2005 and did a wonderful job organizing the Coast Guard response efforts.  

Folks are saying that they should stop offshore drilling and that it's obviously unsafe.  Well, as with anything, it is safe as long as you do it properly.  The folks responsible for the Horizon weren't doing it safely or properly.  

[Martin (Admin)]

What I would like to know about is this BOP - Blow Out Preventer, who made the unit?
 .... and is the well deep enough for the company to hide away in?!?!

   As I understand it, it a series of big hydraulic valves, can't they still be manually operated?

[dodgy geezer]

Gentlemen,

should you fancy some really bad news (always sells newspapers and blogs), take a look at this reasonably well informed piece (sorry about the pun...): http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6593/648967

A writer there is hypothesising that the sub-seabed structure of the well-wall has been damaged, and that the oil is leaking into the surrounding strata. Under such conditions, depending on the geology, the top of the dome might collapse, and the whole reservoir might open up.

For anyone who does not like to think such unpleasant thoughts, a friend of mine got two lovely little kittens a couple of days ago......

[The Antipodean]

What I would like to know about is this BOP - Blow Out Preventer, who made the unit?
 .... and is the well deep enough for the company to hide away in?!?!

   As I understand it, it a series of big hydraulic valves, can't they still be manually operated?

The BOP had a damaged seal ,which was known about beforehand, lead it to give incorrect pressure readings, and the hydraulic valves you mention were worked on before the BOP went into use and their configuration was changed without these changes being put on the blueprints. These changes rendered the valves inoperable due to bad engineering.
Add to that the fact that greed was put before safety and we now have what is rapidly approaching the worst oil disaster in history, currently it only ranks third.

[polaris]

Dear All,

The argument and blame about who was and is ultimately responsible has yet to start. BP are doing the right thing by taking the initial 'blame' - BP are indeed the Oper. Co. - but there are numerous geotech./oil specialists  contractors who were/are responsible for many very important factors of this oper..

Whilst BP will 'carry the can' so to speak, others will certainly have rather a lot to answer for via the US Court's, and BP will not be standing alone you can rest assured of that.

'Fraking' is quite a common/gnrl. water and oil extraction tech. (the hydraulic pressurising of rock strata with various mediums to keep the strata open to allow free flow of oil/gas), but if things do not go quite right, they are controllable on land, but in such depth of water things can be very difficult - thus why numerous specialists (quite a few US), seem to have been involved.

Do not judge too quickly, BP were certainly the Oper. Co., but they were certainly not acting alone, and had all the tech. Co.'s involved for such a Prod. Well.

Just a brief note.

Regards, Bernard

[wbeedie]

Granted, the oil hasn't reached Texas shores, but hurricane season is yet to come!  August will be the month to sweat through, both literally and figuratively.  

.  

Would the Hurricane season not help,, if my memory serves me correct  When the Braer was lost p in Shetland a few years ago ,they reckoned the clear up was aided by gale force winds helping to break up the oil  but I suppose that would only work if the oil was stopped flowing

I remember when I started fishinf we used to ti our gear up in big onion style sacks  and attach a rope  then throw the bag of the stern of the boat to be dragged through the water to was our clothes ,,quaint it was but it worked due to the turbulence and oxygen bubbles causing the grime to lift and am sure it was the same thing that caused the break up of the oil in the Braer incident

[Martin (Admin)]

Looking at the 'relief' bore holes, as i understand it, they are being drilled in order to pour "concrete" in and  block
the leaking bore hole.... why are the relief well being drilled so deep? Surely  just a few hundred feet under the
current leaking well head should be enough?!?!?!

[The Antipodean]

Dear All,

The argument and blame about who was and is ultimately responsible has yet to start. BP are doing the right thing by taking the initial 'blame' - BP are indeed the Oper. Co. - but there are numerous geotech./oil specialists  contractors who were/are responsible for many very important factors of this oper..

Whilst BP will 'carry the can' so to speak, others will certainly have rather a lot to answer for via the US Court's, and BP will not be standing alone you can rest assured of that.

'Fraking' is quite a common/gnrl. water and oil extraction tech. (the hydraulic pressurising of rock strata with various mediums to keep the strata open to allow free flow of oil/gas), but if things do not go quite right, they are controllable on land, but in such depth of water things can be very difficult - thus why numerous specialists (quite a few US), seem to have been involved.

Do not judge too quickly, BP were certainly the Oper. Co., but they were certainly not acting alone, and had all the tech. Co.'s involved for such a Prod. Well.

Just a brief note.

Regards, Bernard

Interesting view, but on the day of the explosion it was a decision of speed over safety by BP personnel on the rig that lead to the final nail in the coffin.

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

Looking at the 'relief' bore holes, as i understand it, they are being drilled in order to pour "concrete" in and  block
the leaking bore hole.... why are the relief well being drilled so deep? Surely  just a few hundred feet under the
current leaking well head should be enough?!?!?!

Martin, the issue becomes pressure vs weight.
Blowing concrete into the hole will not stop the flow. The concrete will be wisked away by the
pressure and flow of the oil and gas moving up through the well pipe.

They are drilling the intercepts deep, so that when the pump in the "heavy" drilling mud, the column
of fluid that gets carried up the well pipe, will eventually weigh so much, that weight of the drilling mud will
overwhelm the flow and pressure of the leaking gas and oil. Once the flow is stemmed, then they will pump
in the concrete to seal the well.

 

[Boatswain]

Would the Hurricane season not help,, if my memory serves me correct  When the Braer was lost p in Shetland a few years ago ,they reckoned the clear up was aided by gale force winds helping to break up the oil  but I suppose that would only work if the oil was stopped flowing

I remember when I started fishinf we used to ti our gear up in big onion style sacks  and attach a rope  then throw the bag of the stern of the boat to be dragged through the water to was our clothes ,,quaint it was but it worked due to the turbulence and oxygen bubbles causing the grime to lift and am sure it was the same thing that caused the break up of the oil in the Braer incident

It's an interesting thought, but this statement from a report on the Braer may be the key to your question.  "Fortunately for Shetland, the Gulfaks crude the Braer was carrying was not a typical North Sea oil.  Gulfaks crude is lighter and more easily biodegradable than other North Sea crude oils."  We don't know how this oil compares and how it would handle a hurricane.  I can tell you that this stuff is like mayonaise.  

[Arnold van der Ploeg]

Take a look at: http://gigapica.geenstijl.nl/2010/04/gigapica_deepwater_horizon.html#more

All photo's of the rig!

Arnold

[Martin (Admin)]

This is interesting....

WHY DID THE BOP FAIL?
Two possible scenarios have been discussed. One - suggested by Transocean - is that the kick was so catastrophic it pushed fragments of cement debris through the BOP so fast that it was damaged and could not activate.

The sheer force of what happened is indicated by the fact that cement debris travelled all the way up the 5,000ft of riser and on to the deck of the drilling rig.

The other possibility is that the BOP was faulty in the first place.

There were initial allegations that the batteries in a control pod for the BOP may have been flat. Transocean denies this.

A rig worker has also told the BBC's Panorama programme that a leak had been spotted in one of the BOP's control pods.

The last line of defence in a BOP is usually the blind shear ram. This device, activated hydraulically, uses piston-driven blades to cut the pipe, thus stopping the flow.

Tyrone Benton: 'We saw a leak'

This did not work. One possible explanation is that the section of pipe it was trying to shear was a section of "tool joint". These joints between the pipes are typically so strong that a blind shear ram cannot deal with them.

Another possibility is that something in the hydraulic mechanism of the blind shear ram had failed.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/us_and_canada/10370479.stm