.On Defensive, BP Readies Dome to Contain Spill
BP spent Monday preparing possible solutions to stem oil leaks from an undersea well off the Louisiana coast, and fending off new accusations about its role in the widening environmental disaster.
Crews were building a containment dome, a 4-story, 70-ton structure that the company plans to lower into place over one of the three leaks to catch the escaping oil and allow it to be pumped to the surface.
The company was also planning to install a shutoff valve at the site of one of the leaks on Monday, but the seas were too rough, delaying that effort. Heavy winds damaged miles of floating booms laid out in coastal waters to protect the shoreline from the spreading oil slick, which appeared to be drifting toward the Alabama and Florida coasts and the Chandeleur Islands off Louisiana’s southern tip.
On Monday, lawyers representing environmental groups, workers from the oil rig and fishermen who have been hurt by the leak leveled fresh accusations against BP, as well as Transocean and Halliburton. BP leased the rig from Transocean. Halliburton was providing several services on the rig, including cementing, which is a method of sealing the well to control pressure from the oil and gas beneath.
At least one worker who was on the oil rig at the time of the explosion on April 20, and who handled company records for BP, said the rig had been drilling deeper than 22,000 feet, even though the company’s federal permit allowed it to go only 18,000 to 20,000 feet deep, the lawyers said.
BP strongly denied the claim that it was drilling deeper than was allowed.
“The allegation surrounding the permitted depth is factually incorrect,” said Andrew Gowers, a BP spokesman. Mr. Gowers said that the rig was permitted to drill to 20,211 feet and that it drilled to 18,360 feet.
Another worker familiar with the rig told the lawyers that the company had chosen not to install a deep-water valve that would have been placed about 200 feet under the sea floor. Much like blowout preventers, devices that are meant to seal leaks, this valve could have served as a cutoff of last resort in explosions, the lawyers said.
“The company took their chances in not having the valve so they could save money,” said Mike Papantonio, one of the lawyers representing the shrimpers and fishermen.
Mr. Gowers declined to comment on that claim except to say that the investigation was continuing and that it was too early to speculate.
A Halliburton spokeswoman, asked Monday about suspicions that gas was allowed to build up in the well bore, said that it was a matter that still needed to be investigated. A Transocean spokesman said the company was still investigating.
More than a half-dozen workers who were on the rig at the time of the explosion told the lawyers that the rig operator had seemed to be rushing to finish and detach from the well — a possible factor that could have contributed to the explosion.
However, the lawyers, including Mr. Papantonio from Florida, and Daniel Becnel and Ronnie Penton from Louisiana, said that all the facts were not known and speculation was rampant.
Meanwhile, Doug Suttles, BP’s chief operating officer, said the containment dome would be placed above the largest leak and then pipes would pump the oil from the ruptured well to a drill ship waiting on the surface.
“This has been done in shallow water but it’s never been done in deep water before,” he said. The company was trying other methods, including drilling a relief well and installing a shutoff valve, to deal with the other two leaks.
After a weekend of stormy weather, officials said that the clear forecasts for the coming week would make their work much easier.
The explosion that sank the drilling rig came less than a day after workers finished pumping concrete into the well, a step toward closing it off temporarily. BP planned to return to the well later to set up a permanent rig and start producing oil.
Encasing a well in concrete is one of the most critical aspects of oil drilling, and presents many risks.
The concrete involved is highly specialized. It needs to be blended and stirred properly. It also must be pumped down into the well so that it comes out the bottom and oozes back up around the well casing, forming a tight seal.
The concrete work apparently did not achieve a complete seal, and natural gas started seeping into the well in the late stages, the lawyers said. But idling a rig to address such a problem can cost huge sums. The lawyers said that supervisors either missed or ignored the signals and proceeded with the job.
When workers released the last valves that were holding back the natural gas that had built up inside the well, the gas shot up the pipe and sprayed into the drilling rig, igniting the fireball that caused the deaths of 11 workers, injured others and sank the rig, the lawyers said.
BP and Halliburton declined to comment on the accusations.
On Monday, industry experts also began offering their own theories for the explosion’s cause.
In an investment note Monday, FBR Capital Markets hypothesized that multiple shortcomings and errors were most likely responsible for the accident.
FBR’s analysts echoed the contention from lawyers that a bad cement job could have been one of the problems.
“Our current theory is that incomplete isolation by the cement allowed a buildup of annular pressure, which contributed to a casing collapse,” said a report that was co-written by Robert MacKenzie, a former cement engineer in the oil industry.
He added that the blowout preventer, or BOP, then “was unable to seal the well due to an obstruction too thick for the BOP to crush/shear, such as a tool joint or drill pipe.”
The report said it could find no fault with Halliburton, but “we believe less clarity is available surrounding the operation of the rig and thus believe that Transocean may be faced with a larger overhang of investor worry.”
Ken Arnold, an engineer and former Shell executive who has spent 40 years in the industry, speculated that the explosion was likely caused by a combination of errors, both mechanical and human.
A temporary plug has to be placed at the bottom of the well. And the concrete, once poured, must be allowed to set long enough to harden properly. “It could have been a problem with the cement plug,” he said, “meaning it could have been when they tested it, they did not test it properly. Or that the gas took a circuitous path and went around the cement plug.”
NYT
Crews were building a containment dome, a 4-story, 70-ton structure that the company plans to lower into place over one of the three leaks to catch the escaping oil and allow it to be pumped to the surface.
The company was also planning to install a shutoff valve at the site of one of the leaks on Monday, but the seas were too rough, delaying that effort. Heavy winds damaged miles of floating booms laid out in coastal waters to protect the shoreline from the spreading oil slick, which appeared to be drifting toward the Alabama and Florida coasts and the Chandeleur Islands off Louisiana’s southern tip.
On Monday, lawyers representing environmental groups, workers from the oil rig and fishermen who have been hurt by the leak leveled fresh accusations against BP, as well as Transocean and Halliburton. BP leased the rig from Transocean. Halliburton was providing several services on the rig, including cementing, which is a method of sealing the well to control pressure from the oil and gas beneath.
At least one worker who was on the oil rig at the time of the explosion on April 20, and who handled company records for BP, said the rig had been drilling deeper than 22,000 feet, even though the company’s federal permit allowed it to go only 18,000 to 20,000 feet deep, the lawyers said.
BP strongly denied the claim that it was drilling deeper than was allowed.
“The allegation surrounding the permitted depth is factually incorrect,” said Andrew Gowers, a BP spokesman. Mr. Gowers said that the rig was permitted to drill to 20,211 feet and that it drilled to 18,360 feet.
Another worker familiar with the rig told the lawyers that the company had chosen not to install a deep-water valve that would have been placed about 200 feet under the sea floor. Much like blowout preventers, devices that are meant to seal leaks, this valve could have served as a cutoff of last resort in explosions, the lawyers said.
“The company took their chances in not having the valve so they could save money,” said Mike Papantonio, one of the lawyers representing the shrimpers and fishermen.
Mr. Gowers declined to comment on that claim except to say that the investigation was continuing and that it was too early to speculate.
A Halliburton spokeswoman, asked Monday about suspicions that gas was allowed to build up in the well bore, said that it was a matter that still needed to be investigated. A Transocean spokesman said the company was still investigating.
More than a half-dozen workers who were on the rig at the time of the explosion told the lawyers that the rig operator had seemed to be rushing to finish and detach from the well — a possible factor that could have contributed to the explosion.
However, the lawyers, including Mr. Papantonio from Florida, and Daniel Becnel and Ronnie Penton from Louisiana, said that all the facts were not known and speculation was rampant.
Meanwhile, Doug Suttles, BP’s chief operating officer, said the containment dome would be placed above the largest leak and then pipes would pump the oil from the ruptured well to a drill ship waiting on the surface.
“This has been done in shallow water but it’s never been done in deep water before,” he said. The company was trying other methods, including drilling a relief well and installing a shutoff valve, to deal with the other two leaks.
After a weekend of stormy weather, officials said that the clear forecasts for the coming week would make their work much easier.
The explosion that sank the drilling rig came less than a day after workers finished pumping concrete into the well, a step toward closing it off temporarily. BP planned to return to the well later to set up a permanent rig and start producing oil.
Encasing a well in concrete is one of the most critical aspects of oil drilling, and presents many risks.
The concrete involved is highly specialized. It needs to be blended and stirred properly. It also must be pumped down into the well so that it comes out the bottom and oozes back up around the well casing, forming a tight seal.
The concrete work apparently did not achieve a complete seal, and natural gas started seeping into the well in the late stages, the lawyers said. But idling a rig to address such a problem can cost huge sums. The lawyers said that supervisors either missed or ignored the signals and proceeded with the job.
When workers released the last valves that were holding back the natural gas that had built up inside the well, the gas shot up the pipe and sprayed into the drilling rig, igniting the fireball that caused the deaths of 11 workers, injured others and sank the rig, the lawyers said.
BP and Halliburton declined to comment on the accusations.
On Monday, industry experts also began offering their own theories for the explosion’s cause.
In an investment note Monday, FBR Capital Markets hypothesized that multiple shortcomings and errors were most likely responsible for the accident.
FBR’s analysts echoed the contention from lawyers that a bad cement job could have been one of the problems.
“Our current theory is that incomplete isolation by the cement allowed a buildup of annular pressure, which contributed to a casing collapse,” said a report that was co-written by Robert MacKenzie, a former cement engineer in the oil industry.
He added that the blowout preventer, or BOP, then “was unable to seal the well due to an obstruction too thick for the BOP to crush/shear, such as a tool joint or drill pipe.”
The report said it could find no fault with Halliburton, but “we believe less clarity is available surrounding the operation of the rig and thus believe that Transocean may be faced with a larger overhang of investor worry.”
Ken Arnold, an engineer and former Shell executive who has spent 40 years in the industry, speculated that the explosion was likely caused by a combination of errors, both mechanical and human.
A temporary plug has to be placed at the bottom of the well. And the concrete, once poured, must be allowed to set long enough to harden properly. “It could have been a problem with the cement plug,” he said, “meaning it could have been when they tested it, they did not test it properly. Or that the gas took a circuitous path and went around the cement plug.”
NYT
posted by madtom at 11:32 PM
2 Comments:
yes , blogger os right that temporary plug has to be placed at the bottom of the well
The Age of Incompetence once again rears its ugly head. Our tech has evolved beyond our capacity to cope. When you consider the complexity of deep water drilling, it doesn't seem that a fix would be that difficult.Weld some 3/4 plate into a pyramid sufficient to cover the wellhead, leave and attachment for casing pipe (with a functioning BOP), attach to tankers And I seem to remember fed law mandated fees on drilling for a rapid response team on all coasts and Alaska for such events following the Valdez fiasco? How much did the gov collect and where did it get spent?
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