Posted on 05/08/2010 12:56:32 AM PDT by Islander7
ON THE GULF OF MEXICO — The deadly blowout of an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico was triggered by a bubble of methane gas that escaped from the well and shot up the drill column . . .
(Excerpt) Read more at sunherald.com ...
Ruff necks.
Basically a huge fart....
where there is oil, there is always methane gas. Hard to believe they had not foreseen this.
Nope, I don’t believe it. It don’t wash.
It is the convenient explanation for sure.
yeah yeah yeah and a spark ignited the center fuel tank on TWA800, a truck bomb blew up the Murrah building, David Korresh immolated himself intentionally and Oswald acted alone and the attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise.
with the wreck at a depth of 5,000 ft ain’t nobody gonna figure out what happened
certainly our favorite story tellers the looney-left media
If the down hole pressure was miscalculated when the drilling mud was replaced with salt water, it could very easily cause a blow out. Some reports have said the blowout occured on the outside of the casing, this one contradicts that.
There so many unanswered questions and misinformation that I don’t know what to believe about it.
Gas set off blast (BP rig in the Gulf of Mexico)
Then, why were SWAT teams sent to the gulf by Obama?
If the kick broke down the shoe, and the cement bond around the casing was not logged for integrity, the blow-out could easily be going outside the casing.
I have seen it many times over my career.
BP screwed the pooch big time on this one.
Someone else has pointed out that the victims have remained completely anonymous. Why are they treated differently than the recent coal-mine victims? Or have I just missed that part?
For a technical answer to your question. They knew ahead of time that they were creating an imbalance. This is a standard procedure, to displace drilling fluid (Mud) with production fluid, (salt water) which in this case was Sea Water at 8.6 PPG.
They set a bridge plug above the casing shoe to secure the well so they could complete the procedure and the well for production.
The error was, they knew the well was unstable and had historical abnormalities. Yet, they went ahead and completed it anyway. And, the way they did it was nothing short of gross incompetence and near criminal neglect.
Wasn't Transocean running the rig's drilling operations? Wouldn't it have been their call that the salt water was at sufficient weight to replace the mud?
The Drilling Contractor does not make the call on production procedures. That responsibility lies with the Lease Operator. (BP)
The Rig personnel maintain the rig and follow orders from the Operator/Consultant according to the Drilling Program written by the Operator. (BP)
And they had a Bridge Plug set to allow them to displace the well with production fluid. (Sea Water)
Dang! I thought it was the fire flies!! < /sarcasm >
Because Obama is an idiot?
Not just BP. Halliburton was cementing the hole when it blew.
Been many, many moons since I worked the oil patch, but I remember service companies taking dangerous short cuts.
That is the one constant through all discussion and inquiry regarding these accidents.
The slick silk suited Scrooges always bray loudly outside the burning debris how every safety precaution was taken, while every lowly working Bob Cratchet crawling from the wreckage says, "oh, yeah, we had to take the shortcut".
Well, those short cuts were demanded by management in a non-verbal fashion, if you get my drift.
Pressure and heat is always with you, within limits, but the seal didn't hold. I think the problem will be found in the sealing process.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.