BP oil spill: failed safety device on Deepwater Horizon rig was modified in China

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/18/deepwater-horizon-blow-out-preventer-china?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter ^

[Orange1998]

BP ordered the owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig, whose explosion led to the worst environmental disaster in US history, to overhaul a crucial piece of the rig's safety equipment in China, the Observer has learnt. The blow-out preventer – the last line of defence against an out-of-control well – subsequently failed to activate and is at the centre of investigations into what caused the disaster.

Experts say that the practice of having such engineering work carried out in China, rather than the US, saves money and is common in the industry.

This weekend BP remained cautiously optimistic that the cap placed on top of the Gulf of Mexico well on Thursday night would continue to hold back the torrent of oil. It is the first time the flow has been stopped since the accident happened almost three months ago. But BP said that the pressure readings from the Macondo well were not as high as it had hoped, which could indicate that it has ruptured and that oil could be leaking out somewhere else.

There is no evidence that the significant modifications to the blowout preventer (BOP), which were carried out in China in 2005, caused the equipment to fail. But industry lawyers said BP could be made liable for any mistakes that a Chinese subcontractor made carrying out the work. It would be almost impossible to secure damages in China, where international law is barely recognised.

[Orange1998]

I remember it, They even had TV ads selling plastic box sets of bolts and nuts. They were cheap and poor quality but you would have every nut and bolt size handy.

[bert]

When we get to the bottom of it all, I have only one degree of separation from the horses mouth, the BP engineer who made the fateful wrong decision. :)

(This is also now true for all who read this thread who can truthfully say “My FRiend knew and worked with the BP guy who made the decision and was not complimentary of him at all”)

[dusttoyou]

A whole bag of BP’s actions lead to this mess, but the BOP did not do what it supposed to do when it was the last defence against a blowout. Whether it was dead actuator batteries, lack of BOP maintenance or low quality chink work, the BOP did not work.

BP needs to either change their general “cut the corner” attitiude or get the hell out of the oil business. But don’t look for much to really happen to BP other than nobama and BP Exes handing out Sharehold’s money.

[Smokin' Joe]

Funny thing about that. If the industry isn't cost-concious, people howl about the price of oil and all the goodies that come out of it, from fuel to pharma.

But really, I think the question of madifications to the BOP is moot, if you look at the post just before yours.

It wouldn't have mattered if it had been rebuilt by Cameron with the direct nit-picking supervision of the Board of Directors, it wasn't designed to operate with two strings in the hole.

It appears the following contributed to the disaster:

Failure to assess the negative pressure test results on the plug as showing a leak.

Displacing the riser without remediating that leak.

Failure to act upon increased returns (volume) while displacing.

Failure to act on the well continuing to flow while the pumps were shut down.

Continuing to displace the riser despite indicators of a kick in progress.

(PLEASE NOTE: I am not pointing any fingers at anyone in particular. It has not been ascertained who did or did not notice or act or attempt to act (or even order otherwise should that have happened) in the instance of the apparent indicators above, that will (possibly) be revealed by inquiry later, and I am not pointing any fingers at anyone on the crew or in management without the facts, be they living or dead. That will get its day in court, and I await those findings.)

Possibly, at the time of the explosion or thereabouts, it appears a length of drill pipe was knocked/dropped in the hole, next to the string in the riser. It appears that pipe wedged in the riser at or near the base, having at least partially entered the BOP stack.

When it rains, it pours, but no pipe rams will seal over two strings, the annular can't wrap around that either and seal, and blind rams only close over open hole. The shear rams were likely not rated to cut two sections of drill pipe simultaneously.

At that point, it really does not matter where the BOP was serviced.

You don't blame the A&P because your Spad won't do Mach 2, either.

[Don W]

I read about the EPA “suggestion” in a link from a thread about 2 weeks ago. I looked for the thread, but could not find it. I’ll look for a while longer, but I make no promises.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

The BOP was not designed to go that deep.

and you know this how?

[IDontLikeToPayTaxes]

The toys we buy for our children, the planes we fly in, the brakes in our cars and the heart valves that keep us alive. All compromised for a few dollars. I shake my head in disgust.

I completely agree. Sometimes it's very important to pay extra for quality. The old saying goes, "you get what you pay for."

I wonder if these "titans of industry" would get a vasectomy from the cheapest guy in town?

[trumandogz]

“Not the fault of the BOP but rather the fault of the BP EPA people who told the BP people to replace the drilling mud with seawater of the hole.”

Don W,

Wow, you seem very knowledgeable about the little BP incident on the Deepwater Horizon Platform on 4/20/10. However, for some reason, not sure what it could be, you lack any specifics on your claim that the EPA ordered BP to replace that drilling mud with seawater.

Could you please cite documentation that would show that the EPA was making command decisions on that platform?

More specifically, could you please cite the actual order from the EPA to BP to pull the mud out of the hole, pump that mud onto a service boat and to be delivered to another platform and replace that mud with seawater?

Would you also be able to explain why the Schlumberger crew on the Deepwater Horizon objected to the actions taken by BP, I mean the EPA and ordered a helicopter to “rescue” them from the platform hours before the blowout?

Please share with us your great expertise on this matter.

[Don W]

If you had continued reading the thread rather than going off half-cocked, you would see that I had replied about where I had seen this information. I spent the better part of an hour looking for the relevant post, and was unable to find it.

I suppose YOU have never posted something and lost/misplaced your reference, have you? I at least had the temerity to admit misplacing the information.

I *WAS* going to go to The Oil Drum to try and search it out there, but your childish outburst has changed my mind, I’m going to play with my dogs instead of dealing with hair-trigger verbal assaults.

Have the kind of night you deserve, and see my #45, oh aggressive one.

[grapeape]

The guy who built it at Cooper Cameron said so.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

I would like to read that, do you happen to have a link or a name?

Thanks

[tacticalogic]

Have seen this a lot on some supposedly grade 8 bolts. They will snap at 50 to 70% of their torque value.

When I need really good bolts, I go down to the local Caterpillar dealer. Never been sorry.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

Interesting that a rig rated to drill in 8,000' of water would not have a BOP stack rated to that depth, given that BOP's were good to over 8,000 at least a year before this rig was built.

I will have to check the stack that was on the rig ... 2 x Cameron Type TL 18¾in 15K double preventers; 1 x Cameron Type TL 18¾in 15K single preventer; 1 x Cameron DWHC 18¾in 15K wellhead connector