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Posted on 05/26/2010 5:07:31 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
KENNER, La.—More details emerged Wednesday about a disagreement between employees of rig operator Transocean Ltd. and oil giant BP PLC over how to begin shutting down the well just hours before it exploded in the Gulf of Mexico last month.
Testimony on Wednesday about the disagreement, in a hearing held by the U.S. Coast Guard and the Minerals Management Service, which jointly regulate offshore drilling, was likely to bring increased scrutiny to the decisions BP made aboard the rig the day of the explosion, April 20.
There was also likely to be more focus on whether Transocean should have done more to ensure proper procedures were carried out.
Douglas H. Brown, Transocean's chief mechanic on the Deepwater Horizon rig, said key representatives from both companies had a "skirmish" during an 11 a.m. meeting on April 20. Less than 11 hours later, the well had a blowout, an uncontrolled release of oil and gas, killing 11 workers.
Mr. Brown said Transocean's crew leaders—including the rig operator's top manager, Jimmy W. Harrell—strongly objected to a decision by BP's top representative, or "company man," over how to start removing heavy drilling fluid and replacing it with lighter seawater from a riser pipe connected to the well head. Such pipes act as conduits between the rig and the wellhead at the ocean floor, and carry drilling fluid in and out of the well.
Removing heavy drilling fluid prior to temporarily sealing up a well and abandoning it is normal, but questions have emerged about whether the crew started the process without taking other precautionary measures against gas rising into the pipe.
It wasn't clear what Mr. Harrell objected to specifically about BP's instructions, but the rig's primary driller, Dewey Revette, and tool pusher, Miles Randall Ezell, both of Transocean, also disagreed with BP, Mr. Brown said.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Ruh Roh.
Ban all arguments.
I saw a web report that Schlumberger was involved that day, too, and did not agree with the shutdown plan.
I don’t know why, but I have a feeling that liberal pantywaists everywhere would be offended at the tone of the heated discussions between roughnecks on a rig miles at sea.
All 3 are all lawyered up, did it a month ago
I’m starting to see some real parallels with the BP TX City refinery explosion that killed 15 contractors
If it was between roughnecks, great.
But if it was done on the orders of a platoon of “suits” choppered in from BP threatening to “get it done now, or lose your contract!” that is another matter.
Actually, my point was, that with those type of guys talking to each other or to suits, I don’t expect it would be much different, and probably would be very different from the ‘genteel” discussions at newsrooms.
WTH
At some point the nameless BP man will get named....
I just watched a film on that incident. Basically, because of cost cutting and lax maintenance, that refinery was an accident waiting to happen. BP made a big hullabaloo about a new commitment to saftey and following procedure. Apparently it was a sham.
I think it will come out that BP was tired of losing 500,000 dollars a day, and after losing one bore hole and starting over with a second one, they said, DO IT NOW OR ELSE!
My understanding is that a squad of high ranking BP “suits” flew out just to make that ultimatum, and make it stick, basically steamrolling the lower-ranking guys from the contractor on the rig.
BP is like a drunk behind the wheel and should be banned from the industry. The BP Texas City Refinery explosion and this disaster are both egregious actions that shock the common mind.
Chem board report - TX City
http://www.csb.gov/assets/document/CSBFinalReportBP.pdf
Baker Report
http://www.csb.gov/assets/document/Baker_panel_report1.pdf
BP’s Internal Report - Tx City
I wouldn’t contest that version at all...after all, I would expect people to be screaming at each other constantly with all the money that is sunk into these types of things.
Supposedly those Execs were out there to give out Safety Awards....
I wonder how many commenting here have ever been on an offshore platform, or on a drilling rig or site?
Or know the job titles associated with running a rig?
Or know the component parts of equipment involved?
I do know completing a well in 5,000 ft. of water is something that not very many people know much about.
I highly doubt that BP intentionally cut corners on safety.
When I was 20 years old I was on workover rigs, as an engineering technician (work clothes, not suits).
We often had two or even three people doing the math to determine exactly how deep we were, so as to not damage the expensive tools, and lose time.
Sometimes things went wrong. Things going wrong in the oilfield is not unusual.
I don’t expect the news media, politicians , government regulators to solve the damaged wellhead problem.
I don’t beat up on the big capitalist oil company about it.
That job is reserved for liberals, democrats, anti-capitalists.
Profit is a wonderful thing, providing wealth, jobs, goods and services.
The opposite is old USSR and Cuba.
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