Bruce Thompson on July 21, 2010 - 10:28am
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There was a question directed to me near the end of the last thread about the two differing drawings showing the fluid state in the well from the USCG investigation.
The first one is dated April 15,2010 http://www.deepwaterinvestigation.com/go/doc/3043/795971/
The second is dated April 18, 2010 http://www.deepwaterinvestigation.com/go/doc/3043/795991/
I am not an expert on cementing (Rockman?) but I do have a few observations.
They show different elapsed times and volumes of fluids pumped. Why that is so is an interesting question. Note also that the presumably revised drawing (4/18/10) shows less fluid pumped (11 barrels less) over a longer time frame (6 minutes longer).
If you want to follow along here are some hints to reading the drawings.
The table of fluids pumped shows the sequence with Macondo 9-7/8' x 7" Prod Casing - 14.17 ppg being the mud that was in the well for pressure control. It would go down through the production casing in the center of the well and then flow out the bottom and make a U-turn and flow upward through the annulus. Next was the 6.7 ppg Base Oil Maconndo etc.
The fourth and fifth are the cement, Macondo Foamed Slurry 16.74 ppg (Magenta) and Macoondo Foamed Slurry 16.74 (?) (Yellow). Where they flow out of the bottom of the production casing and make the U-turn is the "shoe". There is some green shown between the shoe and the hole on the later drawing.
The primary issue is how the cement job was done, so these anomalies in the data might prove critical to understanding the failure. Here is the Halliburon briefing http://energycommerce.house.gov/documents/20100614/Halliburton.EC.Staff....
Somewhere along the line I remember seeing a speculation that the cement might have failed to make a tight seal at the shoe because there was more volume to fill than cement pumped. I don't think there should be any green around the cement as in the second drawing, it should be all yellow as in the first one.
Rockman it's your turn.
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Scroll down aways thru the noise to find Rockman's comments.
They had numerous problems during the drilling process. It was called a nightmare well by one of the professionals involved. That says enough. Going through the particulars of how each one of about 5-6 well problems occurred, will probably takes years and many lawyers.