Posted on 04/23/2010 12:50:45 AM PDT by KDD
Thanks my FRiend!
That is very telling information!
I think Horizon37, whoever he is, has a real handle on this.
A few years ago there was still a great deal of I'll show you how "WE" do it between BP and the old Amoco group.
“I did some poking around, and the reason many of us with experience in the biz, have not seen this type of well design before, its because its a one off experiment, its the first time its been tried at these depths. Some genius with BP at the SPE in Alaska dreamed it up in 2007.”
Excerpted from http://www.flickr.com/photos/uscgd8/4551846015/page6/
That is all the information I have seen as to the actual design team.
Things we now know from the IADC daily drilling report.
* The mud weight in the hole was 14.0ppg
* The casing was cemented and WOC time was 16.5 hours before pressure testing (This could be the kicker if the cement was not fully set, the added pressure in the casing would have expanded it, and created a micro-annulus in the cement or fracturing it allowing gas and oil to migrate up into the annulus).
* They were working with a 3-1/2” tubing stinger, 817.70ft + 2 crossovers to get it to 6-5/8 DP.
* The balance of the string was 6-5/8” 32# DP to the rig floor
* They did run in and displace the hole and riser to seawater at 8,067ft (3,000ft below seabed)
* They did run and pressure test the casing hanger seal both positive test to 10,000psi and a negative test to 1,400psi. Both were good.
* We now have a stack layout drawing, showing ram arrangements.
* The casing was 9-7/8” 62.8# which is 5/8” wall and 8-5/8” ID
* The 7” properties are still unknown.
BP email on ops:
Don’t know, out here BP didn’t keep many Arco or Amoco people.
More grist for the mill.
First I’ve heard about BOP mods.
More regulation on the way! Transocean blew it. BP, too. Company man should have known the drilling contractor's men had made wildcat mods to the safety equipment.
That said, if the BOP was messed with, more of this will fall on Transocean than we thought. It would not have caused the blowout but would have allowed much of the mess to happen, and I bet the rig insurers will have some say in the pay off.
I have been on lots of offshore rigs, but never a dynamic positioning one. Most of the time a company man would go ashore during a move but would there be enough time on a rig that doesn't have to pick up and set anchors?
The reason I ask is that the BOP would be worked on during moves and BP might have no idea what was done to it.
Just listen to a bit on the Len Wooley(?) radio show about 60 Minutes show, an electrical person on the rig, says BP pushed a faster ROP. They got stuck, had to shoot off, fish and sidetrack.
Looks like the fishing and sidetrack stories might be true, not that I believe 60 Minutes on anything.
The part I tend not to believe is all the business about generators running away, light bulbs popping, computer monitors exploding, and such. That just destroys the man’s credibility in my mind.
The most telling thing revealed in the entire piece was the part about someone accidentally dragging drill pipe up through a closed annulus packer on the BOP. If only that part is true it is VERY telling.
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