Posted on 08/05/2010 9:40:32 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
The Deepwater well has now reached a point where the mud inside the well is applying enough weight to the fluid in the formation that the flow of fluid, when such exists, is now from the well back into the rock. The well is sufficiently secure that, just before 7 pm CST Wednesday, Admiral Allen issued the following press release:
Based on the successful completion of the static kill procedure and a positive evaluation of the test results, I have authorized BP to cement its damaged well. I made it clear that implementation of this procedure shall in no way delay the completion of the relief well.
In his press conference Wednesday, Kent Wells described the steps to kill the well, and what is currently happening as the work moves toward sealing the well.
The crew is now running the drill pipe within the relief well, but must first run a test of the Blow-out Preventer (BOP). There is a regulation, which the other drilling rig did not follow earlier in the process, that is, no doubt, now being practiced.
The Transocean Development Driller II (DD II) working for BP, received one INC (Incidence of Non-Compliance) because it had not alternated between control stations for BOP testing. MMS regulations require that the regular 14-day BOP tests alternate between the BOP station on the rig floor and the remote station located at another site on the rig. On the DD II they conducted the BOP pressure testing only from the driller’s control station for the last two tests. They did perform function testing on the remote station, but the pressure testing was only performed using the driller’s station. MMS has ordered the rig to alternate control stations in the future. . . . . . in addition, as a condition of its drilling permit, the rig will be required to conduct increased testing of the BOP stack and Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) intervention both on the rig and on the seabed.
I presume that it is this scheduled BOP test that is currently being planned. After it is over then the excess cement that is still in the casing will be drilled out. This will allow instruments to then move over the full length of the injected cement to ensure that the cement was placed properly (using a cement bond log – something that was controversially not done by Schlumberger before the well failure of the Deepwater Horizon). In addition there will be a leakoff test, to test the strength of the surrounding rock.
Simplistically, the pressure in the bottom of the well is slowly increased until the fluid in the well starts to penetrate the rock, shown when the pressure no longer steadily increases as fluid is added. This is then used to determine the weight of the mud that will then be used to drill the last section of the well (to ensure that the well pressure isn’t high enough to reach that pressure that will fracture the rock, and lose fluid to the formation).
With that in hand the well will start the short advances, then be surveyed, then advance again, to ensure that the relief well remains on target to hit the original well, first along the annulus, and then to penetrate through the production casing to allow a cement seal of the whole bottom section of the well.
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Started by snakehead on August 5, 2010 - 10:01am
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Bab Cesca rants about the USG's "nothing to see here, move along" PR pitch http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-cesca/the-bp-disaster-continues_b_6709...
Jerry Cope and Charles Hambleton, The Crime of the Century: What BP and the US Government Don't Want You to Know, Part I: "The Gulf of Mexico from the Source into the shore is a giant kill zone." [Note: disturbing photos] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-cope/the-crime-of-the-century_b_6629...
What stands out for me was the sheer number of corners cut, from reviews to inspections, to procedures, to materials...
It strikes me that there were too many checks and balances in place for them all to have been ignored without the application of external forces, piling straw on the camel so to speak. This is especially true when it involves a potentially huge find with top-of-the-line equipment and personnel in a demanding environment. Nobody with a brain cuts corners in a situation like that and nobody without a brain gets to run a job like that. Yet in this case, it was definitely a massive group effort. How does that happen unless external forces were applied?
I have worked in the chemical processing industry. I can tell you that I have undergone such management pressures. Yet when I, as a lowly project engineer, whipped out a piece of paper and demanded a review, I got one, thus over-ruling a division VP in a Fortune 200 company. It may have cost me a promotion, but it did not cost me my job. In fact, not only did we succeed, but we were able to do truly innovative things with minimal review because we had transformed our relationships with the air quality people.
A drilling operation like this is far more bureaucratic. I just don't see how this kind of thing can happen without external forces applied, vigorously. Where I come from, people would quit their jobs before letting such things happen. At that point, the cat would be out of the bag. There would be memos, calls to reporters...
This is fun!! I had no idea there were conspiracy theories sprouting like weeds around the oil spill!
However, before we get too carried away, let’s not forget that 11 people died as a result of the oil well blow-out. The very people who were in charge of capping it. We’re these Bilterberger Suicide Bombers? Stupid fools who were sent knowingly to their death by people higher on the food chain? (But not too high, who ordered the sea-water cap? Did that person live??)
Enquiring minds want to know!
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Since we a little time to wait for the cmt results perhaps we can take a look at the politics involved and the continued economic impact on the economy of Louisiana. The following should irritate everyone whether you're for or against offshore drilling. It's about our govt playing all of us for fools. Not much in the news these days about the Deep Water moratorium the feds have been trying to implement. Way back in the beginning I pointed out that there was no need for an official moratorium if the feds wanted DW drilling to be suspended for a time. They could achieve the same results administratively if they so wanted. I'm going to skip the details of the permitting process...way to long and not important to understanding the lie.
The easiest way to show how the politicians are playing is to not even look at the DW situation. Let's focus on the shallow water (less than 500' water depth) drilling arena. The feds said they weren't going to impede drilling in those areas. Right! here's the publicly available numbers: shallow water drill permits approved in the three months prior to the BP blow out = 56. Permits approved in the 3 months after the blow out = 4. And 2 of those 4 were for wells to be sidetracked out of existing holes and thus weren't really new drills. An interesting point from the below article: "On top of that, one operator was told directly by a BOEMRE employee that he could not offer the slightest measure of flexibility in considering their permit application, as his job would be on the line if it came to light."
Forget the dishonest aspect of the situation. let's focus on the economy of Louisiana. The economic impact of the DW moratorium has already been covered in some detail: a loss of $12 - $15 billion in cash flow to local service companies (remember: the oil companies aren't losing any money by the moratorium) and as many as 40,000 lost jobs. But there are almost twice as many shallow water rigs in the GOM as there are DW rigs. We haven't begun to see the additional economic toll this will have on La. there is a time lag to consider. The shallow water wells drilling today had received their permits anywhere from 3 to 12 months before the BP accident. I can only guess but we should see the shallow water slump begin to slump in the next couple of months. And when the feds eventually start granted permits to pre-accident rates the turnaround will be very slow. Just like the DW rigs the SW water rigs are not just going to sit there and wait. There is an even greater demand overseas for shallow water rigs than DW rigs. Can't offer a guess but some percentage will be shipped overseas. And they won't be back for years.
Again, even if you're opposed to all offshore drilling you should be a tad upset at your govt for not being upfront about it. And, IMHO, this isn't even much of a PO issue. Sure, we'll lose some future production but that won't be the critical impact. It's going to be the economy and well being of the people of La. The neighbors to the eats, Alabama and Mississippi are well known for being two of the poorest states in the country. La. would rank right down there with them if it were not for the oil industry. everything has a price that must be paid. If we want to protect the offshore environment at all cost so be it. But it would be fair if the govt were honest and told the folks in La. that they were going to bear the brunt of that cost.
http://www.redstate.com/vladimir/2010/08/02/the-shallow-water-non-morato...
The graph above is from the Redstate article linked at post #24.
This is turning out to be what I had initially thought, a disaster no doubt, 11 good folks lost their lives, numbers injured and a huge leak at around 65,000 BOD. But like I told my children, the rivers flowing into the Gulf alone probably deliver 65 million barrels of water a day.
Oil is a naturally occurring substance, gets eaten by bacteria, evaporated by the sun and dispersed into Gulf water to the point of near insignificance. I think the enviros are shutting up because the "evidence" is not appearing as they have screamed and warned about.
“Oil is a naturally occurring substance, gets eaten by bacteria, evaporated by the sun and dispersed into Gulf water to the point of near insignificance. I think the enviros are shutting up because the “evidence” is not appearing as they have screamed and warned about.”
Reality and real science are the enemies of the lefty enviralists.
Ah yes... the old “giant kill zone” routine. It’s been interesting watching the tinfoil hat crowd dealing with its claims being disproved one by one. Given the choice between admitting they were wrong, and coming up with even wilder claims, they keep choosing the latter. I’ll bet the item today to the effect that the dispersant level normally found in the Mississippi is higher than the current level in the gulf has really driven them around the bend.
On second thought, I think we’ve just found that “giant kill zone”, and it’s the giant economic kill zone that Rockman describes.
Oh goody! Another shill throwing "conspiracy theory" around as if political collusion was an impossibility. Ya think there wasn't conspiracy involved between Germany and Russia over Poland? Sheesh.
There is sound reason for suspicion here:
Did you call me a shill?
Ha! Now that’s funny.
There are Conspiracys, of course, and then there are Conspiracy Theories, which are unproved conjectures about what may have happened.
There is no hard evidence offered here, only a wild-ass conjecture that it someehow might have helped BP to blow up their own well (which has cost them billions in bad publicity, billions in clean-up costs, billions in lost revenue from the ruined well, etc.)
In summary: I am not a shill, but you and anyone else who thinks this was intentional are delusional.
Have a great weekend. I’m leaving on vacation now (with my vast oil-company payoffs for defusing the crack investigators on FR who have discovered our terrible secret!! ha ha ha ha)
Until the conspiracies were proven, discussions about them were conspiracy theories. That didn't make them foolish then either. Without a hypothesis, one doesn't know what to measure.
There is no hard evidence offered here, only a wild-ass conjecture that it someehow might have helped BP to blow up their own well (which has cost them billions in bad publicity, billions in clean-up costs, billions in lost revenue from the ruined well, etc.)
And stands to pay off in hundreds of billions (if not trillions) via exclusions and cap and trade. Nice try.
I was asked to speculate about what might be BP's motives. So I did.
In summary: I am not a shill, but you and anyone else who thinks this was intentional are delusional.
With a proof like that you are certifiable. You clearly did not avail yourself of one of those articles which are all fully documented with historical references to original sources. There is good reason to be suspicious here, which is all I offered, per request.
No doubt they have formulated some back up plans if the BP Relief Well plans fail. That nut Simmons probably got wind of the worse case scenario and has been blowing the whole thing out of proportion. My 2 cents.
Right now the three main seals leaks in the stack have stopped leaking. At least two have, they have not shown us the one near the center of the BOP in awhile. They really could not anyway, since it was completely caked over with crud. It appears however that the main BOP leaks all stopped cold right around the time we were publicly notified that Thad gave the okay for cement.
They have had an ROV on the well head, where gas was leaking from valves, since they started the injectivity test and the Top Kill Mud process. Not once have I seen a live feed for what is going on down at the well head. That is one area where the outer casing leakage could have been forced up by the pressure of the inner casing Top Mud Kill. So we have no clue about outer casing leakage.
And I rarely know what the MSM crowd is even saying. Have no way to watch it. To me it is usually the Comedy Network anyway. Just invert what they say and you are closer to the truth.
See #16 for an interesting conspiracy idea by Carry_Okie...which is not that far fetched after seeing the Global Warming Hoax .
BTW - Only posted this because you were asking for conspiratorial thoughts.
I just received this by email, but it sums up BP's cash flow situation nicely, shill.
ACCOUNTING 101
It seems like a miracle that our leader was able to convince BP to establish a $20 billion escrow fund to compensate those hurt by the ongoing oil plume in the Gulf of Mexico. After all, he had no constitutional power to force them to do so.
Let us take a closer look at the effect on BP's 2010 finances:
Let us put the results into a table easily understood by the "little" people:
- Escrow funding ($7 billion)
- Dividend saving $7.5 billion
- Tax savings $7 billion
- Net favorable cash flow for 2010 to BP : $7.5 billion
U S Treasury Tax Receipts/Reductions:
- BP Corporate income tax (-$7.5 billion)
- BP Shareholders (-$0.45 billion)
- Net unfavorable tax receipts ($7.95 billion)
I guess we really should expect this. After all, our anointed leader is the most inexperienced man in any room he enters.
Scorecard:
BP Corporate Bean Counters - 1
Washington Tax Smart Guys - 0
American People - We Get BP (Bean Poop)
This isn't so hard to understand - BP made their largest political contributions to Obama's campaign. Obama plays politics acting tough on BP, and we pay.
Frankly, I admire BP for their deal making ability. They must have brought their accountants to the table. After all, BP is not a fly-by-night operation and Obama thought he and his minimal business experience tax people and accountants could take on BP.
This is not to mention the profits BP will make on the resulting shortages made without investing a dime in production.
I really get tired of useless idiots like you, Jack Black, but you serve a purpose. I get to show people how brain-dead the "all private enterprise is good" meme can be, because this isn't it. This is fascism, writ so large few can see it. Now, maybe you'll go back and peruse those links I posted for your benefit, eh sirrah?
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