I awoke to an email message from Odd Finnestad linking the BP announcement. It’s only fitting that Odd delivered the news. He and I have been following Montara and Macondo on a daily basis since August 21, 2009, the day the Montara well blew out in the Timor Sea. A few thoughts:
- The real end date for the blowout was July 15th, when the containment cap shut-in the well. It was an uncertain ending with the capping described as a temporary integrity test and talk about re-opening well vents. Fortunately, good judgement and common sense prevailed, and the well remained shut-in.
- The efforts to prevent recurrence can now proceed with fewer distractions. It’s difficult to calmly address the issues while video images of oil gushing into the Gulf are being broadcast worldwide.
- We need to do more than react to Macondo, and every offshore operator and contractor needs to be involved. Only 20% of Gulf of Mexico operators attended a critical industry-government hurricane conference after Katrina and Rita. (No, I’m not going to stop ranting about this!)
- Industry needs to look at EVERY aspect of offshore operations, not just the drilling issues associated with Macondo. Fixing what happened at Macondo doesn’t prevent production, pipeline, and other types of drilling disasters. Helicopter safety, lifting operations, and workplace safety issues also need to be further addressed.
- This is a major effort and everyone needs to participate. If you aren’t committed to improving overall safety performance, in the US and worldwide, you shouldn’t be in the business.
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 
Good news…we wait to see how much mud was pumped to confirm if the flow path was the backside of the 9 7/8″ or the inside.
Indeed. It will be good to have that mystery resolved!
From the BP transcript today
Vivian Kuo: Hi there, Kent. It seems that it took you just a relatively short amount of time to achieve this static condition, so does this mean that the seal over the annulus wasn’t compromised and that the mud filled up the drill pipe and casing only? And if that’s the case, is there a way to quantify how much easier this will make the bottom kill down the line?
Kent Wells: Yes, I think that’s a good question. What we do know is that what we saw is that it appears that the mud we pumped went straight down the casing, but clearly the teams are continuing to look at that.
My Comment
Perhaps the blow-out was straight up inside the 9 7/8″…if so, the parallels with Montara are very close…….setting barriers………so important!!!!!