I tend to ignore the stream of Unified Command media advisories that provide updates on the whereabouts of cabinet officials and tell us how many times they have been to the Gulf Coast. However, today’s message about Secretary Chu caught my attention. I have never met the man, but one senses that he is monitoring the well integrity tests because he is truly interested in the technical details, likes to work with scientists and engineers, is not afraid of a challenge, and feels personally responsible for the success of the intervention work. Let’s hope the Macondo well holds pressure, so that it can remain shut-in until it is killed.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, DOE, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, Secretary Chu, well control | Leave a Comment »
- Presumably BP is very slowly and carefully shutting in Macondo with the newly installed cap. Wellhead pressures are no doubt being very closely monitored. The strength of the 16″ casing is a concern as is the potenital for creating channels back to the surface. Those types of problems must be avoided.
- How concerned was the BP team about attempting the bottom kill without the sealing cap in place? Is the cap needed to create sufficient back-pressure and reduce the weight requirements for the kill mud? Absent the cap, would the required kill weight be high enough to seriously risk fracturing outside the production casing and causing an underground blowout?
- If BP can successfully shut-in the well, that will of course be fantastic news. However, questions must be raised about the sequence of intervention attempts and the reasons why such a sealing cap wasn’t tried sooner. The more we can minimize the screaming and finger-pointing, the more public and private benefit will be derived from this discussion.
- Can we broker a cease-fire in the moratorium debate and focus our collective energy on addressing the immediate technical and policy issues at hand? In the interim, each well should be carefully considered on a case-by-case basis. Water depth is only one consideration, and may prove to be a relatively minor factor in the Macondo blowout.
- We need to create an environment for leadership, ingenuity, and continuous improvement. The focus has to be on comprehensive safety achievement.
Posted in accidents, well control incidents | Tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore oil, safety, well control | Leave a Comment »
The Federal Government is unnecessarily delaying the release of a report into last year’s Montara oil spill off Australia’s north coast, the Northern Territory Opposition says.
On a related note, it would be great if preliminary findings from the DOI/DHS Macondo investigation could be released as soon as possible. There is much work to be done and all interested parties (in the US and elsewhere) need the best available information so that they can assess their programs. Better to err on the side of releasing findings to soon with any necessary caveats and disclaimers. In that regard, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce has done a good job of making their findings available without delay.
Posted in accidents, well control incidents | Tagged accidents, Australia, blowouts, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, Montara, oil spill, safety, well control | Leave a Comment »
BOE was cheering for the Netherlands and our good friends in the State Supervision of Mines, but it was not to be. Oh well, Rio is only 4 years away!
And how about that octupus? Perhaps we can get that creature interested in well integrity!
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
- 80% of Gulf of Mexico oil production or a quarter of total US production is from leases in greater than 1000 feet of water.
- Per the EIA chart above, a single deepwater Gulf platform (Thunderhorse) surpasses all but four states in oil production. 3 deepwater platforms outproduce all but 3 states.
- Total oil production from deepwater facilities approximates that of the State of Texas.
Posted in Offshore Energy - General, oil | Tagged Gulf of Mexico, offshore oil | 1 Comment »
Notes:
- Click on the diagram to enlarge
- The 9 7/8″ liner has NOT been run yet.
- Note the cement bond log. 3 months too late?
- Step 2 is to intercept and kill the flow in the annulus. If there is no flow inside the 7″ casing, step 2 will kill the well. This step is scheduled to be completed by the end of July.
- Step 3 will be necessary to make sure the production casing is plugged, even it there is no flow inside that casing.
- The timeframes are understandably conservative.
Posted in accidents, well control incidents | Tagged blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore oil, oil spill, relief well, safety, well control | Leave a Comment »
Regarding the relief wells, Development Driller III, which is the lead drilling rig for the relief wells is now at 17,780 feet measured depth, within a couple hundred feet of the proposed penetration point of the wellbore.
Admiral Allen: Thank you for reading BOE and responding to our request. You even specified “measured depth!”
Relief Well Team: Great work! Time to finish the job!
Posted in accidents, Uncategorized, well control incidents | Tagged accidents, admiral allen, blowouts, BOE, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore oil, safety, well control | Leave a Comment »
Varanus Island, Western Australia
Odd Finnestad, BOE’s Senior Vice-President for International Activities (note the recent promotion), and his talented, multi-lingual staff keep close tabs on investigations and accident reports worldwide. Odd thinks we may be in for a long wait for the Montara report, so the BOE cyber vigil will not include any rash measures like hunger strikes.
While Australia does a great job of investigating, holding hearings, and preparing reports, they seem to struggle with the simple step of releasing those reports. Odd reminds us that the report on the 2008 Varanus Island gas plant explosion has still not been released. This important accident reduced Western Australia’s gas supply by one-third, and thus had major economic consequences. The Veranus report was finalized in June 2009, but maneuvering by the responsible party and legal reviews within the Western Australia Ministry for Mines and Petroleum have kept this report under wraps. Now we are getting the same uncomfortable feeling about the Montara report. Perhaps, Minister Ferguson will prove us wrong and release the Montara report without further delay. We hope so!
Posted in accidents, well control incidents | Tagged accidents, Australia, blowouts, gas plant, Montara, safety, varanus, well control | Leave a Comment »
- The big question with regard to acoustic backup systems for BOPs is whether ambient noise associated with a seafloor blowout prevents the signal from being reliably received. The Macondo well would seem to provide an excellent opportunity for testing acoustic systems to see how effectively the signals are received under such challenging conditions. Too late?
- Still no regular relief well reports, but Admiral Allen commented yesterday that they only have about 200′ to drill. I’m assuming the 9 7/8″ liner has been set. If all this is accurate and there are no weather or technical delays, they should be ready to intercept the well bore soon (1-2 weeks?), even with the added time for special ranging and directional surveys.
- Unless the relief well is delayed, it doesn’t seem to make sense to change the LMRP cap at this time. Collection might improve somewhat with the new cap, but the well would be wide open during the change.
- Day 21 since the Montara report was delivered to the Ministry, and there are no recent news updates. No interest?
- Very good article in Platts as the media begins to show more interest in regulatory approaches.
Posted in accidents, well control incidents | Tagged acoustic BOP, Australia, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, Montara, well control | Leave a Comment »
We would have had mixed feelings if Germany and the Netherlands were meeting in the final, but now that the octopus has ended Germany’s run, BOE is fully behind the Dutch. Hup Holland Hup!
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
