- 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.
Posts Tagged ‘Deepwater Horizon’
Acoustic switches, etc
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged acoustic BOP, Australia, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, Montara, well control on July 8, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Small Request for the Unified Command
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged Deepwater Horizon, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, relief well, safety, unified command, well control on July 7, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Those of us on the “Deepwater Response External Affairs” Mailing List received ten email updates yesterday. Not one included relief well information. The relief well information that has been provided has been inconsistent and contradictory.
Given the importance of these wells and the apparent confusion among observers (a number of whom have contacted BOE), a daily relief well update would be appreciated, at least for the primary well. It would be helpful if the subject line said “relief well update.” This update should include the precise relief well depth, whether the depth is measured (total length) or true vertical, and the point of reference (e.g. below the sea floor). A short summary of the operations over the past 24 hours would also be helpful.
Preventing Future Blowouts and Limiting their Effects
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged blowouts, Colin Leach, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, safety, well control on July 5, 2010| Leave a Comment »
BOE friend and internationally recognized well control expert Colin Leach has submitted an excellent paper suggesting new procedures that will improve well design and intervention. Click here to read Colin’s paper.
The goal is to eliminate the possibility of what actually could happen not being recognized (at the time of the design). This is achieved by having a core of knowledge against which individual operating companies and outside assessors can assess designs and approaches. Communication between the operator and the “knowledge core”would be confidential as long as a well control incident did not occur. The format of this “knowledge core” is such that it eliminates the “committee think” within an operating company where a dissenting individual (who is actually knowledgeable) can be overruled by a committee vote.
Relief Well Down to 11817′ TVD BOF
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, relief well, safety, well control on July 2, 2010| Leave a Comment »
bottom of the flowing Macondo well
Based on the latest information provided by Admiral Allen, the relief well has reached 11817′ below the sea floor and is thus only 273′ above the 9 7/8″ casing shoe on the flowing Macondo well. After drilling another 200+ feet, they will open (enlarge) the relief well and install a 9 7/8″ liner. They will then drill a few hundred feet beneath the liner and intercept the flowing well. They will presumably kill the flow in the annulus outside the casing (assuming that is a flow path) with heavy mud before milling into the 7″ casing, killing any flow inside that casing, and plugging the well bore with cement. Stay tuned.
Relief Well Fever
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, DD3, Deepwater Horizon, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, relief well, well control on July 1, 2010| Leave a Comment »
DD3
BOE doesn’t really care about where LeBron James chooses to play basketball, but we are big fans of the team on the Development Driller III or DD3. The DD3 crew, some of whom are Deepwater Horizon survivors, is ahead of schedule and predictions for an early intercept and well kill are approaching irrational exuberance levels. This may be the most important well in history, and crew has responded to the challenge.
After the DD3 crew finishes the job, we owe them a victory parade in New Orleans. “Throw me somethin’ mista! 🙂
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, international, Jane Cutler, macondo, Montara, NOPSA, offshore oil, safety, well control on June 30, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Interesting comments from Jane Cutler, CEO of Australia’s National Offshore Safety Petroleum Safety Authority, in NOPSA’s excellent newsletter:
The incidents in the Gulf of Mexico (Deepwater Horizon) and at the Montara wellhead platform are different in many respects, particularly in technical matters. However, they share some common factors prompting regulatory action.
I agree entirely with Ms. Cutler. International regulators and operators must work in concert to address and resolve these issues.
Updates on the relief wells
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore oil, oil spill, relief well, safety, well control on June 29, 2010| Leave a Comment »
BP has released a slide presentation and animation on the relief wells showing the intercept point below the 9 7/8″ casing shoe. The exact sequence of operations once they reach the intercept point will be interesting to observe. They should encounter flow when they reach the 7″ casing annulus (assuming that is a flow path; there still seems to be some uncertainty in that regard). Will they attempt to kill the flow in the annulus before milling into the 7″ casing? Is there flow inside the 7″ casing via channels in the casing shoe? Is there drill pipe inside the casing?
First Post-Macondo Well Control Legislation
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, Blowout Prevention Act, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, macondo, oil spill, safety, well control on June 26, 2010| 1 Comment »
The House Energy and Commerce Committee has posted a discussion draft of the Blowout Prevention Act of 2010. A hearing is scheduled for 30 June.
Be very concerned about “sudden storms”
Posted in accidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, Gulf of Mexico, hurricanes, macondo, offshore oil, oil spill, safety, sudden storms on June 26, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Hurricane Juan - "Sudden Storm" killed 9 offshore workers in 1985
The offshore industry has an outstanding hurricane evacuation record, but the Macondo blowout adds a significant new dimension to the decision making process. Disconnect the production risers and 35,000 to 60,000 bopd flow directly into the Gulf. Suspend the relief wells and the final Macondo solution gets moved that much farther into the future.
There will be pressure to minimize the downtime and that would be a mistake. Days, not hours, will be needed to prepare for the evacuations. Decisions will have to be made well in advance of a storm’s arrival and will be based on less reliable long-term weather forecasts. If a shutdown decision is made too soon, hundreds of thousands of additional barrels of oil pour into the Gulf. If the decision is delayed, lives are threatened.
The most frightening scenarios are associated with “sudden storms” which can form in or near the Gulf and explode into hurricanes in hours, not days. The rapid formation and development of these storms precludes an orderly shutdown and evacuation process, and poses a major safety threat to workers. In 1985, nine offshore workers were killed when Hurricane Juan formed suddenly in the Gulf and personnel could not be safely evacuated.
Let’s hope that the well is brought under control before any hurricanes enter or form in the Gulf. If not, decision makers need to exercise extreme caution and shutdown operations before lives are threatened.
Interesting Comments from Admiral Allen
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, BOE, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore oil, oil spill, safety, well control on June 23, 2010| Leave a Comment »
I believe they’re going to try and intercept somewhere around between 16,700 and 17,000 feet. We will confirm that for you and put out a statement tomorrow.
Comment: I pasted that portion of the well cross-section above. It looks like the plan is to drill into the 7″ x 9 7/8″ annulus (the most likely flow path) and secure that annulus. Based on the float and casing shoe issues that have been reported, the flow could also be inside the 7″ production casing or both inside the casing and in the annulus. (Also, sealing the annulus could force flow through possible shoe channels inside the production casing). They will presumably have to drill through the 7″ casing (after the annulus has been secured?) and set a cement plug inside the casing.
They decided not to use the blowout preventer because of the uncertainty regarding the status of the wellbore and what pressure might do going down. That’s the reason they abandoned the Top Kill and the capping exercise at that point.
Comment: Admiral Allen confirms reports that the second BOP option was dropped because of downhole issues. Poor well integrity sure makes things difficult. Concerns have been raised about the strength of the 16″ casing, and possible fracture paths outside casing. If the ROV had been able to actuate the BOP and seal the well, would casing failure and formation fracturing have occurred; or are subsequent events (erosion?) the primary reason for these well integrity concerns?
Secretary Salazar and Secretary Chu had a meeting last week in Washington with other industry representatives beyond BP, other oil-producing companies that are out there, and we’ve actually identified a couple of platforms that are in the area that might be capable of taking the product coming out of the wellbore through pipelines and either producing it or putting it back down into the reservoir. We’re exploring that over the next couple of days.
Comment: Yikes!
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 
