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Posts Tagged ‘relief well’

What’s next? Static (top) kill? Relief well intercept? Weather is the key.

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 20, 2010| Leave a Comment »

  • As indicated in the Weather Undergound map above, a tropical system may be approaching, and weather may be the key factor in determining the next step at Macondo.  Is the hurricane season about to begin in earnest?  Fortunately the well is shut-in, and will likely remain shut-in (this is good news despite attempts to describe it otherwise).
  • BP is now considering a static kill operation – slowly injecting mud and killing the well from the top.  This should work, but timing is the key.  Could the operation be completed in what remains of the weather window? 
  • With regard to the relief well, is it prudent to initiate the Macondo intercept given the weather uncertainties?  Clearly, you do not want to have to relocate the DD3 in the middle of a bottom kill operation. 
  • Keep a close watch on the weather, as tropical waves and storms can appear and intensify overnight.

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More Macondodrama: Shall we dance?

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on July 19, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Statement by Admiral Allen this morning (19 July):

I authorized BP to continue the integrity test for another 24 hours and I restated our firm position that this test will only continue if they continue to meet their obligations to rigorously monitor for any signs that this test could worsen the overall situation.

Comments: 

  • Interesting wording.  Why imply that shutting-in the well is some type of special favor to BP?  One would think that BP would be directed (not allowed) to keep the well shut-in. 
  • I have seen no reason for discontinuing the “test.”  The reported gas observation could be a natural seep of which there are hundreds in the deepwater Gulf.  Even if there is minor gas seepage associated with near surface well integrity issues, this seepage will end when the source (the Macondo reservoir) is killed.  It is extremely unlikely that shutting in the Macondo well would create new channels (not associated with the well bore) all the way from the reservoir back to the seafloor. 
  • I thought last night’s leak about a leak was interesting.  Was the press leak intentional? Who was the leaker intending to embarass?  BP?  The Unified Command?  Admiral Allen?  Strange.

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Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , on July 17, 2010| Leave a Comment »

At this point, there is no evidence that we don’t   have well integrity. -Kent Wells tweet; 17 July; 0900 ET 

  • If the data continue to indicate that the well is holding pressure, why add new safety and pollution risks by resuming flow through multiple collection and production systems? 
  • Presumably they will leave the well shut-in and finish the job with the relief well.  Per Kent Wells, the relief well will intercept the well bore by the end of the month.  This would seem to be a conservative estimate.

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Well Integrity Tests – Prudent Delay or Too Much Information?

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 14, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Today I met with Secretary Chu, Marcia McNutt and other scientists and geologists as well as officials from BP and other industry representatives as we continue to prepare and review protocols for the well integrity test – including the seismic mapping run that was made around the well site this morning. As a result of these discussions, we decided that the process may benefit from additional analysis that will be performed tonight and tomorrow. ~ Admiral Allen

This well integrity test delay is probably reasonable and prudent, but one does wonder about the number of scientists involved, and whether the seismic data interpretations are sufficiently accurate to reliably assess fracturing and channeling risks.   

At this point, you could argue that a complete shut-in is not necessary.  However, the test probably still makes sense for the purpose of gathering useful well integrity data before the relief well hits its target, and for determining whether the well could be shut-in during a lenghty hurricane evacuation.

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BP Details Relief Well Timeline

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , , , on July 9, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Notes:

  1. Click on the diagram to enlarge
  2. The 9 7/8″ liner has NOT been run yet.
  3. Note the cement bond log.  3 months too late?
  4. 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.
  5. Step 3 will be necessary to make sure the production casing is plugged, even it there is no flow inside that casing.
  6. The timeframes are understandably conservative.

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Small Request for the Unified Command

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , 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.

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Montara Vigil Continues, Macondo Relief?, More Regulatory Theory

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , on July 6, 2010| Leave a Comment »

  1. Montara watch: 19 days have now elapsed since the Montara Inquiry Report was presented to Minister Ferguson, and there are no recent media updates on the release of the report. Meanwhile, Australian radio has a good piece on Montara – long, but worth the time.
  2. Macondo: The relief well reports continue to be sketchy and inconsistent.  On July 4, the Unified Command reported that the primary relief well had reached 17,400′ (presumably measured depth), while  BP’s update for the same date indicated that the first well had reached 17,725′ (this too must also be measure depth, not true vertical depth).  It’s unclear whether the final casing (9 7/8″ liner) has been set.  Admiral Allen will likely provide a better update today.
  3. More regulatory philosophy: The regulatory system is at least as important as the specific operating requirements.   This UNEP piece provides a good summary of the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches.

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Relief Well Down to 11817′ TVD BOF

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , , 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.

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Relief Well Status Per Admiral Allen

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 2, 2010| 1 Comment »

Per Admiral Allen:

Regarding the relief wells, Development Driller III now is at a distance of 11,641 feet below the seafloor.  As you know, they’re going through a series of operations which we call ranging.  They’re into their fourth cycle of this.  In ranging, they withdraw the drill pipe and put down an electrical cable and actually try and sense the magnetic field around the wellbore.  They are within around 15 feet of the wellbore at this point.  They will continue down 700, 800 more feet, slowly close into the wellbore, and when they know they’ve got it exactly in range, know exactly where the drill pipe is in relation to the wellbore, then they will attempt to move in and drill through the wellbore and then the casing as well.  At that point they’ll be in a position to be able to try the bottom kill or to be able to insert the mud, and hopefully after that, put a cement plug in that will kill the well.

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Relief Well Fever

Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged , , , , , , , 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! 🙂

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