This presentation is pretty basic for BOE’s very savvy readers, but it includes a good discussion of the differences between Shell’s typical drilling and barrier practices and the Macondo well design.
Posts Tagged ‘well control’
Shell Presentation: Drilling 101
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, safety, Shell, well control on July 16, 2010| 2 Comments »
A Couple of Points
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore oil, oil spill, safety, well control on July 16, 2010| Leave a Comment »
- Tough decision looming?: Assuming the well continues to hold pressure and other surveys don’t indicate any anomalies, will they leave the well shut-in or resume flow through the collection systems? This will be an interesting decision.
- Insignificant detail that is probably only of interest to me: Since 1971 when I started tracking blowout data, a relief well has not been required to halt the flow from any drilling blowout in US (Federal) offshore waters. On several occasions, relief wells were initiated but not needed to stop the flow from a well. Since the Macondo flow is now under control, at least at this time, this record appears to have been sustained. A relief well will still, of course, be needed to kill the well, so this is admittedly a nuanced and largely insignificant detail (especially since nearly 3 months were required to shut-in/control the Macondo well).
Well Integrity Test is ON
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore oil, oil spill, well control, well integrity test on July 14, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Capping Stack BOP Before Installation on Well
Here we go ……
- Close rams to shut-in flow from the top while allowing flow through choke and kill lines on sides of capping stack.
- Slowly close kill line.
- Slowly close choke line.
- If the pressure holds through all 3 steps, Secretary Chu does a touchdown dance in the BP control room (BOE exclusive :))
Other:
- Operation will be halted every 6 hours to monitor pressure;
- Ongoing ROV monitoring of well and seafloor;
- Remote sensing systems looking for evidence of leakage outside the wellbore;
- Up to a 48 hour process
Well Integrity Tests – Prudent Delay or Too Much Information?
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, relief well, safety, well control, well integrity test 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.
Secretary Chu in Houston for Well Integrity Tests
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, DOE, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, Secretary Chu, well control on July 13, 2010| Leave a Comment »
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.
Cap Talk
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore oil, safety, well control on July 13, 2010| 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.
NT opposition questions Montara report delays; preliminary Macondo findings?
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, Australia, blowouts, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, Montara, oil spill, safety, well control on July 12, 2010| 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.
BP Details Relief Well Timeline
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged blowouts, Deepwater Horizon, drilling, Gulf of Mexico, macondo, offshore oil, oil spill, relief well, safety, well control on July 9, 2010| Leave a 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.
Thank you Admiral Allen
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 on July 9, 2010| 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!
Montara Watch – Cyber Vigil Continues
Posted in accidents, well control incidents, tagged accidents, Australia, blowouts, gas plant, Montara, safety, varanus, well control on July 9, 2010| 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!
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 