The cost of this accident would have bought a hell of a lot of over-sized safety gear, but I’m wondering what changes were made from the initial plans when they actually started to drill the well.
Did they use different pipe than was originally specified? Did they drill deeper than planned? Was the equipment rated for the pressures that were encountered?
The Gulf has a lot of natural gas, hell, we have a lot of natural gas wells on the Panhandle. It must be part of the geology of the area. The gas isn’t a big secret, and should be expected when you drill around here. They had been dealing with it, so what changed? A lot of people have been pointing fingers at Halliburton and their cementing job, but what if they weren’t given the proper specifications for the well. I would think that they would want the cement to project into the oil area so there would be a “lip” to deal with the pressure. If they only poured into the pipe, wouldn’t the “plug move after it was cured?
There are too many unfilled spaces on the forms, not enough solid information on what the companies involved were told by those that hired them.
I would assume that BP will be suing all of the contracted companies involved with the well to try to recover as much as possible to cover it’s losses.
]]>In general, people can’t react fast enough to stop it, so the equipment is automated. If the BOP had worked, oil wouldn’t be pouring into the Gulf, so that was an obvious failure. I think they may find that the BOP did, in fact, activate, but was unable to do its job.
Reading the story just reinforces my opinion that the entire enterprise is a good deal more dangerous than people have been led to believe. However much oil was down there, it wasn’t worth the lives of 11 men and the death of the Gulf.
]]>Deepwater Horizon: A Firsthand Account
Whether or not it’s a true and accurate statement, I have no way of telling. It will be interesting to hear the final report on the incident.
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