It Wasn’t Exactly A Surprise

Henry Waxman is not a happy camper. From today’s House hearing

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said the oil company told the Energy and Commerce subcommittee on oversight privately that the well failed a key pressure test just hours before it exploded on April 20.

The test indicated pressure was building up in the well, which could indicate oil or gas was seeping in and could lead to an explosion, said Waxman.

“Yet it appears the companies did not suspend operations, and now 11 workers are dead and the Gulf faces an environmental catastrophe,” he said, asking why work wasn’t stopped on the well.

Actually, it would appear that work did stop, but nothing was done to improve the situation, according to the captain of the supply ship.

According to the testimony of Alwin Landry, captain of the supply ship Damon B. Bankston, his vessel was tied up at the Deepwater Horizon taking on drilling mud being pumped out of the well. He expected to received 4,500 barrels from the rig, but at 5:17PM the transfer stopped after only 3,100 barrels had been transferred. He was told that the transfer would restart later.

After 9:00 he called the rig to get an update because he had mud spattering his vessel. He was told to untie and take a position 500 feet away from the rig. At 9:53PM the rig caught fire as the well blew out.

It is reasonable to assume that the crew on the rig thought there was a problem at around 5:00PM, which is probably why they stopped pumping off the mud. What isn’t clear, is why they didn’t reverse direction and start pumping mud back into the well to counter the building pressure. They certainly could have transferred non-essential personnel to the Bankston until things were stable, and shut the hatches to make the rig water-tight.