Spill Baby Spill!

[anothershamus]

we definitely need more offshore drilling so we can real destroy the environment we have left!




I know there is another thread but I really wanted to post this title.

[Asta]

Check this out:
"Concerns about the cementing process—and about whether rigs have enough safeguards to prevent blowouts—raise questions about whether the industry can safely drill in deep water and whether regulators are up to the task of monitoring them.

The scrutiny on cementing will focus attention on Halliburton Co., the oilfield-services firm that was handling the cementing process on the rig, which burned and sank last week. The disaster, which killed 11, has left a gusher of oil streaming into the Gulf from a mile under the surface.

Federal officials declined to comment on their investigation, and Halliburton didn't respond to questions from The Wall Street Journal.

According to Transocean Ltd., the operator of the drilling rig, Halliburton had finished cementing the 18,000-foot well shortly before the explosion. Houston-based Halliburton is the largest company in the global cementing business, which accounted for $1.7 billion, or about 11%, of the company's revenue in 2009, according to consultant Spears & Associates."

Entire story at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 69072.html

Halliburton is going to see to it that our planet is destroyed. It's what they do best.

[sunny]

[Hugo Farnsworth]

AFAIK now (and that ain't much), all fingers point to BP. One thing I found out was that BP opted out of a remote control system for the subsea wellhead. Bad call. You have to station a work boat permanently at anchor with a backup control system throughout the drilling operation and supply it. If they ran the casing in too fast, they may have broken down the formation(s) in the open hole, causing lost returns, which caused the blowout.
If that happened, they may not have gotten to even start cementing operations. If that's the case, Big Red Halliburton (my spell check suggested I change this word to hallucinate) is off the hook. But a bad cement job was definitely the cause of the Ensco 51 blowout: http://home.versatel.nl/the_sims/rig/ensco51.htm

[Phil]

Check this out:
"Concerns about the cementing process—and about whether rigs have enough safeguards to prevent blowouts—raise questions about whether the industry can safely drill in deep water and whether regulators are up to the task of monitoring them.

According to BP, there's nothing to worry about. Even if there is a spill, it's miles away!

There could be further embarrassment in passages from the plan for the well site that was submitted by the company to federal authorities last year. While it does not rule out that a leak could harm beaches, wetlands and wildlife refuges, no one should be worried, it said: "due to the distance to shore (48 miles) and the response capabilities that would be implemented, no significant adverse impacts are expected."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 60372.html

[Jeff]

But Rep. Gene Taylor (D) says "this isn't Armageddon."

Insofar as he's referring to the Day of Judgement upon the wicked, he's correct.

[MacCruiskeen]

It's not Armageddon, but it is an ongoing catastrophe. In other words, it's business as usual, i.e., with externalities*. Damage to "the environment" is and always has been an inevitable concominant of all economic activity, but since "the environment" can't sue for damages or even hire a lawyer, "the environment" can simply fuck off and die.

Which it is doing, to be fair.

*aka transaction spillovers. Ho ho.

[Nordic]

It's not Armageddon, but it is an ongoing catastrophe. In other words, it's business as usual, i.e., with externalities*. Damage to "the environment" is and always has been an inevitable concominant of all economic activity, but since "the environment" can't sue for damages or even hire a lawyer, "the environment" can simply fuck off and die.

Which it is doing, to be fair.

*aka transaction spillovers. Ho ho.

I took a very interesting course in college, just for the hell of it, about the history of "the environment", which was really all about the awakening awareness as to the importance of the environment to western humans specifically Americans.

Environmental law began when one city would sue another sue over fucking up their air/water.

If it weren't for that, we'd probably never have had any environmental laws.

This is a clear case of one industry fucking up another industry (actually several!), so there should be lawsuits a-plenty, hopefully leading to some new laws.

Hopefully.

Of course in the meantime it's a godawful disastrous mess.

Last night I got into it on Facebook with some idiot who was trying to say it wasn't that bad and that we really needed to drill everywhere we could domestically for "energy independence". I just couldn't let that go. It got ugly, but mainly from him. I think maybe his head acually exploded.

[Iamwhomiam]

I think maybe his head acually exploded.

Now that would be an environmental disaster for whomever he lived with. But I'm sure they'd hire someone to clean up the mess and move on to another local mourning their loss. (of combined income)

[Simulist]

I think maybe his head actually exploded.

From the way it sounds, he wasn't using it much anyway.

[82_28]

Oil spill may have been triggered by environmentalists blowing up oil rig to celebrate Earth Day’s 40th anniversary, says Limbaugh.

Saying he was ‘just noting the timing’ of it, conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh suggested that ‘environmentalist wackos’ may have blown up the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico — an incident which can already be characterized as one of the largest ecological disasters in U.S. history.

Limbaugh suggested that because the Senate may soon be considering climate and energy legislation, legislation that Limbaugh claims was going to be unveiled on Earth Day, environmentalists could be trying to call attention to their cause by observing the 40th anniversary of Earth Day by blowing up the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico.

“This bill was strongly criticized by hard-core environmentalist wackos because it supposedly allowed more offshore drilling and nuclear plants,” said Limbaugh of the yet to be unveiled Kerry-Graham-Lieberman climate and energy bill.

“What better way to head off more oil drilling, nuclear plants, than by blowing up a rig?” Limbaugh asked. “I’m just, I’m just noting the timing here."

Limbaugh then ‘noted the timing’ of the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland catching fire.

“Don’t forget, the original earth day 40 years ago was inspired by the river in Cleveland catching fire. 40 years later the day before Earth Day this year, the Gulf is on fire.”

“Coincidence? The jury’s still out,” said Limbaugh.

Is it a coincidence that almost 41 years ago on June 22, 1969, sparks from a passing train ignited an oil slick in the Cuyahoga River–an event that is not known for sparking Earth Day but rather for leading to passage of the Clean Water Act–and then on April 20, 2010 an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig killed 11 workers and spilled 2 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico already? Yes.

The jury is not still out, Rush. Other than in the machinations of your own mind, the jury was never in.

http://ecopolitology.org/2010/05/01/lim ... p-oil-rig/

[norton ash]

I don't think there's a hell. So I hope that Rush Limbaugh has very, very, very bad luck-- a HORRIBLE fortune-- for the rest of his days.

[barracuda]

But Rep. Gene Taylor (D) says "this isn't Armageddon."

From the same article:

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Tupelo, said if offshore drilling ceases, "oil prices will go up and we'll have to import more oil."

Isn't BP a British company? Does the oil pumped by a British company count as domestic product we don't have to import?

[chump]

I've been looking at this today because it is such a huge story. I hope you don't mind if I share. Sheesh.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/w ... 113708.ece

President Barack Obama will today visit the Gulf of Mexico coastline threatened by the giant oil spill, as experts warn that the spill from a ruptured oil rig might be growing five times faster than previously estimated.

The oil is gushing from BP's sunken Deepwater Horizon rig at 25,000 barrels a day and could reach 50,000 barrels a day, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Earlier estimates had put the leak at 5,000 barrels a day.

Gulf oil spill: The Halliburton connection
Margot Roosevelt and Jill Leovy
http://uruknet.com/?p=m65588&hd=&size=1&l=e

According to experts cited in Friday's Wall St. Journal, the timing of last week's cement job in relation to the explosion -- only 20 hours beforehand, and the history of cement problems in other blowouts "point to it as a possible culprit." Robert MacKenzie, managing director of energy and natural resources at FBR Capital Markets and a former cementing engineer, told the Journal, "The initial likely cause of gas coming to the surface had something to do with the cement."

Radio interview with a survivor who was there
http://www.drillingahead.com/

This guy insists that this is not terrorism. Ironically, this disaster could be a boon for oil producers. I read somewhere that BP is insured by some fund up to a $1B; although they could be fined $3B. If this causes the offshore from being developed, oil prices would then have an excuse to rise. This is described as a "once in a lifetime disaster", and that the chances of this happening are extremely slim. FWIW, this guy says that those who perished, did so right away. "They must have been directly inside the bomb when it went off...(pause)... the bomb being the natural gas." He makes it clear that he did not mean an actual bomb, and makes it clear that he does not think it was a terrorist's bomb.

But, there does not have to be a bomb, per se. He also mentions that the drillers mud is used to control the flow of natural gas surging up from the depths, and that it is like a balancing act, the pressure of the gas held down in the pipe by the weight of the mud. If this was sabotage, it would have been easy enough to pull off; easier than it would be to make a mistake!?

Paraphrasing (writing as fast as I could):
The Blow Out Preventer (BOP) stack was tested. He doesn't know the results of that test, but it must have passed. They displaced all the mud out of the riser, opened BOP stack, test was sufficient or they wouldn't have opened the stack. When they opened the well they received a kick, Gas got into it and blew the top off. Gas got into the balance between the to maintain pressure on the well bore itself(?) Gas pushing one way and the mud pushing the other. The ideal situation is to control the kick. The sheer volume of gas just kicks up. gas blew sea water out of riser, and then leak out of the wellhead, and then ignited. setting off a series of explosions.

Transocean Deepwater Horizon Explosion-A Discussion of What Actually Happened?
http://www.drillingahead.com/forum/topi ... -horizon-1

commments
Reply by Terry Eastwood on April 30, 2010 at 4:19pm
as I understand it they had finished cementing casing. They were trying to set some sort of hydraulic packer but it wasnt setting. They had as many as 10 attempts. There had either been some gas migration through the cement or a 'micro annulus' and once the gas reached the riser the sequence of events would then have happened very quickly.

Reply by Roger Pellow on April 30, 2010 at 4:21pm
There would have been enough warning signs that the well was starting to kick (there always are when you read reports from other incidents!). At 18,000 ft the oil, gas, whatever would have taken a bit of time to reach the BOP. Perhaps the logger should have been monitoring the trip a bit better?. I guess they were running a liner as it appears from other reports that there was DP to surface? You should have been able to shear the liner with full boost (7"? 5"?) or the pipe depending what was across the BOP at the time.

Reply by Keith Ray 1 day ago
The BOP FAILED. It wasn't these fellows first day on the job. They knew they had a kick. I was Deweys AD and he was sharp as well as Jason. They done all they could do. Yeah there were warning signs but what can you do if your BOP fails. God Bless their souls they knew what the hell they were doing.

Reply by Curtis 1 day ago
Thanks Keith,
can you share any info on what part of the BOPs failed or what caused the failure? Also could you tell us exactly what they were doing at the time, had the well been cemented,etc..
We are all working together to try and understand what happened. It all part of the mourning process I guess. We try to understand so we can make some sort of sense out of the loss of our brothers

Reply by Karl Eiriksson 1 day ago
Kieth,
I appreciate your comments,are you one of the survivors? or on days off? I haven't worked a deep water rig like you have. I'm new to the deep water risers, you have a choke line,killine, and assorted lines to Annular, TPR, BPR and Blind Rams...How do you test the BOP when it's 5,000' below sea level?.....run a test plug on 5" DP and land it in the section A or B...........sorry for being so illiterate, I don't know these deep water operations.

Reply by Brian holland 1 day ago
Dear Keith,
My sympathies are with the men from the rig and I respect your indignation at any suggestion that the events where caused by your compatriots. But it simply is not true. To suggest that every component down to the abosolutely shut down fail safe, 'Dead man' function failed, beggars belief.
I see a ROV pic where there is flow from a DP protruding. That could be indication that Blind shears have not activated but all the rams may have closed. If they were cementing there would not be an NRV in the string so flow up string would exist.
Please accept my condolences and let the challenges fly. It is the manner in which we may get to the bottom of the failure. Challenges to the right or wrongs of fellow crew men is not disrespectful. I believe that if they were still with us and realised that they missed something they would tell us to prevent a recurrence.
Once again my sincere sympathy,
Brian Holland

Reply by Deric Fontenot 1 day ago
Great story. But realisticly, a number of people should have seen something was not right with thr trip tank or gas monitors, or conection flow monitors. A gas bubble doesn't rise 18,000' without leaving a number of calling cards. BOP's are tested every 10 - 14 days and yes they could have failed, but a gas kick leaves a bunch of warning signs and deepwater rigs especially are to watch for any sign . . . even the slightest of gas invasion. MY prayers are with the families who lost love ones. The oilfield is not a job for just anyone . . .it takes a special breed of person to put his or life on the line to provide for their families and supply the worlds energy needs. We will morn, we will pray, we will learn and We Will Drill Again!

In my opinion a North Korean torpedo, or an attack by environmentalists is out of the question. FWIW.

[Joe Hillshoist]

Oil spill may have been triggered by environmentalists blowing up oil rig to celebrate Earth Day’s 40th anniversary, says Limbaugh.

Saying he was ‘just noting the timing’ of it, conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh suggested that ‘environmentalist wackos’ may have blown up the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico — an incident which can already be characterized as one of the largest ecological disasters in U.S. history.

Limbaugh suggested that because the Senate may soon be considering climate and energy legislation, legislation that Limbaugh claims was going to be unveiled on Earth Day, environmentalists could be trying to call attention to their cause by observing the 40th anniversary of Earth Day by blowing up the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico.

“This bill was strongly criticized by hard-core environmentalist wackos because it supposedly allowed more offshore drilling and nuclear plants,” said Limbaugh of the yet to be unveiled Kerry-Graham-Lieberman climate and energy bill.

“What better way to head off more oil drilling, nuclear plants, than by blowing up a rig?” Limbaugh asked. “I’m just, I’m just noting the timing here."

Limbaugh then ‘noted the timing’ of the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland catching fire.

“Don’t forget, the original earth day 40 years ago was inspired by the river in Cleveland catching fire. 40 years later the day before Earth Day this year, the Gulf is on fire.”

“Coincidence? The jury’s still out,” said Limbaugh.

Is it a coincidence that almost 41 years ago on June 22, 1969, sparks from a passing train ignited an oil slick in the Cuyahoga River–an event that is not known for sparking Earth Day but rather for leading to passage of the Clean Water Act–and then on April 20, 2010 an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig killed 11 workers and spilled 2 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico already? Yes.

The jury is not still out, Rush. Other than in the machinations of your own mind, the jury was never in.

http://ecopolitology.org/2010/05/01/lim ... p-oil-rig/

Rush is a scat muncher.