All blowouts are preventable. All blowouts from the past included.
It has nothing to do with whether the Operator did this or did that.
Drill crews, know that they are responsible for the well volumes and pressure control.
When this is absent, blowouts occur.
Ask any well control school if they disagree.
It doesn’t matter whether we’re drilling, completing, testing, or sitting on our butts we still have one thing to manage: Volumes and pressure.
If our BOP fails, then that’s another matter. Our Driller’s conduct and report back on the testing, including volumes required to close the BOP’s and volumes to open. Where leaks may develop, this is reported to the Operator. We, the drilling contractor have a very significant responsibility to all on the rig to ensure these tests are conducted correctly.
One aspect of any failure that’s detrimental to honesty surrounding testing is the fact that if failures occur the rig goes on downtime.
This down time may cover a number of days in the case of the DWH, about three days minimum, and that’s $1,500,000. Operators, need to change contracts to ensure that discrepancies are reported. The Operaor needs to take up this down time.