[QUOTE=Infomania;51464]Thank you captmrb for posting the link to the Transocean report.
I noticed a section in the report referring to the several changes in the temporary P&A procedures during the final days that New Orleans Lady has alluded to several times in the past few months. Her posts generally did not draw any comments from the rest of us. I know she will be excited to see this in somebody’s report.
NOLA some of your favorite points of contention are summarized in one location from the TO report below from:
Risk Assessment and Process Safety:
BP also failed to assess the risk of the temporary abandonment procedure used at Macondo, generating at least five different temporary abandonment plans for the Macondo well between April 12, 2010 and April 20, 2010. After this series of last-minute alterations, BP proceeded with a temporary abandonment plan that created unnecessary risk and did not have the required approval by the MMS.
Most significantly, the final plan called for underbalancing the well before conducting a negative pressure test to verify the integrity of the downhole cement or setting a cement plug to act as an additional barrier to flow. It does not appear that BP used risk assessment procedures or prepared Management of Change documents for these decisions or otherwise addressed these risks and the potential adverse effects on personnel and process safety.
[B]Infomania, the statement is incorrect. The well was never underbalanced before the negative test took place. Underbalance, took place during the negative test. Overbalance was restored with the opening of the Annular, and the well became underbalanced during the displacement when hydrostatic pressure gradually reduced as the heavy fluids were displaced from the well.[/B] [/QUOTE]
There are always alternatives to be considered in the final stages of any well. For anyone to suggest that analysis was absent is incorrect. A mistake was made interpreting the results of the negative test. Both gauges should have read zero. They gambled on the vessel. They screwed up! All leading personnel on the vessel screwed up! But, we can blame all the engineers onshore if it pleases our sensibilities!