[QUOTE=alcor;39730]
I am prepared to support the activities of an Operator on my rig when the lives of all are not compromised. As a Contractor, I will not sell myself short. The rig/personnel is of paramount importance in all decision making. The drilling contractor offers the rig as a means to drilling the well, and when things go against the grain, a means of killing it. That is our capability. But, we must be able to interpret what’s going on in the well.
There’s no VIDRINE who can tell me what to do. We are the final barrier. And we don’t ever want to get to the point of having to close in the well on the BOPs. But, sometimes we have to. My personal opinion is that VIDRINE failed. The OIM, also failed. And, the whole world has turned upside down in the offshore industry.
[/QUOTE]
The irony of this horrible tragedy is that what you advocate has been made much easier now. I doubt we’ll ever again hear of someone screaming on the radio to town, “Are you happy now?..The whole fucking rig is on fire.” Or someone like Vidrine saying, “we’re not going to do it that way”.
But if a situation like that comes up again years down the road, when Macondo isn’t fresh in everyones minds and hearts, just the memories will make it so much easier to say, “Hell NO” and not have to worry about getting run off.
[QUOTE=alcor;39677]When you build motorways animals die crossing the road.
When an aircraft takes off/lands we often kill birds.
We drive our speedboats and the propeller rips apart sealife.
We shoot animals and call it sport.
We consider ourselves the most advanced species on the planet, and yet, we leave death and destruction in our path.
We drill for oil, and cause untold damage to the marine life.
And yet, our thirst for oil is not quenched. We all have a part to play in the destruction of the world.
[B]In this case, birds suffer because we want oil to fuel our cars. All of us are culpable.[/B] Many, never asked what the consequences of our actions are. Blame who you like. Oil, will still be needed tommorow!![/QUOTE]
No.
No. No. No. No. No.
A thousand times “no” if you like. We are not “all culpable”, and birds are not killed because “we” “want oil to fuel our cars.”
In this case, birds are killed because reckless, incompetent, greed-heads from BP (and TO, and, and, and), caused an entirely preventable Major-League Fuck-Up. You make this sound somehow acceptable, “a cost of doing business”. Well, it is NOT that. It is criminally negligent greed and stupidity. Stupid (and greedy) by design, and therefore stupid in application.
No, we won’t “blame who [we] like.”, maybe that’s how they do it in your land, but here we (at least try to) blame [I]the guilty[/I].
[QUOTE=ex-pe-uk;39759]It sounds like the mini-BOP may hold and the talk is of containment and shut-in until the relief well intersects.
But why not start a top kill straightaway by the choke and kill lines and get this thing over with?
Wouldn’t the shut-in wellhead pressure start to drop straightaway?
Just a thought from a non-driller.[/QUOTE]
From the Oilfield Glossary: bullhead
[I]vb.[/I] [Drilling]ID: 1257
To forcibly pump fluids into a formation, usually formation fluids that have entered the wellbore during a well control event. Though bullheading is intrinsically risky, it is performed if the formation fluids are suspected to contain hydrogen sulfide gas to prevent the toxic gas from reaching the surface. Bullheading is also performed if normal circulation cannot occur, such as after a borehole collapse. The primary risk in bullheading is that the drilling crew has no control over where the fluid goes and the fluid being pumped downhole usually enters the weakest formation. In addition, if only shallow casing is cemented in the well, the bullheading operation can cause wellbore fluids to broach around the casing shoe and reach the surface. This broaching to the surface has the effect of fluidizing and destabilizing the soil (or the subsea floor), and can lead to the formation of a crater and loss of equipment and life.
[QUOTE=company man 1;39753]No wonder they’re making money abroad if the rumor I heard the last couple of days is true. Is it true that BP was working to get the Lockerby Scottland bomber that killed some +/- 300 psople released so BP can tie up an oil deal with Libya? Are those the same murdering scum you are coming on here to defend? You are truly a sack of shit. I mean that in all sincerity. BTW, I got a PM from somone on this board that left the location yesterday. This person claims there is a massive plume coming from the ground about 1/2 mile away from the well head. I hope this is not true, but the person who reported it to me has much more credibility than your bosses do.[/QUOTE]
From CNN:
[I]Britain and Libya had sparred over whether al Megrahi should be included in a prisoner transfer agreement the two nations were negotiating. British officials and BP said that the oil company’s interests – it was seeking a huge deal to drill for oil in Libya – were a consideration in those talks.[/I]
[I]Days after Britain and Libya concluded the transfer agreement that included al Megrahi, Libya and BP signed a deal that the company called the biggest financial commitment for exploration that an international energy company had ever made to Libya. But Britain and BP have denied that al Megrahi’s release played any role in the deal[/I].
[QUOTE=BLISTERS;39732]Needless to mention you are aware that some loss zones are incurable even with LCM, Barite and squeeze jobs,and have to be drilled past with seawater till the next casing point if pressures are low enough, or shoe depth has to be revised -contingency casing run. This is one of the many unknowns but I hope the loss zone won’t make the kill complicated.[/QUOTE]
Oh yes, I am.
Some cannot be cured except with cement etc and the “technique” as you described above.
As with any well kill… there always will be unknowns, but once you commit, then you have to try and deal with them somehow.
[QUOTE=ex-pe-uk;39759]It sounds like the mini-BOP may hold and the talk is of containment and shut-in until the relief well intersects.
But why not start a top kill straightaway by the choke and kill lines and get this thing over with?
Wouldn’t the shut-in wellhead pressure start to drop straightaway?
Just a thought from a non-driller.[/QUOTE]
I have missed out the latest info re this testing…
Have they actually closed in fully? or are they still slowly closing it down?
How long have they been at this now…? the original timescale was slowly slowly over 48hrs to have it fully closed in.
ps… I know I have reservations about them doing this shut-in… but I do hope it has some success.
[QUOTE=alvis;39743]I’ll ask again. What is going on with BP’s sudden change of heart to allow the well to be shut in? Not that I’m complaining mind you… All along they have said that stopping the flow of oil and gas was off the table. And as suddenly as they dismissed that idea, they relent.
Is it because BP wasn’t ready with the tools and the technology to perform a shut in? And manufactured a reason to let them off the hook? Or what? There has to be a rational reason for this sudden change in direction.
Edit: I should say, not that I’m complaining IF it works without causing further damage to the well. As my previous posts state, I don’t understand BP’s need to shut in the well with the risks involved since they have engineered a closed system to capture the oil. Other than to obfuscate the measurement of how much the well is actually flowing as others have stated in this thread.[/QUOTE]
Good points here Alvis… this idea with the mini BOP hadn’t featured on their “options list” until a couple of days ago. Now all of a sudden, it has become a Hollywood blockbuster…“The Surprise Rabbit out of the hat… that will fix everything”.
I’m surprised it took them 80+ days to make and test this contraption. To me it seems like a very long time to make and test a few spool pieces and a couple of “off the shelf” BOP rams.
So, you have to question what is driving the use of this “mini-BOP” (my terminology), and perhaps also, the timing of these announcements.
Looks like a lot of Hollywood special effects and propaganda to boost share price and other world-wide bp negotiations (Libya?) to me.
[QUOTE=company man 1;39753]No wonder they’re making money abroad if the rumor I heard the last couple of days is true. Is it true that BP was working to get the Lockerby Scottland bomber that killed some +/- 300 psople released so BP can tie up an oil deal with Libya? Are those the same murdering scum you are coming on here to defend? You are truly a sack of shit. I mean that in all sincerity. [/QUOTE]
Do you think bp and their other financially interested parties would stoop that low?
… yes they would!
[QUOTE=company man 1;39753]BTW, I got a PM from somone on this board that left the location yesterday. This person claims there is a massive plume coming from the ground about 1/2 mile away from the well head. I hope this is not true, but the person who reported it to me has much more credibility than your bosses do.[/QUOTE]
It’s just a matter of time before it becomes really obvious that there is seabed broaching as you say. (It may take hours or days to become really evident)
It would be good for bp to be upfront with this type of info for a change. Sadly, I don’t see that happening.
[QUOTE=Alf;39765]I have missed out the latest info re this testing…
Have they actually closed in fully? or are they still slowly closing it down?
How long have they been at this now…? the original timescale was slowly slowly over 48hrs to have it fully closed in.
ps… I know I have reservations about them doing this shut-in… but I do hope it has some success.[/QUOTE]
Fully shut-in at 3:25PM Eastern Time. Supposed to evaluate it every 6 hours and not go longer than 48 hours, but you know how things seem to change with this bunch.
Boa Deep C ROV1 is “Monitoring Mudline at BOP” and things look quiet…thank God.
[QUOTE=tvhawaii;39762]From the Oilfield Glossary: bullhead
[I]vb.[/I] [Drilling]ID: 1257
To forcibly pump fluids into a formation, usually formation fluids that have entered the wellbore during a well control event. Though bullheading is intrinsically risky, it is performed if the formation fluids are suspected to contain hydrogen sulfide gas to prevent the toxic gas from reaching the surface. Bullheading is also performed if normal circulation cannot occur, such as after a borehole collapse. The primary risk in bullheading is that the drilling crew has no control over where the fluid goes and the fluid being pumped downhole usually enters the weakest formation. In addition, if only shallow casing is cemented in the well, the bullheading operation can cause wellbore fluids to broach around the casing shoe and reach the surface. This broaching to the surface has the effect of fluidizing and destabilizing the soil (or the subsea floor), and can lead to the formation of a crater and loss of equipment and life.[/QUOTE]
Not talking about bullheading, but slowly displacing from the top.
Every few bbl of mud would reduce the likelihood of a UG blowout, wouldn’t it?
[QUOTE=ex-pe-uk;39769]Not talking about bullheading, but slowly displacing from the top.
Every few bbl of mud would reduce the likelihood of a UG blowout, wouldn’t it?[/QUOTE]
How would you introduce this mud into the choke and kill lines? Keep in mind what the pressures are on those…i.e. they are being used to produce >20Kbbl/day to the Helix Producer.
Btw, bullhead=top kill. Remember how aggressive they were when they were pumping mud in there earlier? I don’t think -slowly- is possible.
[QUOTE=alcor;39680]The only place I have heard of the well being compromised below the seabed is on this site through either ‘vision’ or ‘misinformation’. If it was compromised earlier, then BP wouldn’t be considering shutting in.[/QUOTE]
It was well posted… go find it.
[QUOTE=alcor;39680]Incidentally, we ran rupture disks three days ago, and I was most intrigued to see what they looked like. Tiny little pin pricks, and so, there would be limited flow through them.
We also ‘played’ with shallow gas![/QUOTE]
No doubt you have also seen the effects of high pressure fluid flow thru’ such a small opening.
Small openings grow to very big openings pretty quick. Add to that abrasion from sand and ano solids…
Thanks “tvhawaii”, I’m not able to get live video feeds etc here where I live… so I tend to be a bit behind everyone else on the forum.
[QUOTE=tvhawaii;39768]Fully shut-in at 3:25PM Eastern Time.[/QUOTE]
As in fully buttoned up (ie totally closed in)?.. OK, great. Just keep your fingers crossed. We all need some good news here!
[QUOTE=tvhawaii;39768]
Boa Deep C ROV1 is “Monitoring Mudline at BOP” and things look quiet…thank God.[/QUOTE]
This is just one area they need to be keeping close attention to.
Are any of the other ROV’s doing side scan sonar surveys of the surrounding areas? This is perhaps more important than just looking around the wellhead.
[QUOTE=Alf;39773]Are any of the other ROV’s doing side scan sonar surveys of the surrounding areas? This is perhaps more important than just looking around the wellhead.[/QUOTE]
Alf they were running one ROV that was broadcasting with sonar from a bit before the shut in. It was running till the time I hit the sack last night. Most ROV’s are out of the water this morning at 8am eastern, and I don’t see a sonar screen up on the ROV feeds now.
[QUOTE=bigmoose;39774]Alf they were running one ROV that was broadcasting with sonar from a bit before the shut in. It was running till the time I hit the sack last night. Most ROV’s are out of the water this morning at 8am eastern, and I don’t see a sonar screen up on the ROV feeds now.[/QUOTE]
Sonar screen was up until about an hour or so ago.
[QUOTE=tvhawaii;39770]How would you introduce this mud into the choke and kill lines? Keep in mind what the pressures are on those…i.e. they are being used to produce >20Kbbl/day to the Helix Producer.
Btw, bullhead=top kill. Remember how aggressive they were when they were pumping mud in there earlier? I don’t think -slowly- is possible.[/QUOTE]
Before they were trying to pump faster than the well was chucking it out. They got t o 6000psi before, for some reason, abandoning the attempt.
We are now at 6700psi and building, which is good. However, at what level do you start to get nervous about casing leaks? It worries me that there may be a time element to this, that pressure build up could rupture something. I am sure that they have done their sums though.
I just wondered if they could pump some mud in, bleed off pressure via the choke, pump a bit more etc. Maybe its not possible, I dont know.
[QUOTE=company man 1;39753] … BTW, I got a PM from somone on this board that left the location yesterday. This person claims there is a massive plume coming from the ground about 1/2 mile away from the well head. I hope this is not true, but the person who reported it to me has much more credibility than your bosses do.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=company man 1;39753]No wonder they’re making money abroad if the rumor I heard the last couple of days is true. Is it true that BP was working to get the Lockerby Scottland bomber that killed some +/- 300 psople released so BP can tie up an oil deal with Libya? … [/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=alvis;39743]I’ll ask again. What is going on with BP’s sudden change of heart to allow the well to be shut in? Not that I’m complaining mind you… All along they have said that stopping the flow of oil and gas was off the table. And as suddenly as they dismissed that idea, they relent.
Is it because BP wasn’t ready with the tools and the technology to perform a shut in? And manufactured a reason to let them off the hook? Or what? There has to be a rational reason for this sudden change in direction.
Edit: I should say, not that I’m complaining IF it works without causing further damage to the well. As my previous posts state, I don’t understand BP’s need to shut in the well with the risks involved since they have engineered a closed system to capture the oil. Other than to obfuscate the measurement of how much the well is actually flowing as others have stated in this thread.[/QUOTE]
Alvis,
BP is not, and for some time has not been running this show on their own. The feds–the Chu/McNutt/Hunter et.al. group–have had at least a veto–if not much more–for some time. At this point, we small people do not know who’s on first, to quote Abbott and Costello. (Example: I did read yesterday that an anonymous plumber thought up the design of this latest seal, passed it along to a physicist at one of the National Labs where he worked, who then got it to one of the members of the group. That doesn’t sound like something originating on or coming out of the BP side.)
As I see it, we will eventually find out. Sooner if it either goes very well or very badly: victory laps or fingerpointing. Both the U.S. gov’t and BP have plenty of ability to get their version out.
What’s motivating parties now is way beyond quibbles about exactly now many barrels, how much the fines should be and efforts to cover that up. The first few weeks, yes; not any more.
When I refer to brainiacs, this group, plus Dr. Marcia McNutt, Director of the U.S. Geological Service, is who I’m referring to: http://www.energy.gov/open/oil_spill_updates.htm As the release says, there is also a much larger constellation of lesser lights orbiting around that group. They have had a near-absolute dome of silence over them, what they’re doing, what they’re suggesting/ordering, what they’re fearing/hoping, what’s gone right/wrong.