Link to the Top kill figure: http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/incident_response/STAGING/local_assets/images/TopKill_05-16-10_1750xvar.jpg
I can understand that may stop the flow with kill mud and flow rate even though a lot of the flow must go out the riser, but what happens when they shut down the pumps ? Cementing this is a huge challenge since you do not have full control of where the cement goes. Again, I will be impressed if they pull this topp kill off 
[QUOTE=company man 1;33868]Newsflash: Fox news: "There is mud being pumped into the well bore & it is being monitored, said Admiral Thad allen. “BP first used estimates of 1000 BBLS. /day then 5000 BBLS/day. I said all along I didn’t put any credence into those estimates.” Gee, I wonder when & where he said that? Can anyone post a link, source, quote, anything that suggest that?[/QUOTE]
I was wondering if you were watching that conference. Lot’s of good information there.
Nice to hear that USACE is working on the sand berms.
Media glitch- CNN quoted Adm Allen as saying “… oil being pumped into the well”. Go figure.
Thank you for the reply, Company man 1. This sounds like kind of an obvious dilemma, but even having “outrun” the pressure (IF they actually have yet), is the push back going to “stop” enough for them to get concrete on top of it? (trying to fathom this) Or is that the $64,000 question?
(You bet! I am going to go stare at the diagram again for awhile)
Once the well is dead, they should be able to shut the pumps down & close the manifold off & the flow should stop. They will have to use calculations based on pressure at various pump rates while slowing pumps down & estimate how much mud is coming out of all of the leaks. This is a straight up guessing game & they will have to overestimate the amount of kill cement. I hope they cement all the way back to the pumps, because there will most likely not be any redos.[QUOTE=KASOL;33870]Link to the Top kill figure: http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/incident_response/STAGING/local_assets/images/TopKill_05-16-10_1750xvar.jpg
I can understand that may stop the flow with kill mud and flow rate even though a lot of the flow must go out the riser, but what happens when they shut down the pumps ? Cementing this is a huge challenge since you do not have full control of where the cement goes. Again, I will be impressed if they pull this topp kill off :)[/QUOTE]
Edit: Newsflash: Rumor mill: Just got word about 15 minutes ago 4th hand at least that the hole is plugged & they are about to pump cement.
For the record I don’t see any indication looking at the stack, but I sure hope I’m wrong.
(grrr the Thank You button is gone on all the posts after mine. THANK YOU, KASOL! Very handy!!)
[QUOTE=company man 1;33866]It is not a dumb question at all & yes all BS aside that is pretty much what they are doing.[/QUOTE]
I don’t mean to put words in your mouth, but are you saying they’ve filled the well bore up and mud is being pushed into the reservoir?
One dangerous, but sure fire kill option would be if the flow stops & the well is dead to remove the whole stack above the lines & place a set of blind rams on top with the well static & pump the cement through a good stack to ensure this thing dead. I bet you haven’t heard that one yet.
Edit: Did the smartest guys in the world think of that & if so why aren’t we smart enough to hear it?
[QUOTE=company man 1;33877]One dangerous, but sure fire kill option would be if the flow stops & the well is dead to remove the whole stack above the lines & place a set of blind rams on top with the well static & pump the cement through a good stack to ensure this thing dead. I bet you haven’t heard that one yet.
Edit: Did the smartest guys in the world think of that & if so why aren’t we smart enough to hear it?[/QUOTE]
Being a non-oil guy, why couldn’t they do something like that? if the well for some reason blew out after they had removed the riser and LMRP, what would be the difference between then and when the stack had the LMRP and riser? From the looks of it, if the well blew with the LMRP and leaky riser on the BOP, it would probably lay the riser wide open so that it wouldn’t provide any flow restriction. So the two outcomes would be in effect equal.
The following was just posted here: http://www.drillingahead.com/forum/topics/transocean-deepwater-horizon-1?commentId=3116006:Comment:103720&xg_source=msg_com_forum
“Reply by Mark F Barnes 15 seconds ago
Yes they are pumping down the kill lines on the SS Stack. Currently they have halted the hydrocarbon flow, and are attempting to equalize and bring the well static. Then and only then will they pump cement to P&A the well.”
[QUOTE=company man 1;33877]One dangerous, but sure fire kill option would be if the flow stops & the well is dead to remove the whole stack above the lines & place a set of blind rams on top with the well static & pump the cement through a good stack to ensure this thing dead. I bet you haven’t heard that one yet.
Edit: Did the smartest guys in the world think of that & if so why aren’t we smart enough to hear it?[/QUOTE]
Awesome Point. Is there another BOP on the floor near the well? I know there is a backup BOP on the surface.
You are correct my man. I nominate you an “honorary?” memeber of the oilfield fraternity.[QUOTE=alvis;33878]Being a non-oil guy, why couldn’t they do something like that? if the well for some reason blew out after they had removed the riser and LMRP, what would be the difference between then and when the stack had the LMRP and riser? From the looks of it, if the well blew with the LMRP and leaky riser on the BOP, it would probably lay the riser wide open so that it wouldn’t provide any flow restriction. So the two outcomes would be in effect equal.[/QUOTE]
I’m sure these guys are so smart they thought of that & put one down there. After all they have a top hat, a SQUARE DOME, & who knows what else.[QUOTE=lfgd521rc;33880]Awesome Point. Is there another BOP on the floor near the well? I know there is a backup BOP on the surface.
One of the smarter guys in the GOM.[/QUOTE]
From Nola. Dated at 3:58pm. http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/05/top_kill_stopped_temporarily_n.html
"The top kill effort to halt the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico has been stopped temporarily because too much of the drilling mug being pumped into the well was escaping along with the leaking crude oil, The New York Times reported.
A technician at the BP command center was quoted as saying that the problem was not seen as serious, but that more time would be required."
Edit: NY Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/28/us/28spill.html?hp
Press conference now.
http://dvidshub.net/?script=video/video_live_webcasts.php&which=1230
I will ask again, have these guys figured for the difference in weight needed to account for the loss of the riser?[QUOTE=alvis;33883]From Nola. Dated at 3:58pm. http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/05/top_kill_stopped_temporarily_n.html
"The top kill effort to halt the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico has been stopped temporarily because too much of the drilling mug being pumped into the well was escaping along with the leaking crude oil, The New York Times reported.
A technician at the BP command center was quoted as saying that the problem was not seen as serious, but that more time would be required."
Edit: NY Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/28/us/28spill.html?hp[/QUOTE]
From the press conference, Doug Suttles said that they quit pumping mud at midnight. The supply vessels have been restocked. They may use a bridging material or the junk shot so less mud escapes out the end of the riser. And they may start pumping mud again this evening.
As an aside, how much does the mud that they might be using right now cost? (I’m not implying that they may be cost conscious. Just personally curious.)
[QUOTE=alvis;33883]From Nola. Dated at 3:58pm. http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/05/top_kill_stopped_temporarily_n.html
"The top kill effort to halt the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico has been stopped temporarily because too much of the drilling mug being pumped into the well was escaping along with the leaking crude oil, The New York Times reported.
A technician at the BP command center was quoted as saying that the problem was not seen as serious, but that more time would be required."
Edit: NY Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/28/us/28spill.html?hp[/QUOTE]
Translated: We’ve been pumping all day, all night, & all day. We’re tired & going to bed. See you guys in 8 hours.
[QUOTE=alvis;33888]From the press conference, Doug Suttles said that they quit pumping mud at midnight. The supply vessels have been restocked. They may use a bridging material or the junk shot so less mud escapes out the end of the riser. And they may start pumping mud again this evening.
As an aside, how much does the mud that they might be using right now cost? (I’m not implying that they may be cost conscious. Just personally curious.)[/QUOTE]
Mud & cement are by far the cheapest part of this process.
Edit:What is the mud weight they are using & what is TVD of the formation ? For anyone listening, these are the two most important questions that nust be answered.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told reporters this afternoon that the Obama Administration is ordering a moratorium on all off-shore oil and gas drilling activity from floating drilling rigs until the President’s commission on the BP incident has completed a more thorough review. At the same time, he said his agency is working to strengthen safety and oversight measures for deep water oil and gas exploration. The moratorium applies to wells in waters above a depth of 500 feet, including 33 deep water rigs that had been permitted in the Gulf of Mexico. Wells that have already started drilling are required to halt operations at the first safe stopping point and then take steps to secure the well.
The move comes as part of the Secretary’s 30-day review of the Deep Water Horizon drill explosion, requested by the President, which focuses on the two primary failures of the drilling process that that led to the disaster.
“One: the loss of well-control. And two: the failure of the blow out preventer mechanism,” Salazar explained.
Secretary Salazar said they are still investigating what went wrong on April 20th at the Deep Water Horizon rig, but the initial findings reveal that a number of problems occurred. He pointed to issues with the rig’s cementing, casing or perhaps both, which he said could have caused the blow out in the first place. Once the blow out occurred, Salazar said the blow out prevention mechanism did not work and that there are a host of questions around why it failed.
To address these concerns, Salazar said the administration is taking the following steps:
“Some of these measures we can implement immediately, others will take some time,” he said.
The moratorium also affects possible oil exploration in the outer continental shelf, postponing consideration of drilling there until 2011. Salazar said he is cancelling the proposed 2012 lease sale for drilling off the coast of Virginia, along with a lease sale for the Gulf of Mexico scheduled for this August.
“I believe we must proceed with the utmost caution as we examine the many questions the BP oil spill raises, that’s why we are pausing deepwater drilling and examine our systems to ensure that this type of disaster does not happen again,” he said.
Salazar said the new moratorium will not affect current production and that there is no moratorium on shallow water wells in the general application. The 591 deep water producing wells in the Gulf of Mexico, along with 4,515 shallow wells will be allowed to continue to harvest oil and natural gas.
[QUOTE=company man 1;33892]Mud & cement are by far the cheapest part of this process.[/QUOTE]
If I read between the lines, they think they may not be able to reach an equilibrium in the well bore, so they want to do a junk shot so when they inject the cement, it won’t leak out the riser.
