How did the Gulf oil rig explode? A prominent theory adds Halliburton to the mix. Workers had just finished cementing the well when the rig blew, leading experts to speculate that a flaw in this process could have caused the explosion. Halliburton, the largest company in the global cementing business, was in charge of cementing the well.
In order to prevent oil and natural leakage, rig workers pump cement down wells after they've finished drilling. This process requires a very particular type of cement, one that must be mixed and stirred in a precise fashion. If the cement is flawed, it can crack or fail to set properly, allowing oil and gas to leak through. If gas escaped through the Gulf rig's cement, it could have shot back up the well -- what's known as a "blowout" -- and ignited the fatal blast.
Halliburton was also responsible for cementing a well off the coast of Australia that blew last August, leaking oil for ten weeks before it was plugged. Though the investigation continues, an official from the U.S. Minerals Management Service testified that a poor cement job probably caused the explosion.
So - which one is it - a rig workerrs *employed* by BP who mixed the cement (possibly doing it wrong) which caused the problem?"Halliburton, the largest company in the global cementing business, was in charge of cementing the well."
" rig workers pump cement down wells after they've finished drilling."
Hmm - that's conflicting:
So - which one is it - a rig workerrs *employed* by BP who mixed the cement (possibly doing it wrong) which caused the problem?
Or Halliburton itself via it's own employees who were suppose to be trained in this area?
If it needs to be done precisely then the people at Halliburton should handle it directly and with well trained professionals.
But, this article doesn't point out whether it was done directly by Halliburton employees - or by BP employees who are not trained in this area.
Halliburton Presentation May Explain Horizon Oil Rig Explosion and Fire | The SeminalWhat More Can Halliburton Tell Us About the Horizon Oil Blowout and Its Risks?
A publicly available Halliburton PowerPoint presentation from last November might tell us a lot about what could have caused the oil blowout, fire and massive oil gushing at the Horizon rig.
Suppose you’re that division of Halliburton that has the dangerous job of "cementing" the drilling hole and the gaps between the hole and pipe. You’ve done this lots of times in shallow water wells, but you’ve learned through previous experience in deep water there’s a particularly difficult problem having to do with the presence of gas that has seeped to the ocean floor and been captured in essentially "frozen" crystallized formations.
The problem is that when you drill into these formations, and then try to inject cement into the hole/gaps to prevent leakage, the curing process for that creates heat. That heat can, if not controlled, cause the gas to escape the frozen crystals. If a lot of gas is released all at once, as could happen during the cement/curing process, it can cause a blowout where the cementing is occurring, or force gas and/or oil up the pipeline to the drilling rig on the surface. And the heat created by the process may be just enough to ignite the gas [or more likely, a spark at the rig -- see comments], causing the explosion and fire.
Did this happen at the Horizon rig? And if Halliburton already knew about this problem months (years) ago, and knew the risks it might create, why are we just now learning about this?
From Halliburton’s presentation (large pdf), page 10, last November (my bold):
Challenges
• Shallow water flow may occur during or after cement job
• Under water blow out has happened
• Gas flow may occur after a cement job in deepwater environments that contain major hydrate zones.
• Destabilization of hydrates after the cement job is confirmed by downhole cameras.
• The gas flow could slow down in hours to days if the de- stabilization is not severe.
• However, the consequences could be more severe in worse cases.
Page 13 lists the design objectives but then concedes they can’t all be met at once:
Deepwater Well Objectives
• Cement slurry should be placed in the entire annulus with no losses
• Temperature increase during slurry hydration should not destabilize hydrates
• There should be no influx of shallow water or gas into the annulus
• The cement slurry should develop strength in the shortest time after placement
Conditions in deepwater wells are not
conducive to achieving all of these
objectives simultaneously
It sounds like BP is legally responsible for the cost & responsibility or stopping and cleaning up the oil spill. They may only be on the hook for $75 million for lost income type lawsuits. That won't go far in a multi billion fishing industry. Not to mention any losses as the oil slick winds around Florida and heads up the coast. If Haliburton caused another explosion on an oil rig, BP will probably have to sue them themselves.
My guess is that we who pay taxes will get stuck with the bill and the damages/losses to the entire gulf coast.
My guess is that we who pay taxes will get stuck with the bill and the damages/losses to the entire gulf coast.
And we who buy gasoline for our cars.
Somehow it always comes back around to us.
Not much attention has been on the possible cause of the oil rig blast. This article sheds light on a possible cause.
Halliburton Could Be at Fault for Oil Spill - Science and Tech - The Atlantic
My guess is that we who pay taxes will get stuck with the bill and the damages/losses to the entire gulf coast.
The gov't needs to stop depending on oil companies for safety features. That's like putting the fox in charge of the hen house. :doh
Somehow it always comes back around to us.
And somehow the pending increase in gas prices will be blamed on Obama. Wait for it...wait for it...
I know I'm an old school roughneck but never, and I repeat, NEVER have I seen BOP's placed anywhere we couldn't get to them in a heart beat. The levers to operate them sat 4 steps away from lead tongs and the pipe bank. Two steps directly behind the driller. The BOP's themselves were dirctly below the drill floor.
Putting them, as I understand it, as the diagrams show, near or on the ocean floor is beyond my comprehension. I must have misunderstood the details. Another thing. Does it not set uneasy in everyones mind to run the surface casing through 5000 feet of water before ever spuddin' in? Seems to me that an angry ocean could snap that like a toothpick.
There's where you're wrong. Blowouts like this cost oil companies along with the service companies that get drug into the liability, billions of dollars. I would much rather the oil companies be responsible for blowout safety; alot more than some government bureaucrat. Letting the oil companies do it is like the farmer gaurding the hen house.
BTW, it didn't take long for a, "it's Halliburton's fault", thread to get cranked up.
Let me clue ya'll into something: Halliburton isn't liable for anything concerning this blowout. If anyone gets drug into the fracus, it'll be FMC, because they're the ones that built the blowout preventer.
Here's a "clue" for you... If the oil companies , aka BP, really cared about safety and the impact on our environment from a spill they would have all safety features on their oil rigs. The Exxon Valdez spill isn't 100% cleaned up. They don't care so they don't want to spend money on something that has a smaller chance of happening. Cheeney and Bush lowered the regs and depended on oil companies to be responsible. How ****ing more selfish and stupid can you get? It's 100% their responsibility to prevent and then clean up and then pay for the clean up of their screw ups. It was Cheeney who blocked the mandate of those emergency BOP activators. Did you know BP has that safety feature on their own rigs but, they don't put them on those rigs they lease. Hmmm... why is that? Hmmmm.... Some idiots are claiming it was the Coast Guard's duty to have a gazillion feet of boom on board each of their ships just in case one of those hundreds of rigs in the gulf had a spill. Dumb doesn't cover that one. Halliburton will be sued by BP since it was H who caused the explosion and it's not the first time for them to cause one. What a surprise, ehh?
Oil companies would NEVER have enough safety equipment to make you happy.
In truly partisan fashion, you blame Bush and Cheney for some nebulous reason that only you know of.
I guess you forgot that Obama excused BP from having an EIS on this well, plus additional wells AFTER this one blew up. But that's ok in your mind isn't it??
It appears that you already know Halliburton caused the explosion, even though no expert agrees with you.
The Coast Guard was required to have fire booms since 1994, but you call the person pointing out the requirement an idiot ??? You're right, dumb doesn't cover that one... pot meet kettle.
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