UNDERSTANDING WHAT HAPPENED ON THE DEEPWATER HORIZON

Oceaneering’s blowout preventor

Click anywhere on story to view diagram of blowout preventor and the news media efforts to spin a story that I don't believe

UNDERSTANDING WHAT HAPPENED ON THE DEEPWATER HORIZON
Excellent diagram of the blowout preventor and what the news media and BO says happened. The mass news media can't be trusted nor can obama a know liar.

(I began reading about what probably happened to cause the Deepwater Horizon explosion. The preventative safety measures should have worked to keep the gas from leaking to the surface causing the explosion and oil spill. Either the primary or secondary cementing failed, pushing a huge column of natural gas into the well pipe. I can't see how this could happen?) Story Reports

When the cement failed, the natural gas rocketed to the surface, as the weakened mixture of mud and seawater did not have the pressure necessary to hold the gas back. The gas exploded the rig, killing 11 men and destroying the rig.

(The secondary safety measure, the blowout preventor, that should have worked failed. This is what I can't understand. BP representatives suggested that the preventer could have suffered a hydraulic leak. If the BOP is tested frequently to make sure it works it seems that a hydraulic leak would be very unlikely. Representatives said documents and company briefings suggested that BP, Transocean and Halliburton ignored tests that flagged up faults in the BOP. This is hard for me to believe.) Story Reports

A committee heard testimony from oil executives suggesting multiple failures of safety systems that should have given advance warning of a blowout, or should have promptly cut off the flow of oil.

The failures included a dead battery in the BOP, suggestions of a breach in the well casing, and failure in the shear ram.

How could this be possible when the BOP is tested frequently to make sure it works. All three companies transocean, bp and haliburton would have known the safety measure were not going to work if needed. This would mean all three companies would be willing to take an unnecessary risk. It would be like me getting into a car and driving knowing the breaks didn't work. I just don't buy this. It smells like BO. BO and the democrates know any disaster can be used to their advantage to push unwanted "global warming" legislation through congress when it could not have passed before without a "crisis". Rham will not let this "crisis" go to waste.) Story Reports

About 11 hours before the Deepwater Horizon exploded, a disagreement took place between the top manager for oil giant BP PLC on the drilling rig and his counterpart for the rig's owner, Transocean Ltd., concerning the final steps in shutting down the nearly completed well, according to a worker's sworn statement.

(I don't buy this. BP was leasing the rig for $1,000,000.0 a day. I can't believe the rig owner transocean would argue about the critical final steps in shutting down the well.) Story Reports

Michael Williams, a Transocean employee who was chief electronics technician on the rig, said there was "confusion" between those high-ranking officials in an 11 a.m. meeting on the day of the rig blast, according to a sworn statement from Mr. Williams reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Williams himself attended the meeting.

(These people were confused so thats why the oil rig blew up. I don't buy it.) Story Reports

The confusion over the drilling plan in the final hours leading up to the explosion could be key to understanding the causes of the blowout and ultimately who was responsible.

What is known from drilling records and congressional testimony is that after the morning meeting, the crew began preparations to remove from the drill pipe heavy drilling "mud" that provides pressure to keep down any gas, and to replace this mud with lighter seawater.

Ultimately, the crew removed the mud before setting a final 300-foot cement plug that is typically poured as a last safeguard to prevent combustible gas from rising to the surface. Indeed, they never got the opportunity to set the plug.


Tim Probert, Halliburton's president of global business lines, plans to testify Tuesday that his company had finished an earlier step, cementing the casing, filling in the area between the pipe and the walls of the well; pressure tests showed the casing had been properly constructed, he will testify. At this point it is common practice to pour wet cement down into the pipe. The wet cement, which is heavier than the drilling mud, sinks down through the drilling mud and then hardens into a plug thousands of feet down in the well.

The mud then is removed and displaced by seawater; the hardened cement plug holds
back any underground gas.

In this case, a decision was made, shortly before the explosion, to perform the remaining tasks in reverse order, according to the expected Senate testimony of Mr. Probert, the Halliburton executive.

(I don't buy this either. Seawater can't hold back gas from a well and of course BP know this. This seems to me to not make sense. They use mud to hold back the gas and oil from popping to the surface. This is why it is used. They know darn well sea water is not going to hold back anything before the well is plugged with cement. I'm sure they also know darn well the cement must be the correct kind also. All this makes no sense. How could an oil company get "confused" and possibly waste millions or billions of dollars using seawater instead of mud to cap an oil well temporarily? This really stinks and does not smell right. It smells just like BO. Think about it.) Story Reports

"We understand that the drilling contractor then proceeded to displace the riser with
seawater prior to the planned placement of the final cement plug…," Mr. Probert says in
the prepared testimony, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The "riser" is
part of the pipe running from the sea floor up to the drilling rig at the surface

The BOP stack is a 450-ton series of valves developed to prevent a gusher if the mud control is overwhelmed.

Since BOPs are important for the safety of the crew, as well as the drilling rig and the wellbore itself, BOPs are regularly inspected, tested and refurbished. Tests vary from daily test of functions of critical wells to monthly or less frequent testing of wells with low likelihood of control problems.

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Oceaneering Web Site

Oceaneering ad:

Oceaneering supplies advanced critical service control and data acquisition components and systems for worldwide use in the oil and gas industry. The company, including Oceaneering Intervention Engineering (OIE), designs and manufactures blowout preventer (BOP) control systems that provide engineered solutions for applications in drilling operations.

Oceaneering’s BOP control systems offer long-term operational track records, setting new standards for reliability and performance. Our products range from conventional and modular surface systems to discrete hydraulic and deepwater electro-hydraulic systems. Each system is developed in our state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities and is backed by a company with decades of experience in the subsea industry.

(The blowout preventor was state of the art. It should have been tested on a regular basis. The media and BO want us all to believe BP, haliburton and transocean ignored the safety features of a multimillion dollar piece of safety equipment because of greed. I don't buy it. Onama is a known liar. I would believe oceaneering's ability to produce a blowout preventor that would be top quality and its extra backup systems would work when needed. I don't believe the news media spin or obama the illegal alien! The story smells.) Story Reports