posted on May, 29 2010 @ 08:08 PM
reply to post by billyjack
Thanks for the technical information. I did have a few questions on it though:
1. “When the “company man” (the BP guy in charge) removed 16.5 #/gallon mud from the riser with 8.4 #.gallon sea water he immediately reduced
the hydrostatic pressure 2000 psi & it was over.”
If I recall correctly they were in the process of sealing off the well to phase from an exploratory mode to a later production mode (Sorry if I do not
know the technical terms here). If that is the case why would you switch from the mud to the water?
2. “A “bottom kill” is vastly easier and is what the relief wells are about. Unfortunately for that to work the relief well must intersect an 8
¾” diameter well bore 3 miles underground in the dark.”
Hitting an 8.75” bore laterally 3 miles underground does not sound ‘vastly easier” to the uninitiated. However, this is what was done with the
ITOX1 spill in 1979.
3. In regards to that ITOX1 spill in 1979, if the history books are correct, they lost drilling mud pressure too and as you say, it was over from
there. In addition the BOP preventer failed there too. It eventually took them 10 months to finally stop the flow.
It would seem to the uneducated on well drilling, hitting pockets of different pressure is part of the game and nothing new. What risk management
procedures are in place to compensate for the surprise pressure differences? In your opinion, were they followed?
I appreciate any information you can provide on this.