I think Halliburton haters may have to start eating crow.
Halliburton was hired to do the cementing. Per a 14 year MMS study, a failure with the cementing is the root cause of half of all blowouts and it was the root cause of this blowout as well. Naturally this lead many to immediately launch into a knee jerk diatribe about how evil Halliburton and Dick Cheney are.
Well, listen to this:
BP also skipped a quality test of the cement around the pipe—another buffer against gas—despite what BP now says were signs of problems with the cement job and despite a warning from cement contractor Halliburton Co....
Once gas was rising, the design and procedures BP had chosen for the well likely gave this perilous gas an easier path up and out, say well-control experts. There was little keeping the gas from rushing up to the surface after workers, pushing to finish the job, removed a critical safeguard, the heavy drilling fluid known as "mud." BP has admitted a possible "fundamental mistake" in concluding that it was safe to proceed with mud removal, according to a memo from two Congressmen released Tuesday night.
Finally, a BP manager overseeing final well tests apparently had scant experience in deep-water drilling. He told investigators he was on the rig to "learn about deep water," according to notes of an interview with him seen by the Journal.
It gets better:
Halliburton, the cementing contractor, advised BP to install numerous devices to make sure the pipe was centered in the well before pumping cement, according to Halliburton documents, provided to congressional investigators and seen by the Journal. Otherwise, the cement might develop small channels that gas could squeeze through.
In an April 18 report to BP, Halliburton warned that if BP didn't use more centering devices, the well would likely have "a SEVERE gas flow problem." Still, BP decided to install fewer of the devices than Halliburton recommended—six instead of 21.
BP said it's still investigating how cementing was done. Halliburton said that it followed BP's instructions, and that while some "were not consistent with industry best practices," they were "within acceptable industry standards."
If all this is true, I'd say Halliburton shares none of the blame -- unless they were supposed to call MMS and the red phone to the White House to report that BP was proceeding despite being warned about major risk of "SEVERE gas flow problem."
As is now plainly obvious, BP was calling the shots and cutting corners wherever they could to make up for lost time and lost money on this project. That shortsightedness has cost BP far more money than they ever would have spent on doing the job right the first time.
As is now plainly obvious, BP was calling the shots and cutting corners wherever they could to make up for lost time and lost money on this project. That shortsightedness has cost BP far more money than they ever would have spent on doing the job right the first time.
1 Response to WSJ: BP decisions set stage for disaster
I don't think they will ever eat crow. Even if Halliburton helped 1000s of oily pelicans, the haters would still hate.
Those numerous devices are called "Centralizers". The service company (Halliburton in this case) usually recommned more than what the operators usually run. The problem with too many centralizers is sometimes they cause more problems than what the fix (stuck pipe, fluid loss while running in the hole, etc). The services companies put disclaimers such as you might have "a SEVERE gas flow problem" if you don't. That statement is in there as a CYA (and it apparently did in this case!) The one act of leaving a few centralizers was not the "main" cause of the accident. The act of skipping or ingoring several steps or indicators all compiled together caused the problem.
Finally the MMS study probably should read that failure of the cement to create a seal is the cause of most blow outs. Usually the cement design is of sound engineering but down hole conditions different than assumed could cause blow outs.
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