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Only 17 months before BP's Deepwater Horizon rig suffered a deadly blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, another BP deepwater oil platform also blew out.
You've heard and seen much about the Gulf disaster that killed 11 BP workers. If you have not heard about the earlier blowout, it's because BP has kept the full story under wraps. Nor did BP inform Congress or US safety regulators, and BP, along with its oil industry partners, have preferred to keep it that way.
The earlier blowout occurred in September 2008 on BP's Central Azeri platform in the Caspian Sea.
As one memo marked "secret" puts it, "Given the explosive potential, BP was quite fortunate to have been able to evacuate everyone safely and to prevent any gas ignition." The Caspian oil platform was a spark away from exploding, but luck was with the 211 rig workers.
It was eerily similar to the Gulf catastrophe as it involved BP's controversial "quick set" drilling cement.
Greg Palast » BP's Secret Deepwater Blowout
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- Public Discussion (11)
Really? BP's quick-dry cement saves money, but other drillers find it too risky in deepwater. It was a key factor in the Caspian blowout. Would US regulators or Congress have permitted BP to continue to use this cement had they known? Would they have investigated before issuing permits to drill?
This is not about BP the industry Bad Boy. This is about a system that condones silence, the withholding of life-and-death information.
This blowout was just a practice run for the Macondo Blowout initially for Oct 2009. That plan fell flat when they could not drill beyond 4000ft BML. So they tried again in Feb 2010. On 13 Feb they had a near-blowout situation ...but they could not allow the blowout to develop into a full blown disaster since the well had reached only 5000ft BML. Their intention was a Mega Oil spill and that could only happen when the well reached the reservoir at 18,000ft BML. So they cut the jammed drillstring (that how the >3000ft drillstring came about) at well A and moved to Well B without informing MMS (a criminal offence). Officially it was a bypass but there was no way, they could reuse well A surface location; not with the shallow gas coming out of the faults and the jammed drillstring.
They moved to well B location and again they had an out-of-well control situation on 10 Mar 2010.
On March 10, BP executive and regulartory advisor Scherie Douglas e-mailed Frank Patton, the MMS' drilling engineer for the New Orleans district, telling him: “We’re in the midst of a well control situation on MC 252 #001 and have stuck pipe. We are bringing out equipment to begin operations to sever the drillpipe, plugback the well and bypass," Per Dr. Robert Bea, engineering professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who has consulted with the Interior Department on offshore drilling safety, this incident was a "showstopper... They damn near blew up the rig.”
This was the second drill string BP had lost. Length (est)= (13,305- 12,146) = 1,159 ft.
On 16 Mar 2010, DWH spudded on a 3rd location which was the well that blew on 20 April 2010.
With so many near-disaster misses, how can the Blowout and Mega Oil spill be accidental? It was more of a Kamikazee Suicide Mission....only the drilling crew were not told about their fate. There are more irrefutable evidence....we are finalising the details and putting the evidence in correct perspective. Watch out for the coming postings.
- 5 votes
#1 - Sat Dec 31, 2011 2:09 PM ESTMe thinks .... it was more of a practice run to see if bad cement job ...err sorry ..."BP's quick-dry cement" could be used to hold the well long enough until the well reached the reservoir for the mega-oil spill disaster to work.
A blowout before the well reaches reservoir do not gush mega oil spill. Period!
- 2 votes
#2 - Sun Jan 1, 2012 4:12 PM ESTThis article speaks volumes, of the attitude of B P . If they can limit the number of people knowing about such dangers . Why let the public know about it . If they can get away with it once . Why must they speak the second time ?
As I understand you #1 comment . They were drilling in their third location .
Knowing nothing about Geology . I perceive . You poke enough holes in something , and it's going to fail . Shall we expect a blowout of the gulf floor in the future ? Making what we've called a oil spill , look like a drop of oil in the bottom of a 55 gallon drum .
RON
- 2 votes
#3 - Sat Jan 7, 2012 2:26 PM ESTRon
We first assume they did not know the dangers (geohazards) of drilling the Macondo wells. Wrong they knew...from mapping the prospect for several years and also from the experience / report of the Texaco Rigel Well which hit substantiate amount of gas. Gas rises and and permeable faults are their escape path to the shallow depths. So any right thinking person could put them together to make a good conclusion ..there are gas hazards to be aware off.
So if those knuckleheads geo at BP were so dense not to realise, they should have been awaken to this fact when they spud their first well in Oct 2009. Records showed that they had more than abnormal amount of troubles drilling that well ....again they still did not wake up.
Then they reentered well A in Feb 2010 with a new crew and rig; again the same gas problems cropped up. Would you agree that even a novice would have woken up? they managed to lose more than 3000 ft of drill-string (that shows how bad the problem was, you do not lose drill string everyday). It is like having a very bad accident to make you realise that drinking and truck driving does not mix. What do yo do? You either stop drinking or you stop driving but not both right? Guess what BP as a truck driver did after surviving the nasty accident? They continued driving and drinking. That's what happened in layman terms.
Having to cut and run from well A, they then moved to Well B. Guess what? They had basically the same problems as in Well A. So they hit the same gas stringers as when Texaco hit the Rigel Gas level. The drilling crew had to be commended for their drilling skills. Anything less would have gotten the well to blow out. It is like the drunk driver got better in controlling the intoxication and still continue driving at even higher speed and longer distance. Isn't that simply asking for trouble?
Yes, they again managed to escape death at 13,100 ft bml. It was like having your truck crushed completely and yet the driver escaped death but probably landed in hospital (with a few crushed bones). 3 months later after discharge, BP went on drinking and driving at even higher speed and long distance. Reminds me of Evil Knievil, the daredevil motorcyle stuntman. Nothing would stop him from performing even more daredevil stunts.
Well if you keep asking for it, soon or later GOD will have to oblige.
The trouble is, there will be other copycats and drunk-driving if drunk drivers are not prosecuted. Hope you see the point I am making.
- 2 votes
Yes ! I understand your scenario , about the drinking truck driver . What is worse . The police were and are bought off , and were and are looking the other way .
What your calling drill-string . Is that drill stem pipe ? I remember hauling a couple of loads , of drill stem pipe back in 1981 . From Counts , Tn. to Oklahoma City , Ok .
I remember because . There was four friends running the same run . We cut up and had a good time running together . One of those friend . Now lives in Mobil, Al. , and I fear what he is exposed to now . In the air and the fish , he process on eating .
I take it , there is still oil and gas leaking out of the floor of the gulf ? This is the reason , I ask if one day , there might be a massive blow out ?
You've told before . What is the P S I of the oil and gas , pushing toward the top ?
RON
- 2 votes
#4 - Sat Jan 7, 2012 5:11 PM ESTWhat your calling drill-string . Is that drill stem pipe ?
that would be drilling pipes connected edge to edge.
What is the P S I of the oil and gas , pushing toward the top ?
I do not have the official figures offhand but a conservative initial pressure was in the region of 10-14,000 psi while others have argued it to be more. What many do not realise is the consequence of continued leakage and underground erosion.
- 1 vote
You say edge to edge ? Would that be end to end , = a string of pipe ?
Before anyone started poking holes in the floor of the gulf , there are a couple of miles of earth holding the gases and oil down .
Poking their third hole in the gulf . They've tried every excuse they can find . But 10,000 to 14,000 P S I of pressure was blowing the pipe string back to the surface . Does mankind really think they can contain such pressures ?
The skin of this high pressure balloon is a couple of miles thick . But by poking three holes in it , may it yet blow out ?
If millions of cubic feet of gas and oil were blown in the air . Causing a storm and the first spark of lightning , start a fire beyond mans belief .
Being only 500 miles from the well sight . May I survive , for less than a minute .
This makes the word Armageddon come to mind . Are you and I ready to stand before GOD ?
RON
- 2 votes
Ron,
It is within our technological grasp and our safety limit. The Macondo Blowout and mega oil spill was deliberate for a global sinister agenda. A series of articles had already been prepared but there was some attempts to disrupt and prevent their publication for the last 2 months. These will be out shortly and then the world will understand. Hope to be alive till then.
- 2 votes
My too ! I sure would love to live and see a thousand acre solar farm . I was responsible for being built . Showing the world how to have solar energy day and night . It's in the air .
I'm looking forward , to reading the second part of the article , about returning water underground and producing energy from the process . Of course , I look forward to anything you post .
If drilling oil under such high pressure is safe . Why has B P made so many mistakes ?
You say deliberate . Is this their way of forcing the price of oil and gas upward ?
Could this backfire ? Forcing the auto industry and others . To become more efficient ?
I'm a dumb ass truck driver , and can't understand why we don't have 100 M P G cars yet .
If they can build a car , getting 65 to 70 M P G . , with an internal combustion engine . Make it a hybrid and get 100 M P G . The time for change , within the auto industry , has to be soon .
The price of oil will drop like a rock .
RON
- 2 votes
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