Do we know if the explosion on the drilling platform occured because we

[lonestarnot]

don't know what we are doing or because someone blew it up :tinfoilhat: or because it just it just blew or will we ever know why the deal blew?

[Zoeisright]

1. I think it was God's punishment on this country for eight years of Bush.

Hey, why not?

[Beringia]

2. my guess is neglect because of human stupidity

or bottom line


I am trying to get my post count up to 50. thanks for your post.

[lonestarnot]

3. Wow you have big print there beringia, "the better to see it with."

[Canuckistanian]

10. You're honest at least.

And you know how to use the /font tag.

Welcome to DU!
:toast:
:hi:

[Beringia]

15. thanks Canuck

[LakeSamish706]

4. Well it would seem that Halliburton was doing work on the platform at the time

of the explosion, or just before.

[lonestarnot]

7. Would seem?

Link please.

[Electric Monk]

19. Link (WSJ)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8242317
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703572504575214593564769072.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLETopStories

<snip>

According to Transocean Ltd., the operator of the drilling rig, Halliburton had finished cementing the 18,000-foot well shortly before the explosion. Houston-based Halliburton is the largest company in the global cementing business, which accounted for $1.66 billion, or about 11%, of the company's revenue in 2009, according to consultant Spears & Associates.

<snip>

The timing of the cementing in relation to the blast—and the procedure's history of causing problems—point to it as a possible culprit in the Deepwater Horizon disaster, experts said.

"The initial likely cause of gas coming to the surface had something to do with the cement," said Robert MacKenzie, managing director of energy and natural resources at FBR Capital Markets and a former cementing engineer in the oil industry.

Several other drilling experts agreed, though they cautioned that the investigation into what went wrong at the Deepwater Horizon site is still in its preliminary stages.

[lonestarnot]

24. Thanks electric monk!

[lonestarnot]

25. Fucking Haliburton!

Now why did I know they would be in the mix? :tinfoilhat:

[Subdivisions]

5. Because our way of life is non-negotiable. Fuel at whatever cost. n/t

[old mark]

6. I read that there was safety equipment to vent the gas that caused

the explosion, but it was not installed or was not working. Someone probably decided to save a thousand dollars or so by not installing a few valves. ALL the remaining platforms must be inspected for compliance.


m

[lonestarnot]

8. Do you remember where you read that?

[old mark]

30. On a post here on GD several days ago...I will check for other sources. nt

[old mark]

31. Recent article in the WSJ on the acoustic switch(Google it). US does NOT REQUIRE ONE,

I guess saving the drillers a few thousand bucks per well. It is an arrangement that allows monitoring of the gas pressure build up so that a relief valve can be opened to let off the gas, lowering pressure and preventing a blow out - very old, simple technology and one would think basic safety precautions.

I am thinking the regulations on well safety were relaxed/ignored by the republicans when they were owned outright by the oil industry for the last few decades, but that's just my opinion.

m

[FarLeftFist]

9. These greedy effing companies couldn't even install a cut-off switch?!!!

WTF?!

[Canuckistanian]

11. Whaddya mean 'we'?

I don't recall being part of the decision-making process for putting oil rigs into the Gulf. Or even maintaining them.

It was apparently above my pay grade.

[kentuck]

12. I had someone mention that to me two or three days ago...

That it was a terrorist operation. It's possible, I suppose?

[Feron]

14. Any accident is assumed to be terrorism nowadays.

Sure it's possible I suppose, but there's no evidence suggesting sabotage so far.

Not to mention that terror groups typically aren't shy about taking credit.

Let's wait for the evidence to roll in before making assumptions. Freepers have already all but called the dead oilworkers ecoterrorists.

[lonestarnot]

16. American greed terrorism to the echosystem and food chain for sure.

for allowing the rig to be placed in the first instance. No one asked Cannukistan or me if they could drill. :shrug: Did anyone ask you? :mad:

[Titanothere]

20. Do you drive a car or wear Polar Fleece? Then they had your permission

[lonestarnot]

26. No and No and no they din't.

[Feron]

13. The investigation is ongoing.

Once they get the thing capped, they'll probably take out the components underwater or use a camera to inspect them.

My guess would be that disaster is a combination of safety shortcuts and bad luck.

[John N Morgan]

17. Just like the gas plant explosion: safety shortcuts and bad luck. the correlation is uncanny

[Titanothere]

18. nobody knows, they were finished with the well and P&A'ing it

(Plugging and Abandoning), when it blew. Most likely it was some failure in the cementing or casing allowing oil to come up plus no deadman on the BOP equals much badness. I'm hoping people can give Exxon a break now (my employer) and realize that BP, even though they do have a flower on their logo to fool the ignorant, are the ones that have a crappy safety record. How about yet another International Boycott request for them? This whole thing is pissing me off and getting me fairly worried; this could really get bad.

[kentuck]

22. Why would they "plug and abandon" a well putting out so much oil??

Isn't it spilling about 5,000 barrels a day into the ocean as we speak??

[Titanothere]

27. Exploration/Discovery wells are always P&A'd as part of the develpment process

Once they make the discovery, if it's a big field, they either abandon or suspend the well, drill more wells to determine the extent of the resource and then develop an overall field strategy so that production wells are put in locations that will manage the drawdown of the field in the most efficient manner. By contrast, back in the day, they'd just drill like crazy wherever they could and end up killing the formation pressure and leaving a lot of oil in the ground. Oil, as can be seen here, flows out of the well by hydrodstatic pressure and not by "pumping".

If the well is in a good spot they might re-drill the cement out of if and make it a production well but typically once a discovery is made it's several years before they get all their ducks in a row to develop it, so they just seal it up and come back later.

I haven't worked in the Gulf much, and it's probably be different since there's so much infrastructure already (just tie into an existing subsea pipline), but internationally you've got to put the infrastructre in to get the oil to shore, either as an FPSO (Floating Production Storage & Offloading) or a pipeline. But if there's no refinery nearby, you FPSO it straight to a tanker and send it to the states or wherever.

All very expensive stuff, the wells my group is working right now cost over $100 million each.

[Strelnikov_]

29. The rig was a development platform. They drill, develop and plug the well.

A production platform is brought in later, the plug is popped by drilling through and voila, go juice for our nation of living rooms on four wheels.

[Warpy]

21. We don't know because the evidence isn't there any more

some of it is on the bottom of the ocean, some of it is incinerated, and the people in the immediate vicinity are dead.

[MadMaddie]

23. It's because these companies were self regulating

which = no regulation and cutting corners when able to. One other interesting thing, Halliburton was one of the vendors doing repair work on the rig.....just saying they ain't known for the quality of their work!!

[Incitatus]

28. Since then entire platform is now 5K feet underwater, I doubt we will ever know.