Deepwater Horizon was *not* pushing limits of exploration...

[tbredbeck]

From the American Association for the Advancement of Science via their ScienceNow site:

"The $350 million Deepwater Horizon was not operating near its design limits on 20 April when uncontrolled oil and gas shot up its drill pipe and ignited, eventually sinking the vessel. It was designed to drill through as many as 9144 meters of rock in as much as 2438 meters of water. Last year, it had drilled the world's deepest well at 10,680 meters of rock and water. But at the time of the blowout, the well extended only 5486 meters beneath the sea floor in 1500 meters of water."

http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/04/deepwater-horizon-was-not-pushin.html

The consequences of this incident are horrific with 11 deaths plus the developing evironmental impact, but the causes are the same causes as many other industrial accidents. I would label that cause, generally speaking, as the myth of "industry self-regulation".

[Arctic Dave]

1. Depth means very little for safety.

Many oilrigs have removed themselves from the earth prematurly due to shallow, high pressure gas pockets.

From the time you spud a well until the time it produces, safety should be the #1 priority.

[Uncle Joe]

2. I believe Halliburton did this part.

"Deepwater Horizon 's containment failure may have come in the cement injected between the well wall and its steel liner, experts say. According to press reports, workers had just finished that "cement job." A failure could have also come in the temporary cement plug set in the well. Problems with cement—a batch that fails to properly set up, for example—were the cause of 18 of 39 blowouts in the Gulf of Mexico over a 14-year period, according to a 2007 report from the U.S. Minerals Management Service, the agency that supervises offshore drilling."

One thing is for sure if the Horizon wasn't operating at it's maximum designed level, I imagine if it had been and this occurred, the shutting off of a catastrophic gusher would be even more difficult than it is now.

Thanks for the thread, tbredbeck.