Deepwater Horizon - Transocean Oil Rig Fire

[offshoremackem]

It always the same with OIL companies and drilling companies, to keep stum. Transocean released a sombre video speech by the top man and requests all employees not to speculate on what happened. What is important is the investigation team will put to gether the timeline of events, but to do this and to get the truth it is best that stories are not embelished on. Media would twist peoples stories.

[Jones Act]

It always the same with OIL companies and drilling companies, to keep stum. Transocean released a sombre video speech by the top man and requests all employees not to speculate on what happened. What is important is the investigation team will put to gether the timeline of events, but to do this and to get the truth it is best that stories are not embelished on. Media would twist peoples stories.

I am not sure if this "...but to do this and to get the truth it is best that stories are not embelished on. Media would twist peoples stories" is in the speech your post references or your own comment. I hope it is the former.

It is the Transocean/BP lawyer spin that is exactly needs to be vetted by open, uncontrolled, media and eye witness accounts. Conjecture and speculation will be proven as such but trust me that that is better than a controlled investigation that is done by lawyers and released in a "controlled fashion".

[anth]

Speaking as a member of the media, I have to say that it is becoming increasingly difficult to get questions answered right now. The publication I work for isn't interested in sensationalism - we're after facts and full answers to our questions so our readers have a better idea of what is happening at Macondo, of which technical solutions are being considered, how effective those could be, where BP, TO etc go from here and - most importantly - what lessons the industry must learn to ensure this doesn't happen again.

In my opinion, the growing control over the flow of information coming from joint command is not a good thing at all.

[tadwall]

I'm a drilling professional and we have been observing & commenting on the control of the information flow in this incident. It's a fundamental component of Incident Management Training, nevertheless, I am surprised that the information has been so completely controlled - there is virtually no anecdotal information emerging from the day-to-day response. Nomad's post above alludes to this.

I can only guess that bp's legal staff have wrought confidentiality agreements for everything that is under their contractual umbrella, and that Transocean has done the same. And it's interesting that one must go to the third world press to discover how furiously the lawyers are drawing the battle lines for the future litigation over costs and accountability. BP will have a hard time proving that Transocean's equipment was at fault when it's their well, under their supervision, that blew the generators out the back of the rig and rendered the system inert.

Our prayers and support go to the survivors who, having come through this terrible ordeal now must run the gauntlet of litigation.

Let the Blames begin.

[RyanK]

Here we go...



http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=121103

Just a thought, but who's cement was it, shlumberger, halliburton. Because if it is found that there was a fault with the cement wouldn't they be libel also.

[bobcouttie]

I am not sure if this "...but to do this and to get the truth it is best that stories are not embelished on. Media would twist peoples stories" is in the speech your post references or your own comment. I hope it is the former.

It is the Transocean/BP lawyer spin that is exactly needs to be vetted by open, uncontrolled, media and eye witness accounts. Conjecture and speculation will be proven as such but trust me that that is better than a controlled investigation that is done by lawyers and released in a "controlled fashion".

I concur. "Media would twist peoples stories" is the sort of twaddle spoken by folk who are afraid that the media might find out something they don't want people to know.

Bob Couttie
Administrator
Maritime Accident Casebook

[nomad]

Hello Bob,

I have no objection to a quote on that site. I would also recommend posting this link to the OSHA website that deals with the specifics of oil & gas H2S hazards, mitigation, and response. H2S cause cause a myriad of problems and all employers and skippers working in and around oilfield activities should have some basic awareness of the issues. Most seamen are aware of dead air in enclosed compartments. Because sulfide settles into low spots in still air conditions, it can create a similar hazard in that you're just as dead when it's through with you.:

http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/oila...onitoring.html

Sorry for depressing tone. On the lighter side, it is a beautiful morning.

Be safe everyone.

Regards...

[x626xBlack]

The media glamorizes the facts to make the stories more dramatic. Crude is bought, sold, and production rates are reported, in BARRELS! European companies convert to Cubic Meters. The media however takes liberty with conversions and reports 42,000 Gal/day that the well is releasing. It makes a better headline than 1,000 bbls/day or 119.24 Cubic Meters.

[x626xBlack]

That is correct and there is another issue besides H2S in regards to boats approaching an offshore rig in distress. If Gas is rising to the surface at night when the boat can not see it, the gas will sink the boat.

[x626xBlack]

Comments on what the Rig was lacking.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...DDLETopStories

[bobcouttie]

Twaddle
1) Few people outside the business have any idea how much is in a barrel. It is the media's job to ensure that their audience understands what is going on and referring to a measure which is unused in daily life by normal people doesn't hack it.
2) No point using metric measurement in the US, where few people are familiar with the metric system.

What you're complaining about is that by using gallons, or litres in Europe, people will actually understand the size of the issue. That the media's job.

[sbuchanan]

Just a thought, but who's cement was it, shlumberger, halliburton. Because if it is found that there was a fault with the cement wouldn't they be libel also.

The cement contractor was Halliburton.

[x626xBlack]

I have to apologize. This will probably be my last information posting with the media present here. I am not sure what a reporter is doing here anyway, shouldn't you be speaking to sources that you can verify. Anyway, there is another rig headed that way in a few days in support (not giving the name). I also understand the stack may have finally been shut in and the oil is no longer coming out as of late last night. I do not see it in the news but they usually lag 12-24 hours or so. (last part unconfirmed)

[x626xBlack]

Twaddle
1) Few people outside the business have any idea how much is in a barrel. It is the media's job to ensure that their audience understands what is going on and referring to a measure which is unused in daily life by normal people doesn't hack it.
2) No point using metric measurement in the US, where few people are familiar with the metric system.

What you're complaining about is that by using gallons, or litres in Europe, people will actually understand the size of the issue. That the media's job.

It is time someone starts to educate instead of pray on the ignorance of..... Regardless of what you may think, there is a huge inconsistency..... Find one news agency that reports the "high cost of oil" by the gallon for those who do not understand a barrel... Good luck with that.

I have yet to find a news agency that gets anything right, or focuses on the positive.

[danmcm]

maybe old news now, but this from Marine Log:



I don't think that the oil just stopped flowing on its own but that the failsafe valves did their thing but as mentioned before why it took so long to happen? Aren't they supposed to close the well in once the control signals from the MUX system are lost and certainly, the MUX cables would have melted early in the explosion and fire. Anybody a subsea type here?

In any event, while the loss of so many men is a great tragedy, the thought of an uncontrolled subsea blowout at 5000' is horrible to consider and I am very thankful that scenario is not taking place now.

I was an assistant subsea engineer for transocean and yes i was thinking the same thing. The system you are thinking about is called the deadman system, where if the BOP loses total communication with the rig then it is supposed to close on its own. This is what the accumulator bottles on the BOP are for.

Thats what has me floored the BOP if operating correctly should have closed on the well. But even closing the BOP would do not good if pipe is across the stack and they did not have what is called and IBOP or inside BOP this is to close off the driill string in the event of a blowout.

[TxKingfisher]

It is time someone starts to educate instead of pray on the ignorance of..... Regardless of what you may think, there is a huge inconsistency..... Find one news agency that reports the "high cost of oil" by the gallon for those who do not understand a barrel... Good luck with that.

I have yet to find a news agency that gets anything right, or focuses on the positive.

Black, you talk like 42,000 gallons isnt the same a 1,000 barrels......
I have to agree with Bob. The layperson understands gallons as a unit of measurement, not barrels. And to your point of "educating" the "ignorant" public, why should the public care about barrels? They buy gasoline in gallons, they buy milk in gallons, they dont need to understand barrels. Stating the flow in gallons isnt inflamatory, its just the plain truth that people can understand.

[x626xBlack]

Black, you talk like 42,000 gallons isnt the same a 1,000 barrels......
I have to agree with Bob. The layperson understands gallons as a unit of measurement, not barrels. And to your point of "educating" the "ignorant" public, why should the public care about barrels? They buy gasoline in gallons, they buy milk in gallons, they dont need to understand barrels. Stating the flow in gallons isnt inflamatory, its just the plain truth that people can understand.

I am not here to argue. I am merely stating my opinion. You may find fault in my logic, however, when you read.... "In today's world the majority of the news sources "make" the news instead of "reporting" it", do you tend to agree? Either way that is not the topic of this thread and I will not comment on this anymore. I did not intend to derail the thread.

[Careener]

I train administrative types for the oil industry and am not highly technical. However, I'm wondering a few things and am hoping someone can shed some light:

1. I hear a lot of references about the breech probably occurring straight upward between the cement and the casing or between the cement and the wellbore walls. From there, it presumably went up the annular space between the production casing and the string before it, and escaped past the casing slips and into the riser. Isn't it possible that the flow dipped down and went up the bottom of the production casing past the cement plug between the shoe and float collar (if the cement wasn't set properly)?
2. Could the problem have been a bad top plug on the cement job that let a lot of mud into the cement, which would have left the section I just mentioned with diluted cement?
3. Does anyone know how many strings of casing were set in the well other than the surface casing and production casing? Did the production casing go all the way to the wellhead, or was it a liner?
4. Does anyone how a temporary plug is installed? Is it just a certain number of feet of cement pumped above a plug of some kind. Is it set near the top of the casing or near the bottom?

Thanks for any answers.

[CMA_Decky]

I am not sure what a reporter is doing here anyway, shouldn't you be speaking to sources that you can verify.

Let people educate themselves. I'm guessing that oil and gas drilling wasn't part of reporter school and I haven't seen any quotes in the news off of gCaptain forums yet.

[Tim]

Dear All-

The Memorial Service of Karl Kleppinger, Jr. will be held on Monday, May 3rd, 2010 at 2:00 pm c.s.t. at Highland Baptist Church, 319 Highland Blvd, Natchez, Mississippi 39120.

so sad. RIP Karl Kleppinger, Jr.