A sad time for all in the south

[caz]

its good to to know the oil companies care so much about us and spend a fraction of what they make to put on a front.. makes me feel much better..

[vicman99]

Stephen Hawking
"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, but illusion of knowledge."

[vicman99]

tell me that he didnt know everything.

Albert Einstein
"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius—and a lot of courage—to move in the opposite direction."

[corndog]

In 30 years we have drilled over 30,000 oil wells in the GOM. There have been only 2 incidents of this nature the last was 25 plus years ago. When that occurred the oil hit the texas beaches and was easier to clean up on the beaches. We all remember the tar balls. The LA coast is not so fortunate. Not good. Any time you push the envelope of technology eventually you will get bit in the ***. Example space shuttle. Did any ever think that we might blow up 2 of those in 20 years. Jesus Christ those things are traveling 27,000 MPH. Does anyone think we are going to stop drilling in the GOM. Please open your eyes and realize what is at stake here. I know it feels good to talk and point fingers. Heck I want my kids to grow up and enjoy nature as it was meant to be. I also want them to be a doctor and be rich. Reality is that may not happen.Reality is we have to have oil. Until someone can come up with a way to replace the source of energy we will need oil. If the government wants to stop oil production please let me take the time to laugh my *** off at that thought. I will make another post of what I have heard happened. In the meantime. Put down the local cartoon paper(chronicle) turn of the Communist News Network (CNN) quit spewing out the garbage they act is news. Pick up the wall street journal and educate yourself on the realities of the life we face. It aint nothing nice and sucks it is this way but it is what it is. "The definition of insanity is repeating the same thing over and over expecting a different result". By who ever

[majek_maniac]

Well said corndog. I think everyone (probably due to the media and society's willingness to believe whatever is seen on TV or internet) is making the spill out to be much worse than it is and the nation is brought on to believe that "big oil" are a bunch of rich, greedy bastards. We will recover from this. There will be an environmental impact, but not as bad as many are claiming.

What about all the fish and local wildlife killed in this past winter's freeze and a similar freeze back in 1983 (I think thats when it happened). Nature recovered from that, will recover from last years freeze and will also recover from this spill. We need to and do try to prevent these things from happening, but nature will recover.

Why do you think that this earth has supported life for such a long time? Like the saying from Jurrasic Park " ..nature finds a way."

M.M.

[blazerbay2420]

funny stuff

The thoughts that started this thread are so closed minded that they almost made me mad, but then I paused and just had to laugh. Some that posted here will sway with whatever wind blows up their ***. What a joke! For you oil haters make sure that you can really live without it, trade in that small car for a pair of shoes, and make sure that they are leather or made of wood. Wait, your prob peta supporters too so bare foot is the way to go. Oh, please post the links to the Alaska articles so we can all read and make our own judgement on them. As for BP not being an American company, you cant even imagine what would happen to the Houston economy if they just packed up and left. It would kill more than just the oil industry but I wouldnt expect some on here to understand that. Wow I guess it takes all kinds! Thanks for the laughs!

[FlatoutFishin]

Terrible tragedy, but to say they aren't doing everything possible is a joke. I promise you, BP doesn't cut corners when it comes to safety...not intentionally. My father in law worked for BP for 12 years, after their buyout of Sohio as V.P of U.S drilling and then later as V.P of international drilling and that man is a stickler for safety, even at 76 when we're just hanging out all he does is ask about our safety programs here at Valero.
Anyway...I tested BOPs while earning a living as a cementer for Schlumberger Dowell from 92-99, and the MMS was a tight *** when it came to test results for them. I assure you, unless they relaxed regulations, which I doubt...there should of been no problem with that preventer before they were allowed to commence with drilling operations. They are tested 2 times a month and I've never seen an extension granted unless it was something unavoidable, as in stuck pipe in the hole.
BHO is right though for once...BP will take care of it. They will pay through the nose to LA, FL and everyone that is affected. And if you want a true catastrophic event...quit drilling offshore altogether and see what everyones life becomes.

[vicman99]

enough said

"The only two things that are infinite in size are the universe and human stupidity. And I'm not completely sure about the universe."
-- Albert Einstein

[Swells]

It is true that Sierra Club and other "greens" are making a case that the US should ban all offshore drilling, so we could all go on solar, wind, and hamster power. Even Governor "Arnuld" of California said as much.

But the common wisdom is that we need to develop offshore oil & gas from national security, strategic, and economic perspectives. The effect of the offshore industry on Texas, Louisiana, and Alabama is truly massive, and Houston is still the energy capital of the US.

By the way, some evidence is coming out that the casing had been cemented a day or two prior to the blast, by Halliburton, and the crews were in the process of shutting down the well to move to another location. Apparently, this is risky business, requiring the drilling mud to be removed from the well bore, replaced with saltwater, and somehow capped.

Unfortunately, a large burst of natural gas hit, and details about this are not clear. What is known that the rig rumbled for an hour or two before the explosion. Several methane detectors went off on the deck. When the Deepwater Horizon blew out, the natural gas blasted out the drilling deck like an upside-down rocket. Some gas got caught in the air intakes to four or six very large auxiliary diesel engines of several thousand horsepower each, which caused them to race uncontrollably. All the lights, computers, appliances, and motors went berserk and were totally fried - including any controls on the BOP. The electricity blew out just as a giant fireball engulfed the drilling deck. The rig instantly listed about 10 degrees, for some reason, as the panicked crew abandoned ship.
sammie

sources: USCG responder reports, Houston Chronicle, lawsuits

[nokatchin]

A long read but an awesome interview. I listen to Mark Levin every evening
on Radio.

MaryT
Subject: Deepwater Horizon: A Firsthand Account


Deepwater Horizon: A Firsthand Account
by Mark Levin Show
5/4/2010
URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=92765
On Friday, April 30th 2010, an anonymous caller contacted the Mark Levin
Show to clarify the events that preceded the Deepwater Horizon tragedy.
Rigzone has transcribed this broadcast for your convenience. To hear the
actually radio broadcoast please visit www.MarkLevinShow.com.

Mark: Dallas Texas WBAP go right ahead sir
James: Just want to clear up a few things with the Petroleum Engineer,
everything he said was correct. I was actually on the rig when it exploded
and was at work.
Mark: Alright lets slow down, Wait, hold on slow down, so you were working
on this rig when it exploded?
James: Yes sir.
Mark: OK go ahead.
James: We had set the bottom cement plug for the inner casing string, which
was the production liner for the well, and had set whats called a seal
assembly on the top of the well. At that point the BOP stack that he was
talking about, the blow out preventer, was tested. I dont know the result of
that test, however it must have passed because at that point they elected to
displace the risers -- the marine riser from the vessel to the sea floor.
They displaced all the mud out of the riser preparing to unlatch from the
well 2 days later and they displaced it with sea water. When they concluded
the test of the BOP stack and the inner liner, they concluded everything was
good.
Mark: Let me slow you down, let me slow you down. So they do all these tests
to make sure the infrastructure can handle whats about to happen, right?
James: Correct, were testing the negative pressure and positive pressure of
the well, the casing and the actual marine riser.
Mark: OK, Im with you. Go ahead.
James: Alright, after the conclusion of the test, they simply opened the BOP
stack back up.
Mark: And the test, as best as you know was sufficient?
James: It should have been, yes sir. They would have never opened it back
up.
Mark: OK next step go ahead.
James: Next step, they opened the annular, the upper part of the BOP stack
Mark: Which has its purpose. Why do you do that?
James: So that you can gain access back to the wellbore.
Mark: Ok
James: When you close the stack, thats basically a humongous hydraulic valve
that closes off everything from below and above. Its like a gate valve on
the sea floor.
Mark: OK
James: Thats a very simplistic way of explaining a BOP thats a very
complicated piece of equipment.
Mark: Basically, its like a plug; but go ahead.
James: Correct. Once they open that plug to go ahead and start cementing the
top of the well (the well bore), we cement the top, and then basically we
would pull off. Another rig would slide over and do the rest of the
completions work. When they opened the well is when the gas the well kicked
and we took a humongous gas bubble kick up through the well bore. It
literally pushed the sea water all the way to the crown of the rig, which is
about 240 feet in the air.
Mark: Okay, so gas got into it and blew the top off of it.
James: Right.
Mark: Now dont hang up. I want to continue with you because I want to ask
you some questions related to this, ok? Including, has this sort of thing
ever happened before, and why you think it may have happened, ok?
Mark: Alright, back to James, thats not his real name, Dallas WBAP. Im not
going to give the working title of what you did there either, James, but I
wanted to finish. So, the gentleman was right about the point that obviously
some gas got into the, Ill call it the funnel, ok?
James: Correct, and thats not uncommon, Mark. Anytime youre drilling an oil
well, there is a constant battle between what the mud weight, the drilling
fluid that we use to maintain pressure, and the wellbore itself. Theres a
balance. The well is pushing gas one way and you are pushing mud the other
way. So there is a delicate balance that has to be maintained at all times
to keep the gas from coming back in, what we call the kicks. You know, we
always get gas back in the mud, but the goal of the whole situation is to
try to control the kick. Not allow the pressure differential between the
vessel and the wellbore.
Mark: Well, in this case, obviously, too much gas got in.
James: Correct, and this well had a bad history of producing lots of gas. It
was touch and go a few times and was not terribly uncommon. Youre almost
always going to get gas back from a well. We have systems to deal with the
gas, however
Mark: So, what may have happened here?
James: Well, the sheer volume and pressure of gas that hit all at once which
was more than the safeties and controls we had in place could handle.
Mark: And thats like a mistake on somebodys part or maybe its just Mother
Nature every now and then kicks up, or what?
James: Mother Nature every now and then kicks up. The pressures that were
dealing with out there, drilling deeper ,deeper water, deeper overall volume
of the whole vessel itself, youre dealing with 30 to 40 thousand pounds per
square inch range --serious pressures.
Mark: Not to offend you, but we just verified that you are who you are,
which Im sure you already knew that. I would like to hold you over to the
next hour because I would like to ask a few more questions about this as
well as what happened exactly after the explosionduring the explosion and
aftercan you wait with us?
James: Sure, I dont know how much of that I can share, but Ill do my best.
Mark: Alright, well I dont want to get you in trouble. So if you state you
can, fine, but if you state you cant, we understand.
Part 2 of Marks Interview:
Mark: We are talking to a caller under an assumed name who was on the rig
when it blew up, and weve been talking about how it happened. And now James,
I want to take you to the point of when it happened. What exactly happened?
You were standing where?
James: Well obviously, the gas blew the sea water out of the riser, once it
displaced all the sea water, the gas began to spill out on the deck up
through the center of the rig floor. The rig, you have to imagine a
rectangle, about 400 feet by 300 feet, with the derrick and the rig floor
sitting directly in the center. As this gas is now heavier than air, it
starts to settle in different places. From that point, something ignited the
gas, which would have caused the first major explosion.
Mark: Now, what might ignite the gas, do you know?
James: Any number of things, Mark All rig floor equipment is what they
consider intrinsically safe, meaning it cannot generate a spark, so that
these types of accidents cannot occur. However, as much gas that came out as
fast as it did, it would have spilled over the entire rig fairly rapidly,
you know, within a minute, I would think that the entire rig would be
enveloped in gas. Now a lot of this stuff, you cant smell, you cant taste
it, its just there, and its heavier than oxygen. As it settled in, it could
have made it to a space that wasnt intrinsically safe. Something as simple
as static electricity could have ignited the first explosion, which set off
a series of explosions.
Mark: Alright, so what happened? Youre standing where? Youre sitting
somewhere? What happened?
James: Well, I was in a location that was a pretty good ways from the
initial blast. I wasnt affected by the blast. I was able to make it out and
get up forward where the life boatsthe PA system was still workingthere was
an announcement overhead that this was NOT a drill. Obviously, we have fire
drills every single week to prepare for emergencies like this (fire and
abandonment drills). Over the intercom came the order to report to life
boats 1 and 2, that this was not a drill, that there is a fire, and we
proceeded that way.
Mark: So, the eleven men who died, were they friends of yours?
James: Yes Sir, they were.
Mark: Did they die instantly?
James: I would have to assume so. Yes Sir. I would think that they were
directly inside the bomb when it went offThe gas being the bomb.
Mark: So, the bomb being the gas explosion?
James: Correct. They would have been in the belly of the beast.
Mark: Now, let me ask you, and we have to be careful what we say because
there are people that will run wild with ideas so I just want to make sure
James: Sure.
Mark: So, let me ask you thiswhy would the government send in a SWAT team to
a rig? Whats that all about?
James: Well, believe it or not, its funny you would mention that. Transocean
maintains a SWAT team the drilling company, that their sole purpose, theyre
experts in their field, the BOP the blowout preventer, they call that subsea
equipment. They have their own SWAT teams that they send out to the rigs to
service and maintain that equipment.
Mark: Yeah but Im talking aboutwhat are interior SWAT teams? What is that?
James: The interior, from the government now, I dont have any idea about
thatthats beyond me. The other gentleman also mentioned the USGS that comes
out and does the surveys Ive been on that particular rig for 3 years,
offshore for 5 years, and Ive seen a USGS one time. What we do have on a
very regular basis is the MMS which is the Minerals Management Service.
Mark: Theyre all under the interior department.
James: OK . Yes. As a matter a fact we were commended for our inspection
record from the MMS. We are actually receiving an award from them for the
highest level of safety and environmental awareness.
Mark: Well I thought you were going to receive that award. Didnt they put it
on hold?
James: No, we have actually received that award. We received it last year.
We may have been ready to receive it again this year.
Mark: Let me ask you this so the life boats how did you get in to these life
boats? Where are these life boats?
James: There are actually 4 life boats - 2 forward and 2 on the left
depending on where the emergency or the tragedy has taken place.
Mark: Did you wind up jumping in the water to get in to the life boat?
Sometimes you have to do that.
James: Ill just say that there were 5 to 7 individuals that jumped and the
rest went down in the life boats.
Mark: Alright, I wont ask because you dont want to identify yourself that
clearly. Good point. How fast were the rescue efforts? How fast did they
reach you?
James: It is common to have a very large work boat standing by, bring tools
out, bring groceries, bring supplies; its a constant turn around. So we
actually have a very large vessel real close by. It was actually along side
with the hose attached, taking mud off of our vessel on its own that had to
emergency disconnect and then pulled out about a mile to stand by for rescue
efforts. So it was fairly quick.
Mark: How quick till the Coast Guard got there?
James: Mark, its hard to say, between 45 minutes to an hour when I recall
seeing the first helicopter.
Mark: Which is actually pretty fast because you are 130 miles offshore
right?
James: Correct. If you look at the nearest spill of land which would be
Grand Isle, Louisiana, somewhere in that area, we were only about maybe 50
miles where the crew flies up. From civilization such us New Orleans it
would be 200 miles. The helicopter was more than likely 80 to 100 miles
away.
Mark: You are going to be beset by lawyers, with the government, others
looking for an opportunity to make money. Its going to get very, very ugly
and the officials going there have really no backgrounds or experience.. I
mean, to what extent is that going to help anything? Its silly.
James: To me it seems knee jerk. The number one focus right now is
containment. I like the idea about the boom. They are going to try to lower
it down into the water to capture the leak.
Mark: How long might that take? Ive been reading about this boom and it says
that it could take 30 days to do that.
James: It very well could. You have to remember that this is a challenging
environment. You know its 5,000 feet deep, theres a tangled wrecked of a rig
with the marine riser still connected and twisted into a big wad down there.
So its going to take some time to get all that stuff in place. The
engineering has to be there; obviously they dont want to rush into it. You
want to move it expediently but you are risking the lives of those men that
are going to go out there and try to attempt it - thats just not right.
Mark: I was just going say that. Thats very dangerous, I mean extremely
dangerous.
James: Absolutely, absolutely. There will be oil. there will be natural
gases. All the same things that caused us to explode are still present, and
theyre there. The pressure had been cut off dramatically, from the simple
fact of the folding of the riser. Basically take this big garden hose and
kinked it several times.
Mark: How old is this rig? How long has it been there?
James: It was put on service 2001.Its a fairly new rig.
Mark: And, what is the sense in shutting down every rig in the Gulf of
Mexico in response to this?
James: Absolutely senseless what so ever. This literally could very well be
a once in a lifetime freak accident or it could be negligence.Thats for
other people to figure out. From my position, just seems like every now and
then, you cant win against Mother Nature. She thorws a curve ball that you
are not prepared for.
Mark: But to shut down every rig in response to this? I mean.. Im not sure
why.
James: The BOP tests are literally mandated from the Mineral Management
Service and they are conducted like clockwork and I mean if any of those
tests ever failed, they would have immediately stopped operations, seal the
well up, pull the BOP stack back up on the deck, which is 48 hours minimum,
and make the necessary repairs or replacement parts and then go back down,
re-connect, re-test, and keep testing it until it passes or keep on
repairing it until it passes.
Mark: So this was a.., I mean this must have been harrowing to you. I mean
to experience something like this.
James: Thats putting it mildly.
Mark: Anything else you want to tell me?
James: No, I just got into the truck to make a short trip and I heard a
gentleman saysomething about possible terrorism and I want to put that to
bed now. I understand you have a large audience. I appreciate your point of
view. I try to listen to you as much as I can, the terrorism call just needs
to leave everyones minds and lets focus on the 11 men that are dead and the
survivors. Thats where the focus of this country needs to be right now.
Mark: Alright my friend we wish you all the best and I tell you that its
really Gods blessing that you survived it really is.
James: Yes sir I completely agree.
Mark: Alright James thank you very much for calling and we appreciate it.
James: Thank you Mark.
Mark: Alright God Bless.

[Robalo]

There is no "front" put on. We spend billions of dollars in the highest risk business in the world-those deepwater wells cost upwards of 100 MILLION dollars EACH and that's dry hole cost. Then, if sucessfull, another BILLION is spent building a Spar or converting a semi-submersible or building an FPSO to produce the wellstream-it aint just oil or just gas-it all must flow through a production train to separate the produced gas, oil and water and condition the flow before it goes into sales lines. Sales lines have to be built at huge expense and then again be built across land so your home has natural gas, supply plants and factories, and run the economy. Folks that have no clue as to what it takes to drill FIND and produce oil and gas are the same type folks that find P.E.T.A. and enviros attractive because of so-called "political correctness" and fail to see that their present day world would be like living in 1850 if oil wasn't so important to all our lives-no plastics for your fishing lures, no fishing line, no electricity (can't make batteries without petroleum products), not much of anything used on a daily basis by an American that isn't based on petroleum products-no computers, no cars, no TV, no cable, no planes, satellites, radios, 22" rims for gangbangers, not much of anything-even Pamela Anderson can thank the oil industry-where would she be without implants?

[FlatoutFishin]

Well put sir. I owe you a beer or two since I didn't have to type what I was thinking.

[majek_maniac]

Great post Robalo and thanks Nokatchin for sharing that with us.

All these people who are so quick to point fingers have no damn clue about the drilling industry, how it works and how its done or how important safety is out here. And, like Flatout said, the MMS is no joke, they will show up un announced and audit and inspect your rig. If it's not up to par, they WILL shut you down for as long as it takes to straighten things out. And all that cost is on the operator (BP in this case), so you know damn well they keep everything in order when you are running a million dollar a day operation.

Like Robalo said, without oil, it'd be like living in the 19th century. Drilling for oil is part of our lives. It will be for some time, its not going to stop any time soon. Houston is the energy capitol of the WORLD and supports millions of families each year. Without it, this economy would be in even worse shape. Open your eyes people, quit being sheep and following the herd and believing everything you are told.

M.M.

[jocues]

YES YES YES
A little knowledge goes a long way!
Those last few post hit the nail on the head.

[shutout]

Good read Billy; thx