On Mon, May 3, 2010 at 7:39 AM, Rich Kulawiec <rsk_at_rockandwater.net> wrote: > > BP 2009 profits: $14B > Amount spent by BP lobbying the US federal government in 2009: $16M > Cost of backup acoustic switch that BP argued would never be needed: $500K > > The acoustic BOP controls are pretty new but apparently designed to work in up to 10,000 feet of water (double the depth of the Gulf well). I was hypothesizing back channel with Chuck Holst and wondering if an acoustic control system would have worked under the conditions of the original disaster: explosions, fires, collapsing riser and drill string. I suspected (and still suspect) that the collapse of the riser/drill string caused damage to the BOP which rendered it unusable. If they couldn't operate the valves with the ROVs they probably couldn't have operated them with anything. It's interesting to note that there were several wells being directionally drilled from the (now sunken) drill rig and apparently three of them are leaking oil. Instead of an exploratory drilling venture this must have been a 'workover" operation in preparation for production. Producing deep water oil deposits (the process of moving the oil up the well and to a refinery) is one of the more difficult problems . Also, it's worth noting that the explosions came less than one day after a "cementing" job. I'm unclear as to whether only one well was cemented or more... cementing consists of injecting a cement mixture into the well to secure a "casing". The cement flows down the middle of the casing and back up outside it. Once the cement sets up the middle is drilled out. A bad cementing job can stress the geographical strata around the well and create cracks. The cement job was done by Haliburton... Dick Cheney's old company. Interesting bit of info, I thought. One problem with the operation was that the drilling vessel was an anchored semi-submersible which does not require a full USCG licensed crew. The rig is under the command of a documented "barge master" rather than a licensed Master and there is always a conflict between the drilling crew (who think that *they* are in charge) and the USCG crew who are *legally* in charge. A dynamically positioned drill rig has a full USCG licensed crew including Master, Mate, Engineer, and Able Seamen. There are fewer conflicts with the drilling crew in a DP rig because the laws regarding a ship are more clear-cut. A dynamically positioned rig is not attached to the bottom and is technically "underway" all the time albeit just hovering above the well head. Thrusters positioned around the rig are commanded by a computer system which senses position information (GPS and acoustic beacons) along with wind and other environmental factors. Since the vessel is underway it requires a fully licensed (and trained) crew who are also trained (and certified) in fire fighting. Training on other drill rigs is often haphazard. One major advantage of a dynamically positioned rig is that it can move off about 10 percent of water depth (500 feet in this case) and avoid gas coming up through the ocean water, disconnect the BOP, and then motor away from the area to a place of relative safety. Anchored rigs, especially in 5,000 feet of water, take a lot of time to move off. The weight of the anchors and rode are more than the capacity of the drill rig (especially a semi) and have to be done with several supply boats. But I bet they require acoustic BOP control systems - even if only as a backup - from now on. Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA www.nwkayaking.net *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Mon May 03 2010 - 09:58:09 PDT
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:31:41 PDT