Deepwater Horizon

“BP has blamed drilling contractor Transocean Ltd., which owned the rig. Transocean says BP was responsible for the wellhead's design and that oilfield services contractor Halliburton was responsible for cementing the well shut once drilled. And Halliburton says its workers were just following BP's orders, but that Transocean was responsible for maintaining the rig's blowout preventer.”

That was copied from CNN’s website this morning. I’m at a loss when I see reporting like this. It stymies me because people don’t take the time to dig deeper and find the fine print, the details, the “other” things that most people fail to find to make reporting more factual and credible. One would think that CNN would at least do a better job and not blindly allow such reporting to point fingers and sway peoples’ opinions.

I’ll put in my two cents even though it won’t be read by a journalist anywhere simply because I know a little bit and I’ll say it. I’ve worked in the oil field. I did for 14 years all around the world. I worked for Transocean for 2 years and know the company well as well as lots of people who still work for them. I know some of how a rig works and the paperwork and the signatures and the approvals processes that go on during daily operations of a rig. Not much has changed in those respects.

I will say that I’ve never worked on the Horizon. I’ve never worked on a semi or drillship. All I’ve worked on are jackups, platforms, platform rigs, and land rigs. The MMS governs the operations of rigs offshore in federal waters and mandates a lot of tests that are to be done. I guess it just irks me that nobody has looked in to some of the details about these requirements.

One’s blaming the other and I’d expect to hear nothing but that in a case like this where 11 people perished while at work and oil’s spewing from a broken riser and non-functioning BOP 5000’ below the GoM’s surface.

The MMS requires a weekly test of the BOP. The Blowout Preventer is a critical safeguard used while drilling a well on every type of rig. It can help stave off a potential catastrophic event but sometimes there are failures, such as this one. Why? Nobody knows just yet. The BOP has different types of “rams” situated in it that do different things. Shear rams cut the drill pipe as a last ditch effort to secure the well, blind rams crush the pipe, pipe rams wrap around the drill pipe, casing rams wrap around the casing. I’m sure I’m missing a couple but those are the ones most predominantly used.

The MMS requires a test on the BOP every 7 days. Due to certain rig tasks a test can be put off for a maximum of 7 more days with the MMS’ approval. During these tests if leaks in the pressurized hoses or parts of the BOP are found the test stops until the leaks or problems are fixed. Then the affected areas are retested until they pass.

Once the test is completely over and everything passes the rig’s OIM (Offshore Installation Manager) signs off on the IADC log that the test is complete and everything passed. That is then passed on to the production company rep, bp in this case, for his approval and signature that he’s satisfied with the test, it’s results, and that everything is working fine and all fixes (if any) have been carried out and all is functional.

In my eyes it comes back to the production company for accepting responsibility even though the BOP is owned by Transocean. A lot of times the production company supplies or purchases different rams that may be called for because of odd sized pipe being run in the hole that isn’t a standard size.

Transocean is no slouch of a company. They harp on safety and have made safety one of their core values, one thing that was drilled in to my head incessantly when I worked for them. Time, schedule, and money are second to safety. They do not take chances, especially when it comes to the safety of all the personnel on a rig. Certain rigs may not have the best equipment but they’ll make things safe. A piece like a BOP is the “end all, be all” of safety. If it fails people usually get hurt. In this case, 11 people lost their lives.

Could it have been a bad ram? Could it have been lost system pressure? Could it have been a battery problem? Could it have been a downhole tool that failed to see the bubble coming up? Did the sensors pick it up and warn people in time? I’ve seen two blowouts in my 14 years offshore and they both scared the shit out of me. Once was a gas bubble pushed out all the mud from the well up to the crown and water table (highest points on a derrick). Alarms went off and scared the crap out of the people on the rig floor. The other was while plugging an abandoned well gas unexpectedly shot up pushing 1000’ of drill pipe out of the hole, in to the air, and it came crashing down all over the rig and surrounding water while all the gas alarms were blaring on the rig. There was no place to hide when you have 1000’ of drill pipe, each joint being 33’ long flying up in the air. It was pucker and hope time. Thankfully the BOP worked, the well was shut in, and nobody was hurt. Just a lot of dirty underwear that day.

Quit blaming everyone. Find out what happened. Find the problem, make a solution, try it, and worry about the future safety of everyone in the oil field. Fingers will be pointed for a long time as suits are already being filed. It happens when something of this nature unfolds. It’s a shame, however, that the parent companies are also involved in the catfight as nobody wants a black eye from it. On a BOP there are different safeties. For some reason all of them failed. Find out what failed, make a backup and move forward. Save lives. Protect workers. Pray for the families of those who still work in the oil field that this doesn’t happen again, especially to them.

http://www.deepwaterhorizoncondolences.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P16TDF9qEKo