I have not had a chance to read the BP report on the Deepwater Horizon disaster yet, and due to a couple of other activities (I returned to the USA today) have had only a limited amount of time to catch up on the current plans for abandoning the well, which were reviewed by Admiral Allen at his press conference .

One of the points that he mentioned however, that I thought might be worth discussing a little, is the plan to use the Development Driller II that is connected to the original well at the moment, to complete much of the plugging and abandonment procedures. I will go through that process again in a later post, but one of the things that the Admiral noted today was that the new process would be as follows:

If you remember, the DDII was drilling the second relief well. They came off of that wellhead and took the Blow Out Preventer, and that is the Blow Out Preventer that is now on the well. So they are hooked up to the new Blow Out Preventer over the well, just the same as the original rig would have been, had it still been there.

So they can go down through the well and perforate the casing above the cement and actually cement in the annulus from the top, because they're already there and available to do it. And then shortly thereafter, we will finish the relief well from the bottom with Development Driller III, which was always drilling the first relief well, and they'll do it on the bottom.

Now the point is that to gain access to the top of the cement that was pumped down the production casing, the DD2 is going to have to send tools down to the top of the projected cement and then perforate the casing to inject either mud or cement into that area of the annulus.

Here is where I have the current question. There was some 3,000 ft of drill pipe in the well below the original BOP, that wasn’t there when the BOP was removed. The question becomes, when did it fall into the well? Was it before the cement was injected (in which case the falling DP could have done some damage to the shoe, but all is now hidden, including the DP, in the cement injected) or did the DP fall later during the removal events that took the original BOP from the well.

In that case the DP could have fallen on top of the cement, could have damaged the casing in the process, and would, quite likely be distributed within the production casing so that it will make it difficult for the current operators to get their tool down to the required perforation and injection zone, with the DP in the way.

This could very well explain why they want to get the DP out of the hole using a fishing expedition, but it could be that they won’t find it, since it fell earlier and has been buried in the cement fill. At which point they can then proceed to do the final plug and abandon, following the path that the Admiral outlined. There is, however, no hurry at the moment, and the relief well could now not be completed until the end of the month.

For those wishing to read and comment on the report that BP have just issued on the originating events, that report can be accessed at the BP internal investigation website, and your comments are welcome.

This thread is being closed. Please comment on http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6936.

Update: Link to new BP report on results of internal investigation into the causes of the accident.

With Labor Day weekend, and the recovery of the blowout preventer from the Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf of Mexico, the remaining parts of the operation are going to be increasingly directed at plugging the well, so that it can be abandoned. Part of this operation will be to ensure that the bottom plugs at the reservoir end of the well have adequately sealed off the bottom of the well. To do this, the relief well will be used to intersect the top of the unlined section of the original well, and determine the condition and fluid content of the annulus surrounding the production casing at that point.

There was concern that when the relief well intersected this annulus and then injected fluid into it as part of a possible additional plugging process, that this would increase the fluid pressure in the annulus. This could have raised the fluid pressure to the point that it might have been able to flow past the top seal at the well head, that was separating the annulus fluid channel from the path through the production casing. It was along that second path that the cement travelled to plug the bottom end of the well. Now that a BOP has been installed that can handle 15,000 psi fluid pressure in the well, the concern that a leak in the seal could allow oil to flow into the Gulf is of less consequence. So the relief well can proceed.

At the same time, it is likely that work will continue to prepare the top of the well for additional plugging so that the well can then be abandoned, according to regulation.

One of the remaining issues that will be resolved when the relief well intersects the annulus is over what type of fluid is actually in that channel. In the original sequence of events, before the well failed, the well was full of mud, and then a cement plug was pumped down the center of the well, to the bottom, from where it flowed up the outside of the production casing, filling the lower section of the annulus. In the process, it pushed the mud that was already in the well, up the annulus ahead of the cement. As that cement started to set, and filled the annulus, there should have been no flow path up the annulus to the well head. Thus the fluid in the annulus should still be the original mud that was in the well ahead of that first cement injection.

In a large part of the early thinking of how the well failed, there was a preponderance of opinion that the fluid flow in the well developed up through the cement in the annulus, from the oil reservoir. This then flowed up the outside of the production casing, dislodged the hanger seal at the top of the well, and flowed on up into the BOP and on. But when the second set of cement was sent down the well, to seal it after it had stopped flowing the cement, apparently following the path that the oil had taken in leaving the well, only flowed down the production casing to the bottom of the well, and thence back up to the oil reservoir. This suggests that the early thinking which would leave the annulus full of oil and natural gas was not correct, and rather than oil, the annulus still holds mud.

We won’t know which is right until the well is intersected, but once the information is available, then it will make it easier to decide what steps to take to complete the final stages of plugging the well.

At present the DD2 is preparing for these plug and abandon procedures. It is also, given past problems, testing the new BOP to ensure that it is fully functional before the process restarts. With there being sensibly no further likelihood of oil from the well escaping into the Gulf, the pressure to complete the process has diminished, and there is no urgent need for the relief well to be completed (apart that is for such matters as the amount of money that both the drilling rigs are costing BP every day).

As the Admiral instructs, it will be interesting to see when, and what, the relief well finds as it completes its mission in the next week or so.

This thread is being closed. Please comment on http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6932.

There is not much new to report, except that Tropical Storm Hermine has hit northern Mexico, so I will re-run yesterday's post.

The BOP has been brought to the surface and is being examined as forensic evidence at a NASA facility in Louisiana.

The next step two steps are

1. Controlling the well at the source through the intersecting relief well, and
2. Putting the well into reserve status through a "plugging and abandonment" procedure, under the oversight of the Department of Interior and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

This was the discussion of the timeline from Saturday's press conference. The relief well is to be started some time this week, at a time that has not yet been determined.

Question: When do you think drilling will resume on the relief well and do you have any concerns about the thunderstorms kicking up in the far southwest part of the Gulf?

Thad Allen: Well we're continuing to watch those thunderstorms. And I might add I just got a note that the capping stack is safely secured above on the Discoverer Enterprise. In response to your question, we need to reinstall the riser pipe to the Blow Out Preventer and at that point there are some diagnostics that will be attempted to further understand the condition of the well.

At that point BP will present a way forward. It will be renewed [reviewed?] by the science team in conjunction with the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management. And we will make a decision on the next couple of steps.

We will be in a position as we go into the next week to begin the relief well. But we will make sure that any steps that are necessary before that will be taken and coordinated with BOEM. So, we're in a period here where we're kind of moving with two coordinating structures and making sure we both understand what's going on moving forward.

But we should be ready to move forward with the relief well again sometime this next week. What I would hope once we get the BOP on deck finish the riser installation. We will give you a firm timeline. But I'd like to hold off right now until we get all that information completed.

Berm Progress

You may remember the plans for sand berms off the coast of Louisiana to protect against spilt oil. We noticed this article yesterday, discussing their limited progress to date.

As Jindal attempts to get permits to expand the project — plus more funding to transform the sandy sections, called berms, into longer-term barrier islands — the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is collecting comments from environmentalists and federal agencies. Many of them questioned the idea when it was first proposed and continue to challenge the project even as it is well under way.

So far, the state has spent about a third of the money reserved for the project and has built about one-tenth of the berms, according to records from state and federal agencies. The state Department of Natural Resources reports that it has written slightly more than $120 million in checks as of Sept. 2 from the $360 million that oil giant BP set aside for the berms.

About 3.6 miles of berms have been built, leaving about 31 more miles to be done under the current permit, according to the Aug. 30 daily report to the corps by contractor Shaw Environmental and Infrastructure Group, which received the contract to manage the project and construct the berms.

So it sounds like the controversial project is barely started, now weeks after the oil has been contained, and way over budget.

Tropical Storm Hermine

Chuck Watson (on our staff) reports:

Tropical Storm Hermine has formed in the Bay of Campeche, and will be quickly moving north towards the Texas/Mexico border. Latest data shows tracks shifting to the north, so a landfall between Corpus Christi and Brownsville seems likely. It is probably not going to reach hurricane strength before landfall, but in today's cautious environment will undoubtably force a few evacuations and shutdowns. These are unlikely to exceed 15% of US Gulf of Mexico production, and will not persist much past the end of the week. The waves and winds are well within the design specifications for offshore assets, so no significant longer term damage or disruption is expected.

This thread is being closed. Please comment on http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6931.

The BOP has been brought to the surface and is being examined as forensic evidence at a NASA facility in Louisiana.

The next step two steps are

1. Controlling the well at the source through the intersecting relief well, and
2. Putting the well into reserve status through a "plugging and abandonment" procedure, under the oversight of the Department of Interior and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

This was the discussion of the timeline from Saturday's press conference. The relief well is to be started some time this week, at a time that has not yet been determined.

Question: When do you think drilling will resume on the relief well and do you have any concerns about the thunderstorms kicking up in the far southwest part of the Gulf?

Thad Allen: Well we're continuing to watch those thunderstorms. And I might add I just got a note that the capping stack is safely secured above on the Discoverer Enterprise. In response to your question, we need to reinstall the riser pipe to the Blow Out Preventer and at that point there are some diagnostics that will be attempted to further understand the condition of the well.

At that point BP will present a way forward. It will be renewed [reviewed?] by the science team in conjunction with the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management. And we will make a decision on the next couple of steps.

We will be in a position as we go into the next week to begin the relief well. But we will make sure that any steps that are necessary before that will be taken and coordinated with BOEM. So, we're in a period here where we're kind of moving with two coordinating structures and making sure we both understand what's going on moving forward.

But we should be ready to move forward with the relief well again sometime this next week. What I would hope once we get the BOP on deck finish the riser installation. We will give you a firm timeline. But I'd like to hold off right now until we get all that information completed.

Berm Progress

You may remember the plans for sand berms off the coast of Louisiana to protect against spilt oil. We noticed this article yesterday, discussing their limited progress to date.

As Jindal attempts to get permits to expand the project — plus more funding to transform the sandy sections, called berms, into longer-term barrier islands — the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is collecting comments from environmentalists and federal agencies. Many of them questioned the idea when it was first proposed and continue to challenge the project even as it is well under way.

So far, the state has spent about a third of the money reserved for the project and has built about one-tenth of the berms, according to records from state and federal agencies. The state Department of Natural Resources reports that it has written slightly more than $120 million in checks as of Sept. 2 from the $360 million that oil giant BP set aside for the berms.

About 3.6 miles of berms have been built, leaving about 31 more miles to be done under the current permit, according to the Aug. 30 daily report to the corps by contractor Shaw Environmental and Infrastructure Group, which received the contract to manage the project and construct the berms.

So it sounds like the controversial project is barely started, now weeks after the oil has been contained, and way over budget.

Tropical Storm Hermine

Chuck Watson (on our staff) reports:

Tropical Storm Hermine has formed in the Bay of Campeche, and will be quickly moving north towards the Texas/Mexico border. Latest data shows tracks shifting to the north, so a landfall between Corpus Christi and Brownsville seems likely. It is probably not going to reach hurricane strength before landfall, but in today's cautious environment will undoubtably force a few evacuations and shutdowns. These are unlikely to exceed 15% of US Gulf of Mexico production, and will not persist much past the end of the week. The waves and winds are well within the design specifications for offshore assets, so no significant longer term damage or disruption is expected.

This thread is being closed. Please comment on http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6926.

First it was hoisted to the surface.

Note the actual size of the Deepwater Horizon Blowout Preventer as it is held just above the support frame, after having been raised through the moon pool of the Q4000. Compare the size of the folk standing around. (The BOP is the large frame with the yellow legs on the corners, being held just above the red platform with the four vertical bracing columns).

And then it was lowered and latched into place on the red platform, that can help to move it and support it.

Meanwhile the LMRP that should sit above the new BOP is still on its way to the surface.

A press briefing was held earlier on Saturday. The BOP transferred from the second relief well has now been put in place. It can withstand 15,000 psi of pressure. With the new BOP in place, all threat of discharge has been eliminated. According to Admiral Allen,

. . . we basically have secured this well as we would any well that was under production and then being closed out with a kill. . . we have essentially eliminated the threat of discharge from the well at this point.

This thread is being closed. Please comment on http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6921.

Note: The previous thread was http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6915.

Well, in one day the progress on the Deepwater Horizon moved significantly further towards the end. First the capping stack was removed from the well, and then, after a strong initial tug on the BOP, and transition spool, they were unlatched and moved away by the Q4000. As they left it was clear that there was no pipe, or hydrates under the BOP, though there was a thin film of a liner inside the BOP mount. This was then cleaned off, and a new gasket inserted. Once that was in place, then the new BOP (from the second relief well) was brought to the well, and lowered until it into place. (There is a Youtube video of the separation with the mount and BOP clearly separated by 3 minutes into the tape.)

There was no drill pipe under the BOP, when it was lifted, nor any evidence of one or of any hydrates in the casing of the well itself. Thus some of the concerns that I had turned out to be unwarranted, but we did not know until the BOP was gone, what the conditions were likely to be. The next step in the process is to ensure that the BOP is working properly, and then the relief well will be completed at the beginning of next week.

That will likely be when we find out whether the annulus between the production casing and the well liner is full of oil or drilling mud. Given that a number of my concerns over the condition of the well have turned to be worse than the actual condition, I think I will hold off, at this time, on making any forecasts on that one.