BP Smoking Gun? Oil Giant Skipped Critical Testing Hours Before Explosion

New revelations about BP's operations on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig on the day of the explosion are being described as the smoking gun that proves the oil giant's culpability in the disaster.

BP hired a reputable oilfield service company to test the strength of cement linings on the well, but then sent the company's workers home 11 hours before the explosion on April 20 -- "without performing a final check that a top cementing company executive called 'the only test that can really determine the actual effectiveness' of the well's seal," reports the New Orleans Times-Picayune:

A spokesman for the testing firm, Schlumberger, said BP had a Schlumberger team and equipment for sending acoustic testing lines down the well "on standby" from April 18 to April 20. But BP never asked the Schlumberger crew to perform the acoustic test and sent its members back to Louisiana on a regularly scheduled helicopter flight at 11 a.m., Schlumberger spokesman Stephen T. Harris said.

At a few minutes before 10 p.m., a belch of natural gas shot out of the well, up a riser pipe to the rig above, igniting massive explosions, killing 11 crewmembers and sending millions of gallons of crude oil into the Gulf. The rig's owner, Transocean, blames failed cement seals, installed by Halliburton, for the disastrous blowout.

BP has also come under fire for its safety procedures -- crewmember Mike WIlliams told "60 Minutes" that despite damage to the critical blowout preventer, BP ordered the rig operator, Transocean Ltd., to ignore a critical safety measure during the sealing of the well. By failing to use drilling mud, a heavy liquid that keeps oil and gas from coming back up the pipe, to seal the well, BP saved money but may have caused the explosion.

CBS News released an extended interview with Williams today, in which he describes in detail the explosion, subsequent fire and his escape from the rig.

WATCH:

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Halliburton's cementing work has already come under scrutiny by investigators and the firm is a co-defendant in several lawsuits.

Drilling experts say that blame probably lies with flaws in the cementing process -- plugging holes in the pipeline seal by pumping cement into it from the rig -- which was performed by Halliburton on the Deepwater Horizon.

As HuffPost reported last month: "Last year, Halliburton was also implicated for its cementing work prior to a massive blowout off the coast of Australia, where a rig caught on fire and spewed hundreds of thousands of gallons into the sea for ten weeks.

In that incident, workers apparently failed to properly pump cement into the well, according to Elmer Danenberger, former head of regulatory affairs for the U.S. Minerals Management Service, who testified to an Australian commission probing that accident."

Spokesmen for Schlumberger and BP did not return calls from HuffPost.

Comments

[alamantra]

04:51 PM on 05/24/2010

Halliburton's cementing job on the Montara rig, off the coast of Australia, was responsible for the third worst oil spill in Australia's history:
From the Australian federal inquiry: http://www.ordons.com/201003223621/montara-poor-decisions-led-to-massive-oil-spill.html
PTTEP used pressure caps instead of a cement plug to temporarily stop the flow from the well. That decision was approved by the Northern Territory Department of Resources in just 30 minutes, and the inquiry has raised questions about whether the agency acted diligently enough when regulating the oil company's operations. Two pressure caps were authorised to be used on the well as barriers, but only one was ever installed and, contrary to good oil field practice, it was never tested. In addition to the missing pressure cap, further problems arose with the well's cement casing. While 199 barrels of cement should have been used to achieve the "top of cement" standard practice on the Montara well, only 133 barrels were used.

If something happens once it can be called an accident. If it happens twice within a year it is a criminal act.

[Dr Juan]

06:24 AM on 05/23/2010

From the 60 Minutes survivor and this link, there seems to be some confrontation going on aboard the Deepwater Horizon during the hours leading up to the blow-out disaster. We need to find the BP guy calling all the shots his way, over serious objection from other technical experts, and get him in front of congress under oath.

http://gcaptain.com/forum/offshore/4805-deepwater-horizon-transocean-oil-rig-fire-27.html#post32795

[Zaidan]

11:17 PM on 05/21/2010

A full video history of the BP OIl Spill Disaster in reverse chronological order from the moment the rig caught fire until an hour ago (raw footage, local news, national and international media): http://www.frequency.com/topic/bp-oil-spill/18217

[hkochii]

10:02 PM on 05/21/2010

I believe the time has come to begin boycotting BP.

At your fingertips is the most powerful tool / weapon since the invention of the atomic bomb. We have the power to communicate with a huge portion of the world’s population just by initiating and forwarding a method of change to a specific issue.

The response of British Petroleum to the initial accident and the pursuant disaster has illustrated BP's total lack of concern for the environment in favor of corporate profits.

We have the power to seriously affect the profits of British Petroleum. That's right, it's BRITISH Petroleum. This is a foreign industry destroying our coastal ecosystems and deep water environments.

Not only will this boycott affect BP, it will open the eyes of the other petroleum producing corporations too.

I know that I can easily manage my day to day affairs without purchasing a BP product, here in SC we have a huge selection of petroleum retailers.

Everybody I’ve talked to is upset about the Gulf situation and the total lack of apparent effort to stop the flow of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

This is how we do it, copy and paste this boycott initiation everywhere you can think of. Forward it to everyone you know, after all this entire situation is going to affect everyone of us.

[Randy Shepherd]

02:55 PM on 05/21/2010

2 concerns I have...
1. cement to block holes? Is that the usual process that was done in places we already drilled? in winter i do not put salt on my cement driveway, because salt eats away at cement. How long before the salt in the ocean eats away at the cement used for years to plug empty wells? You know some oil must still be in those wells, and eventually that oil will seep out too, perhaps small amounts, but any is unacceptable.
2. what happens when we go into huricane season, and these oil tar balls, and liquid oil get blown into the streets, and on people's homes? Can an insurance company refuse to clean oil off your roof, and walls of your home, if you are insured against wind and water damage?

The BP gas stations are a last resort now, to fill up, and with all the legal battles coming, cost to contain this, etc. I truley see the American subsidiary of this foreign company declaring bankruptcy, and washing their hands of the whole thing, and we the tax payers will bare the physical and financial mess of this.

[Kimjira]

07:06 PM on 05/21/2010

1) The cement used is not the same as what we have for our driveways. It is chemically enhanced to withstand a saltwater environment.
2) I have no idea. I do not know much about insurance.

[CateManhattan]

02:45 PM on 05/21/2010

“Where are the BP executives? Can people dog them, and collect a diary of their activities?

We should list them by name, and log sightings and reports of their work. I am sure they are still doing social events as though this crisis is not theirs.

Are there any IT people who could set up a site to report on their activities? Something like: BP-DoesWhat.comm'??”

[rougebaisers]

12:36 PM on 05/21/2010

CRUCIFY THEM.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TNV89PxS-I

[LeftLeanWing]

11:42 AM on 05/21/2010

Gulf of Mexico ( b. 300,000,000 BC - d. 2010 AD )
R.I.P

[chuck prebys]

10:25 AM on 05/21/2010

Everyone should sav this webpage to their computer now, before it is scrubbed and flushed down the memory hole forever by TPTB.

[SeagirlX]

08:01 AM on 05/21/2010

Where's the accountability? Mr. President it's time to start putting some serious pressure on and demand the accountability you speak so often of.

[Bama Girl]

09:34 AM on 05/21/2010

Faved

[CateManhattan]

09:01 PM on 05/21/2010

President Obama is putting pressure on BP and demanding accountability. But 'putting pressure on' and 'demanding accountability' cannot reverse this problem. We are all horrified by BP's inability to get this spill under control, but once the rig blew no one had a clue on how to put the oil genie back in the bottle.

The oil industry has been working on luck, and in isolation, for decades. They were not working under a failsafe mode, they were working under the assumption that most problems could be solved fairly easily and quickly.

BPs first step should have been containment -- to buy time and space -- but they do not have a containment device fabricated that could contain one mile by 100 yards. They should, but they do not.

I have been observing suggestions by engineers, and most of the ideas go from bad to worse.

President Obama did not write the federal protection regulations, and he took over a mineral resources management that had been gutted by President Bush. Lay blame where it is due, not on the president who inherited the problem.

Katrina was accessible space, Deepwater is not. Have you ever worked sub-surface? I have -- like working in outer space. The government does not have equipment to do this work. So President Obama cannot just take over the project.

[olmossy]

07:58 AM on 05/21/2010

Hey Folks. There is a silver lineing to all this . From the view point of the oil industry IF the Gulf of Mexico is killed. Dead for all practical purposes A watery wastland, THEN there would be nothing to protect. Then it's Drill baby Drill! We don't have to worry about killing fish, porpuses or manatees they will all be dead.
Business as usual guys. Money Talks.

[CateManhattan]

09:03 PM on 05/21/2010

I had thought of that too -- but didn't dare say it. Yes, unfortunately, yes . . .

[233Sandy]

07:28 AM on 05/21/2010

It's time to start arresting BP folks for wrecking (murdering) the gulf! Hang them high!

[wulidncr]

07:08 AM on 05/21/2010

so, corporations fought to be recognized as "persons". supreme court has said they are "persons". BP is guilty of negligent homicide, 11 counts. what's the typical sentence for a person who causes through negligence the death of 11 other persons? whatever the number, since BP cannot be put in prison, that number of years is how long BP should sentenced to a 100% tax on its profits. persons in jail do not work, to not earn, neither should BP. So, you corps wanted to be persons, fine, you are, not accept ALL that status entails.

[Mabon-Tail]

12:26 PM on 05/21/2010

Gloriously well-stated! But, we have to realize that BP is not the only guilty party here. Transocean, the world's largest offshore drilling contractor, owned and operated Deepwater Horizon, so they must share in BP's fate.

[SoulTherapy]

05:08 AM on 05/21/2010

RELEASE FREE ENERGY TECHNOLOGY!

Nikola Tesla (10 July 1856 - 7 January 1943) was an inventor and a mechanical and electrical engineer. In short, he was a genius best known for his many revolutionary developments in the field of electromagnetism. Tesla proposed a "world system for the transmission of electrical energy without wires", and demonstrated this energy transmission as early as 1891.

Tesla registered numerous energy patents and by the end of his life had discovered free energy (now usually referred to as zero point energy). Tesla said that "machinery will be driven by a power obtainable at any point of the universe." Read more about Tesla at Wikipedia.

Gary McKinnon hacked into various US Defense computers in search of evidence of UFO reverse-engineered technology and free energy technology. He found it. The result? The looming threat of extradition and 60 years in jail.

Will free energy technology ever be released so that we can stop destroying our world? Have the wealthy elite not made enough money raping our beautiful planet?

http://blog.soul-therapy.com/2010/03/release-free-energy-technology.html

[shivasquest]

03:08 AM on 05/21/2010

So Obama does nothing but cover for BP.

[cutandrun]

03:34 AM on 05/21/2010

Thats the conspiracy theory floating. What that does is matter from the rational point of view toward fixing the problem. So there is no fix and we banter about politics? We are as stupid as what we complain about. Our minds and hearts need to be finding a way to overcome our tendancy to blame and find a way to correct for this disaster. The human loss, environmental degradation, destruction of lives and homes is beyond comprehension. Blame dosen't help now.

[laaambchop]

07:30 AM on 05/21/2010

Quite correct.