Petroleum Engineering Professor Finds Fault In BP Rig Testing

By Kyle LaFleur

According to Dr. John Rogers Smith, associate professor in Louisiana State University’s Department of Petroleum Engineering, a negative pressure safety test on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig was plagued with problems.

“When they opened the drill string, fluid would continue to flow back rather than stopping which would be indicative that there was a seal,” Smith said during a hearing with the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling “When they then closed the drill string to stop that flow out from the drill string pressure built back up indicating that there were fluids leaking into the well repressurizing the system.” 

Smith said that the test was not run properly.  He described the drill pipe and kill line as two straws going into the same vessel that should have been filled with the same fluid.

“If the test had been ready to conduct as planned, the pressures on the kill line and the drill pipe should have been equal always.  They never achieved that,” said Smith.  

Commission Finds No Evidence Of BP Putting Profit Over Safety

By Samira Sadeque

Fred Bartlit, General Counsel to the White House appointed Gulf Oil Spill Commission, announced Monday that their investigation of the BP oil spill turned up no indication that money had been prioritized over safety in the construction or maintenance of the Macondo well.

“To date we have not a single instance where a human being made a conscience decision to favor dollars over safety,” he told a roomful of reporters and audience during the first leg of the hearing on the findings regarding the blowout.

Bartlit added that the lawyers and advocates present at the hearing should honor the dead by “get[ting] to the root cause without a lot of bickering and self-serving statements.”

Former Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla.) said during the introduction of the hearing that the next two days will reveal the different ways in which “this complex system failed”.

“We’re not looking for scapegoats, but we do believe we have an obligation to uncover all relevant facts,” Graham said.

With BP Spill Behind Him, Thad Allen Finally Retires

Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen announced Friday that he is stepping down from his role as the Obama administration’s point man on the effort to control the BP oil spill.

Allen said in a statement that although the “National Incident Command is disestablished…our commitment to this response and the people of the Gulf of Mexico remains.” Allen will join RAND next week, conducting research for the think tank’s Center on Homeland Security.

A decorated veteran of the Coast Guard, Allen served for 39 years before announcing his retirement at the outset of this year. However, days after the Deepwater Horizon Macando well exploded in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20th, killing 11 workers, Allen was called on by Obama to lead the effort to plug the blown-out well.

Allen worked tirelessly throughout the summer with BP and other federal officials to cap the well, which leaked a total of nearly 4 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf. After weeks of failure, engineers were able to cement the well in August. On September 19, BP announced that it had completed a relief well, effectively ending the potential for any more oil to leak out.

In a statement Friday, Obama thanked Allen for putting off his retirement to deal with the spill.

“At a time when he could have enjoyed a well-deserved retirement from the United States Coast Guard, Admiral Allen stepped up to the plate and served his country when his skills and experience were urgently needed,” the president said. “This unprecedented response effort simply could not have succeeded without Admiral Allen at the helm, and the nation owes him a debt of gratitude.”

Because of its large and prolonged impact, the spill is considered to be the worst environmental disaster ever to occur in the U.S., and served as a catalyst to cripple the Gulf region’s economy, destroy fish and other wildlife and create a cloud of anger and frustration that blanketed the nation all summer long.

Majority Of Oil Lingering In The Gulf

A panel of officials from the Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) revealed to Rep. Edward Markey (R-Mass.), the lone member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee in attendance, some rather “unsavory” numbers regarding the status of the Gulf Coast.

After the release of the oil budget report, Markey told the panel that Americans are reacting to the Gulf Coast situation with a “false sense of confidence.”

“Over confidence breeds complacency and complacency is what got us into this situation in the first place,” Merkey said.

Dr. Bill Lehr, Senior Scientist at NOAA, estimated that nearly 4.1 million barrels of oil spewed into the Gulf of Mexico, omitting the nearly 800,000 barrels that were captured by containment efforts, but admits a majority of the oil is still present in the environment.

“Probably about three-fourths would still be [in the environment],” Lehr said.

The NOAA scientist pointed out discrepencies in his estimate saying that the only oil “officially” removed from the Gulf waters was that that was burned and skimmed. Oil contained using dispersants and that washed up on the Gulf shores as tar balls remain “in” the environment and Lehr said do not contribute to the percentages of oil removed from the water.

Lehr said that just over 10% of the 4.1 million barrels that spilled into the Gulf have been “removed” from the envorinment, leaving nearly 90% subject to dispersants, beach clean-up crews and natural dispersion.

Thad Allen Expresses Concerns Over Relief Well

Philip Bunnell - Talk Radio News Service

A temporary cap may now be in place, but National Incident Commander, Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said Friday that debris at the bottom of a relief well could delay the planned ‘static kill’ to shut off the Deepwater Horizon well once and for all.

Allen reiterated his and BP’s cleanup crews determination to “see this thing through to the finish,” and that he would work with local authorities to determine the standards that crews will work under when cleaning up beaches affected by the Gulf oil spill.

However, the debris, which found its way into the bottom of the relief well due to storms, has Allen cautious.  “The greatest concern to us right now is the relief well,” he said. Only once the debris is cleared, “that’s when we can truly end this threat to the environment in the Gulf.”

The debris could push back the date officials want to conduct the static kill to Monday or Tuesday, said Allen.