Stuck Pipe Kept Shear Rams From Sealing BP Well, Report Says
Stuck Pipe Kept Shear Rams From Sealing BP Well
Derick E. Hingle/Bloomberg
Smoke billows from controlled oil burns near the site of the BP Plc Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana on June 19, 2010.
Smoke billows from controlled oil burns near the site of the BP Plc Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana on June 19, 2010. Photographer: Derick E. Hingle/Bloomberg
A section of pipe on BP Plc’s Gulf of Mexico well became trapped and prevented blades from cutting the pipe to stop the flow of oil, triggering the biggest U.S. offshore spill, according to a study released by the Interior Department and U.S. Coast Guard.
The blind shear rams, part of a 50-foot (15-meter) stack of valves called a blowout preventer, failed to “fully close and seal” the well, according to the report today. The pipe buckled in a blast, which prevented the rams from pinching the pipe shut and allowed oil and gas to surge to the surface.
The explosion on April 20 killed 11 workers, sank Transocean Ltd. (RIG)’s $365 million Deepwater Horizon rig and spewed 4.9 million barrels of crude into the Gulf. One focus of an investigation by a joint Coast Guard-Interior Department panel was why the blowout preventer, or BOP, didn’t cinch the pipe. BP said it is reviewing the findings.
Additional tests are needed “to provide a more comprehensive view of why the BOP failed,” said Daren Beaudo, a BP spokesman, in an e-mail. BP asked U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans, who is overseeing oil-spill lawsuits, for tests on the device.
The report, written by Det Norske Veritas, the Oslo-based maritime risk-management association that represents 130 nations, says hydraulic fluid leaks and modifications made to the blowout preventer appear not to have contributed to the failure of the shear rams.
‘Proper Working Condition’
The report confirms that the blowout preventer was in “proper working condition and functioned as designed,” Brian Kennedy, a spokesman for Transocean, said in a statement.
“High-pressure flow from the well created conditions that exceeded the scope of BOP’s design parameters,” Kennedy said.
Cameron International Corp. (CAM), the Houston-based company that made the blowout prevent for the Macondo well, said the unit met industry and customer specifications.
“We continue to work with the industry to ensure safe operations,” Rhonda Barnat, a spokeswoman for the company, said in an interview.
The Coast Guard-Interior panel hired Det Norske Veritas to oversee testing of the blowout preventer in October. The device, which sat atop BP’s Macondo well, was raised 5,000 feet from the sea floor on Sept. 4, and studied at a NASA site in New Orleans. Testing was completed on March 4, according to the study.
The report recommends the drilling industry examine ways to keep pipes from buckling inside the blowout preventer in the case of a loss of well control and shears be redesigned to cut through pipes in all situations.
A broader investigation on the causes of the blowout will be released this year, according to the Interior Department.
“We support efforts by regulators and the industry to make BOPs more reliable and effective,” Beaudo said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jim Snyder in Washington at jsnyder24@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Geimann at sgeimann@bloomberg.net
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