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BP Official Admits to Damage BENEATH THE SEA FLOOR
As I noted Tuesday, there is growing
evidence that BP's oil well - technically called the "well casing" or
"well bore" - has suffered damage beneath the level of the sea floor.
The
evidence is growing stronger and stronger that there is substantial
damage beneath the sea floor. Indeed, it appears that BP officials
themselves have admitted to such damage. This has enormous impacts on
both the amount of oil leaking into the Gulf, and the prospects for
quickly stopping the leak this summer.
On May 31st, the Washington Post noted:
Sources
at two companies involved with the well said that BP also discovered
new damage inside the well below the seafloor and that, as a result,
some of the drilling mud that was successfully forced into the well was
going off to the side into rock formations.
"We discovered things that were broken in the sub-surface," said a BP official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. He said that mud was making it "out to the side, into the formation."
On June 2nd, Bloomberg pointed out:
Plugging
the well is another challenge even after BP successfully intersects it,
Robert Bea, a University of California Berkeley engineering professor,
said. BP has said it believes the well bore to be damaged, which could hamper efforts to fill it with mud and set a concrete plug, Bea said.
Bea is an expert in offshore drilling and a high-level governmental adviser concerning disasters.
On the same day, the Wall Street Journal noted that there might be a leak in BP's well casing 1,000 feet beneath the sea floor:
BP
PLC has concluded that its "top-kill" attempt last week to seal its
broken well in the Gulf of Mexico may have failed due to a
malfunctioning disk inside the well about 1,000 feet below the ocean floor.
***
The
broken disk may have prevented the heavy drilling mud injected into the
well last week from getting far enough down the well to overcome the
pressure from the escaping oil and gas, people familiar with BP's
findings said. They said much of the drilling mud may also have escaped
from the well into the rock formation outside the wellbore.
On June 3rd, The Canadian Press quoted
the top government official in charge of the response to the oil spill
- Admiral Thad Allen, the commandant of the Coast Guard - as pointing
to the same possibility:
The failure of the so-called top kill procedure - which entailed pumping mud into the well at high velocity - suggested "there
actually could be something wrong with the well casing, and there could
be open communication in the strata or the rock formations below the
sea floor," Allen said.
On
June 7th, Senator Bill Nelson told MSNBC that he's investigating
reports of oil seeping up from additional leak points on the seafloor:
Senator
Bill Nelson (D-FL): Andrea we’re looking into something new right now,
that there’s reports of oil that’s seeping up from the seabed… which
would indicate, if that’s true, that the well casing itself is actually
pierced… underneath the seabed. So, you know, the problems could be just enormous with what we’re facing.
Andrea
Mitchell, MSNBC: Now let me understand better what you’re saying. If
that is true that it is coming up form that seabed, even the relief
well won’t be the final solution to cap this thing. That means that
we’ve got oil gushing up at disparate places along the ocean floor.
Sen. Nelson: That is possible, unless you get the plug down low enough, below where the pipe would be breached.
Indeed, loss of integrity in the well itself may explain why BP is drilling its relief wells more than ten thousand feet beneath the leaking pipes on the seafloor (and see this).
Yesterday, recently-retired Shell Oil President John Hofmeister said that the well casing below the sea floor may have been compromised:
[Question]
What are the chances that the well casing below the sea floor has been
compromised, and that gas and oil are coming up the outside of the well
casing, eroding the surrounding soft rock. Could this lead to a
catastrophic geological failure, unstoppable even by the relief wells?
John Hofmeister: This is what some people fear has occurred. It is also why the "top kill" process was halted.
If the casing is compromised the well is that much more difficult to
shut down, including the risk that the relief wells may not be enough.
If the relief wells do not result in stopping the flow, the next and
drastic step is to implode the well on top of itself, which carries
other risks as well.
As noted yesterday in The Engineer magazine,
an official from Cameron International - the manufacturer of the
blowout preventer for BP's leaking oil drilling operation - noted that
one cause of the failure of the BOP could have been damage to the well
bore:
Steel casing or casing hanger could have been ejected from the well and blocked the operation of the rams.
Oil industry expert Rob Cavner believes that the casing might be damaged beneath the sea floor, noting:
The
real doomsday scenario here… is if that casing gives up, and it does
come through the other strings of pipe. Remember, it is concentric pipe
that holds this well together. If it comes into the formation,
basically, you‘ve got uncontrolled [oil] flow to the sea floor. And
that is the doomsday scenario.
Cavner also said BP must "keep the well flowing to minimize oil and gas going out into the formation on the side":
And prominent oil industry insider Matt Simmons believes that the well
casing may have been destroyed when the oil rig exploded. Simmons was
an energy adviser to President George W. Bush, is an adviser to the Oil
Depletion Analysis Centre, and is a member of the National Petroleum
Council and the Council on Foreign Relations.
On May 26th, Simmons referred to this issue on MSNBC:
On May 27th, Simmons again addressed this issue on MSNBC:
And he referred to it again on Bloomberg on May 28th:
And again on MSNBC on June 7th :
We have a right to know what's really going on.
Given
the impact on America's people, natural resources and economy, BP and
the government must fully disclose the amount of damage underneath the
sea floor, and what that means for the efforts to cap the well.
»
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BTW the Ixtec well blew out in 1979 and leaked 3.3 million bbls of oil over 290 days. Studies show no marine or environmental impact over three years. This oil spill was not treated with dispersements. So far about 1.5 mmbbl have leaked from the BP well and the oil is being treated both at the wellhead and on the surface so the impact could be much less than protrayed by the media. This assumes the relief well is successful and no severe storms which would move oil onshore.
Accoring to NOAA, 2 to 3 million bbls of oil seep into the Gulf from natural fractures every year. So thats one reason there are tar balls on nearly all GOM beaches from TX to FL. A failure in the well casing on this large pool of oil means that many more wells should be drilled to drain the pool and lower the pressure. Why not 10 or 20 relief wells at 40,000 bbls per day?? This should deplete the pool quickly and slow the leak.
In the past something similar to the approach you suggest has been done. the objective is not to produce it but to inject a plugging material into the formation and have it migrate to the well.
although this is still called a relief well, the objective is to intercept the blowout and pump the plugging material directly into it.
Is this nightmare situation realistic? I couldn't sleep a couple of nights ago with this turning over in my mind, and now this revelation may bear it out. If the damaged well casing is allowing high pressure oil to escape into the porous substrate, is it eating out a huge void, essentially a huge cavern about 1000 ft. down? What happens when this cavern, filled with oil at 18,000psi, gets big enough to overcome the overlaying pressure of water and 1000ft of seabed? It seems to me we could get a huge oil "volcanic" explosion and collapse, followed by a tsunami that wipes out the coastlines (and quite a ways inland) around the entire Gulf. Heck, Florida's highest point is only 100ft.
Basically, I wouldn't want to be anywhere near the GoM until the full parameters of this and its solution are known.
Given the toxic gas levels being measured over the Gulf it might not be a bad idea for anyone living anywhere close by to go ahead and buy some first-class gas mask/respirators now while there are still some to be had. Sounds like in a short while there won't be any available at any price. What do you want to bet that BP has already begun buying up the market. Cynical, I know- still...
Cognitive Dissonance - I think under the common law doctrines surrounding a public nuisance like this oil spill confer a legal obligation on the responsible party (or irresponsible party, BP, in this case) to mitigate the damage.
If withholding information hurts this mitigation process, seems clear that it would be another tort at the least, and maybe a crime.
Lawyers, any thoughts?
"We have a right to know what's really going on."
George, what possibly makes you believe that we have "the right" to know anything? If this is your point of departure, in general, then you need to re-educate yourself vis a vis the relationship between the individual and the corporate-state.
What George fails to recognize is that no one has been down inside that well to know what is going on at 18,000 ft below sea level or 13,000 ft below the mud line. His flopping and flailing about lack of information is about as pointless as Obama demanding that the well be plugged tomorrow, as if he was the only one to recognize that that would be a great idea.
50,000 - 80,000 bbl/day with no end in sight. (not the g-d lie of 5000 bbl / day..)
86,400 seconds in a day...if so, approaching a barrel per second
Anyone know the inside diameter of the well pipe? Have a good guess at flow rate? Able to do the math to come up with armchair estimate of bbls/day?
Here is a link to the well configuration:
http://www.energy.gov/open/documents/3.1_Item_2_Macondo_Well_07_Jun_1900.pdf
The problem is that no one knows the size of the orifice the oil is comming through. And no one knows how much of the escaping fluid is oil vs. gas liquids which come out of solution when they escape from the well and see the pressure reduction. So, flow rate cannot be calculated.
Just kicking stuff I think I heard but 9=7/8" id and 2300psi
Buy BP. Great long term entry point (sarcasm).
Monstrous Black-gold Swan, slowly unfolding its massive wings and exposing its hideous form as it emerges from the depths of the sea and from behind a filthy shroud desperately hoisted by panicky corporate and government forces wishing not to further alarm the already anxious sleeple...
Danger. Danger. Danger.
Danger all around.
BP warranted that they had the fire brigade all set and ready to go. EPIC FAIL and what represents a total, complete and deliberate misrepresentation on the part of BP and the city is now being consumed by a fire storm. If BP is going to lie like this why believe anything else the company has to say? In this BP has assumed the role of the spouse that having been caught in the act of extramarital relations resorts to the tried & true; "Don't believe what you see, believe what I tell you".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0Lg_ISGGW4
In its application for the well, BP told the government it was prepared for a worst-case oil spill of 250,000 barrels a day.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aWHL9GTMUyR0&pos=1
Unfortunately truthfulness is not something we can expect from BP since BP's interests are not aligned with our own. This is a marvelous example of what happens when sovereign power is held subservient to concentrated centers of accumulated private wealth expressed through corporate power. Sovereign power must never be held subordinate to corporate power. Unfortunately, those that govern have lost the capacity to act in a way that will break the bonds of self imposed co-dependency. Right back to the concept of the 1,000 pound men GW.
They should have nuked this thing shut looking at it now.
Seriously? Why do people keep throwing this ridiculous idea out there? Someone please explain to me why this makes any sense in anyone's mind.
the world is celebrating the world cup... bp gusher is no big deal... and mexico has everything under control. have a wonderful and glorious day. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/photo/2010-06/12/13346434_11n.jpg
Split casing isn't that rare a phenomenon in the oil patch.
If it is split around 1000' beneath the seafloor, as speculated, it would be expected that the heavy mud being injected under high pressure would escape at that point - it follows the path of least resistance - that is the principle behind frac'ing a well. The relief well(s) NEED TO intercept the damaged wellbore at the level of the producing horizon for several reasons, a couple of which are:
First - they need to establish communication with the producing geologic horizon. They will be able to tell by pore pressure reading while drilling that they are nearby the blow out well, and if they cannot actually get into the old well, they can still begin an attempt at squeezing the formation with cement OUTSIDE OF the old well bore - this can only be done it the at at the correct depth. Remember, BP is speculating that it was a failure of the cement at this level that caused this problem to begin with (an annular blow out).
Second, if you look at BP's wellbore schematic and the casing design you will see that getting into the old well above ~17,000' would be difficult as it would involve drilling (milling) through several strings of pipe. A tough task.
This obviously isn't a disaster as Hollywood hasn't asked for donations from the people yet...
134 yr old NOLA oyster shuckign business shuts down
http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/12/smallbusiness/bp_oil_spill_oysters/
Chemical engineering professor's new nano coating on cotton fabric can quickly seperate oil and water
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfRKjiOXVWE
http://www.tonic.com/article/slick-move-pitt-prof-offers-oil-removal-idea-for-gulf/
BP spills coffee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AAa0gd7ClM
This is a really interesting. I'd like to bring an other perspective to discussion - something that's been of concern to me for a long time:
Mother Earth On Crack
Earthquake May Have Shortened Days on Earth
More Mysterious "Monster Fish" Comes To Surface
thanks for the fish tale. crazy looking creature, ain't it?
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy
The real doomsday scenario is a Cat 5 hurricane at the end of the summer, distributing this oil across America as black rain.
Nobody is accurately assessing this threat at this point. The odds of this happening are actually quite high, as hurricane season is approaching and temperatures are above average.
We have no prior data, or way to even begin to calculate the damage from this event.
If you've got real estate in the 'neighborhood' ... time to gtfo, imho.
There is another doomsday scenario possibility. Many volcanologists believe that some super volcanos are such enormous eruptions because of gasses and oil floating on the magma, or seeping onto the magma, below the surface. As magma rises to near surface over long time periods the oil/gas is heated to ignition point. The gas/oil is cooked, much as in a cat cracker, where various liquids/gasses are seperated. Lab experiments have been conducted showing that this is feasible possibility in super volcanos. Absent some source of oxygen I don't see this as a threat in the ongoing Gulf incident but some of the largest super volcanos are undersea events. I am a layman, not a volcanoligist...but detonating a nuke might also trigger a black swan. Think about the results of a super volcano in the Gulf...One about the size of Yellowstone...just the accompanying tidal wave would be enough to get rid of all the residential real estate in several states and a few countries.
"the amount of damages they will be subject to is $4,000 per barrel of oil "spill" during this disaster"
And what is the fine when the sea floor collapses releasing 2.5 billion barrels?
Something is going on here that is being covered up and "Little Black Sambo" and BP are doing a damn good job of it.
Just a note for racists of all colors...
Little Black Sambo is about a kid from India. Not Indonesia, Hawaii or even mixed African/European heritage.
If you're going to be an ass, at least insult the correct racial group.
Buying support continues ...
DOW updated charts:
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"BP and the government must fully disclose the amount of damage underneath the sea floor, and what that means for the efforts to cap the well." Ha! What are you smoking ? Fat chance , snow ball in hells chance that the truth will be disclosed - EVER !! Let the visible effects be your truth . In spite of the fact the oil dispersants have been and still are being used to hide the extent of the spill , keeing most under the seas in the huge BP Plumes . Extend and pretend is the new philosophy and religion . Again I ask , WHERE ARE ALL THE CLIMATE CHANGE SCREAMERS ON THIS ? If their political power and view is so true , why is there not pressure from this worldwide crusade ???? Could they be charlatans as well. Just not part of the agenda eh?
Where are all the "environmentalists", you mean - haven't heard from any of them not once.
macktheknife: I like the way you think!!!
I'm not ready to make the "jump" to a "False Flag on the Gulf" - - yet, - - but -
Something is going on here that is being covered up and "Little Black Sambo" and BP are doing a damn good job of it.
I have worked for years cleaning up messes, large and small, in the construction industry and I can guarantee you they never point you in the right direction when you first walk through the door. And it takes time, technical proficiency and logical inquiry to work the facts loose from a mess. Particularly in a context where everyone is covering their own ass. Further, even if you do figure it out , most people will not believe you or are incapable of understanding the truth.
I did appreciate the technical post above that was immediately bad-mouthed. The technical dimension cannot be over looked. It's like trying to play soccer with no foot skills (Sorry - it is World Cup month).
The lack of information on the issue for both the public and the expert community is significant. Just exactly what was BP doing at this drill site; how were they doing it, what is the Halliburton connection; what have they got themselves into - they were obviously in over their heads; just exactly what is the geological character of the formation they drilled into; what, exactly, is the energy potential of the macro, Gulf Of Mexico petroleum formation; why aren't the environmental groups screaming there heads off about this; etc, etc, etc, etc???
These and other questions would need to be addressed to have some idea of what exactly is going on here.
Check this out:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19660
As always, the truth of the matter is several layers deeper than what is popularly being presented. And I keep wondering - - - - -
People who read what is in the normal media describing this well and the situation just will be kept ignorant about the matter. A couple of facts that could help some of you.
This well is not anything special from any perspective, except that it has the blowout. The well depth and well pressures are not anything extreme in any way. I believe the deepest producing well has been to about 33,000 ft. It is not unusual for wells to be drilled to 20,000 to 25,000 ft. The crews and engineers regularly deal with downhole pressures of 25,000 psi. Wells will have higher pressures as they are deeper because the overburden of rocks and soil compress with heavier weight.
This well was drilled to TD and was controlled all the way while drilling with drilling fluid in the well. The crew removed the drill pipe, logged the well, and ran the casing (several days at least) with the well under control by the weight of the column of drilling fluid in the well and riser. They pumped the cement job down the pipe and out the bottom while under control of the drilling fluid. It was when they removed some of the pressure by displacing some of the heavy drilling fluid with lighter seawater that they lost control. Something had failed with the cement job and the crew / engineers failed to note it in their tests.
The purpose of the relief well is to drill to an interception of the blowout at the bottom. Mud will be pumped down the relief well into the blowout from the bottom to re-establish the mud weight column in the blowout well. They have a metal sensing tool that can identify the direction to the casing from a couple of hundred feet away. The bit at the bottom of the drillstring is steerable but the target is pretty small. If there is a miss, it will be a near miss. Pull out and go at it again. It could take a week to have another intercept. The guy running the job has had a first time intercept on the last 8 attempts.
Getting this thing killed will not be a simple deal even after the intercept.
In hindsight maybe we should have let them all pass cap and trade.
what ?
is this......?
....
.
"When the Army Corps of Engineers first attempted to obtain NASA imagery of the Gulf oil slick, which is larger than is being reported by the media, it was reportedly denied the access. By chance, National Geographic managed to obtain satellite imagery shots of the extent of the disaster and posted them on their web site. Other satellite imagery reportedly being withheld by the Obama administration, shows that what lies under the gaping chasm spewing oil at an ever-alarming rate is a cavern estimated to be the size of Mount Everest. This information has been given an almost national security-level classification to keep it from the public, according to Madsen’s sources."
..
It seems to be something that fell from the south end of a bull traveling north.
What the heck, George. You said you were gong to stop posting.
What happened? Couldn't get your fix. Had to get someting off your chest?
I had a horrible thought - it just occured to me- and now I can't shake it. It is probably not the truth - but, Jesus, it is worth considering - simply to convince yourself that it isn't true. OK, start with idea that 911 was done by us - perfect op to allow us to launch invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. Plausible. Roll in Naomi Klein's "Shock Doctrine" idea of disaster's being used to disorient citizens- to push thru radical agenda. Plausible. OK- here is the leap I just had: Halliburton was the last team of workers on the rig immediately before the explosion (obvious military connection, connections to Cheney), those workers got off safely. Possible description of multiple explosions (cutter charges). Result is Obama handed a situation that makes him look weak. BP is forced into bankruptcy. OK, now we have areas cordoned off - controlled by military and security agencies. What happens next? Do we, over next several months, have US military, security agents, Coast Gaurd, moving into place across all Southern States- then up the East Coast - to control the areas of the spill? Do we then have soldiers, in many states, with an open presence - that doesn't raise suspicion? So, my question would be- watching another epic disaster roll out- that will lead us all to bow to authority - who would stand to benefit from it, and what would be the ultimate purpose? Worth considering. What is this were planned? Who would do that? Why would they do it? Anytime I see any occurence, where there seems to be a whole rollout of consequences, these questions occur to me. I had to ask.
I just simply can not buy off on most of these government conspiracy theories. It is not that I trust the government, but just know that they do not have the competency to pull off any grand conspiracy. Conspiracy theories require an assumption of some nominal level of competency. Secondly, any really juicy conspiracy would require the cooperation of tens or hundreds of people. It is simply impossible for that many people to keep their mouth's shut. I therefor do not believe 911 was an inside job. I do not believe that Bush blew up the Levies in New Orleans, I do not believe Obama sabotaged the BP rig, or Haliburtan for that matter. Aliens did not land in Roswell, area 51 conducts military research, it does not house alien spacecraft.
The problem is that the government does tell so many lies, that people get to the point that they believe ANY thing that is alleged against the government.
You are correct, they do not have the competency required. Its taxes their limits just to find their way to work....
Does it tax your limits to find your way to work? No? It does not tax their limits either.
I'm with you generally Rebel...but didn't Halliburton by Boots and Coots right before this happened and GSacs shorted BP?
On the thing about competency and no way such things could be kept secret...again, generally agree with you but I do see things that get exposed by happenstance or say, just one whistle blower sticking to their guns even as their career, family, money, life taken from them...so I wonder what things don't get revealed because that accident didn't occur or because a whistle blower caved, or died.
Like the whole Iran Contra thing, sounds like bad novel fiction if you didn't know it was true: military guy with safe full of cash and pretty blond assistant sell guns to fund an illegal counterinsurgency in foreign country, operation involves selling guns for drugs, flying said cocaine back to US in private, CIA-associated contractor planes which land at Homestead Air Force base. Also, newly elected president is involved in that he makes a deal with Iranians to get Hezbollah to release US hostages, via Israel shipping guns to Iran (huh?) and the profits of this deal diverted to the military guy's safe and guns for revolution in other country, a deal that involves negotiations and people in at least 7 different countries and likely thousands of insiders that knew about hostage deal, gun trade, drug trade etc... The leading player, the military guy with safe full of cash, gets off on technicality of having testified to Congress before criminal case and goes on to be reporter/commentator on national new network. This is not conjecture, conspiracy theory, but documented, uncontested facts of the Iran-Contra-gate, via testimony to congress, court documents, admissions be the actual players in this scheme. Even Reagan, on national TV, admitted weapons had been transferred, at the time hostages were realised, but that no arms were traded for hostages?!?
So for several years, an illegal revolution in Nicaragua is funded by sales of arms to Iran to get terrorist held hostages released and funding is also done with drug sales, where drugs are flow right onto an AFB before they are sold for profit in US (about the came time we had a crack cocaine epidemic) and this is all proven, fact, admitted open, publicly by those that did but at the time, completely secret. If the guy on the street in 1986 said Reagan was selling guns to Iran via Israel to get Hezbollah to release hostage and that the CIA was running selling guns for drugs, that they shipped and sold in US to fund counterinsurgency activity that had been specifically banned by Congress...just about anybody would have called that guy a crazy conspiracy theorist.
And how do we now know all this was going on? Because so many of the 1000s of incomps involved leaked the info? Because this operation was dead in the water before it even started because someone screwed up or leaked? Nope.
An Iranian cleric did publicly leak about arms/hostages the arrangement but that went fairly well-ignored. It was cracked wide open and revealed when Nicaragua shot down an airlift of guns and the captured helicopter pilot, Hasenfus, who then announced at a press conference in Nicaragua that his coworkers on the airlift worked for the CIA and then, once Hasenfus was singing, the Iranian govt confirmed the whole arms story to the press. So if helicopter not shot down, Hasenfus not such a canary...what would we know...rather than fact, Iran-Contra would be a "conspiracy theory"
It is my opinion that any revolution against a Communist government is never "illegal" and that is certainly what the government in Nicaragua was. BWDIK.
The Bolinger ammendment was the illegal part of the deal in the first place. Of course the Speaker of the House, Jim Wright, was taped talking to the Communist Danny Ortega telling him to hold out for a while and he would get the support for the revolutionaries halted. Real encouraging to find that Jim Wright was responsible for securing or protecting your freedom.
I had to come back to give you a ++++++1000 for the nice rundown.
Good stuff, Thanks.
Forgot to put in who I was addressing the +s to
moneymutt
on Sun, 06/13/2010 - 08:14
I will agree that the Iran-Contra is a good example of a real government conspiracy. While we do not support secret government conspiracies, and condemn the actions of the government in this case, from a solely technical analysis, it was an operation that was conducted with a level of competency and secrecy that is unusual in the government. I believe that part of the secrecy is that most people did not know what was going on. You can be told to fly a plane from point A. to point B. without knowing what is on the plane. Many government jobs require that you do not ask questions. So, thousands might have been involved, but a only a select few knew the big picture. The plan was actually somewhat brilliant. Again, I condemn the action, but can appreciate the brilliance and execution of the plan.
The problem is that when shenanigans like this come out, people lose trust in the government completely. Because of things like Iran-Contra, people will believe ANY thing the government is accused of. Bush blew up the levies in New Orleans, Obama sabotaged the BP rig, the government is hiding alien spacecraft, for example.
On the GS short of BP or haliburton buying B&C . . . there was lots of info in the weeks leading to the explosion that this was a wild well and things were precarious. There is a difference between anticipating a problem, and causing the problem. I shorted BP when stock went up on initial reports that top kill had worked. The fact that I bet against it does not mean that I sabotaged top kill.
As far as I understand it, Halliburton did the cementing on the rig. I haven't heard anything about any of their employees actually being present on the rig.
Halliburton are really more like inept henchmen than the shadowy rulers of the world. When the government or a politically connected energy firm needs a project, it goes to Halliburton or one of its kindred to put together a god-awful project that takes years longer than its supposed to for far more than the originally posited budget.
Disasters being used to further an agenda isn't really from Naomi Klein. It's taught in political science courses and sanctified as "good."
Also, I see more anti-authority voices getting play in the media than otherwise. The scare stories are losing power because there are too many coming out too quickly. The fact that mainstream media sources are copping to using blogs like Zero Hedge as sources just demonstrates the change in intellectual climate.
We're seeing a cultural shift of a magnitude unseen since the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was really only a matter of time once the internet reached mass adoption.
I have worked with Halliburton field hands for nearly three decades. They are very well trained and take their jobs seriously...they AREN'T dick cheney clones.
There may well have been an issue with the cement, but that isn't that uncommon an event in the industry. The pressure testing after cementing appears to be where BP took shortcuts and got kicked in the ass. There was realtime evidence of an anomaly with the pressures (they were seeing pressures on the "backside" that shouldn't have been there). They (BP) should have stopped, killed the well again, and reevaluated to see if there needed to be additional cementing. It appears haste in the name of saving a days rig cost made for a terrible decision.
Comrades, we are all CCCP