BP Was Fighting Gulf Well in February 2010

BP Plc was struggling to seal cracks in its Macondo well as far back as February, more than two months before an explosion killed eleven people and spilled oil into the Gulf of Mexico, Bloomberg investigations revealed. It took ten days to plug the first cracks, according to reports BP filed with the Minerals Management Service. Cracks in the surrounding rock continued to complicate the drilling operation during the ensuing weeks. Left unsealed, they can allow explosive natural gas to rush up the shaft. 

BP didn't respond to calls and e-mails seeking comment. The company's shares rose 22 pence to 359 pence today in London after the company struck a deal with the Obama administration to establish a USD20 billion fund to pay cleanup costs and compensation.

 

On 13^th February 2010, BP told the minerals service it was trying to seal cracks in the well about 40 miles (64 kilometres) off the Louisiana coast, drilling documents obtained by Bloomberg show. Investigators were determining whether the fissures played a role in the disaster.

 

The company attempted a "cement squeeze," which involves pumping cement to seal the fissures, according to a well activity report. Over the following week the company made repeated attempts to plug cracks that were draining expensive drilling fluid, known as "mud," into the surrounding rocks.

BP used three different substances to plug the holes before succeeding, the documents show.

 

John Wang, an assistant professor of petroleum and natural gas engineering at Penn State in University Park, Pennsylvania said that most of the time a squeeze will dry in a couple of hours before it's finished. Repeated squeeze attempts are unusual and may indicate rig workers are using the wrong kind of cement, Wang said.

 

BP Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward and other top executives were ignorant of the difficulties the company's engineers were grappling with in the well before the explosion, U.S. Representative Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said during a hearing in Washington.

 

In early March, BP told the minerals agency the company was having trouble maintaining control of surging natural gas, according to e-mails released 30 May 2010 by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which is investigating the spill.

 

While gas surges are common in oil drilling, companies have abandoned wells if they determine the risk is too high.