Company skipped crucial oil well test
Source: Agencies |
October 30, 2010, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
HALLIBURTON has acknowledged that it did not conduct a critical test on the final formulation of cement used to seal BP's Deepwater Horizon oil well before it blew out in the Gulf of Mexico.
The company, which was BP's cementing contractor, came under increased scrutiny when investigators from the United States president's oil spill commission revealed on Thursday that tests performed by the company before the blowout showed the cement to be unstable.
Halliburton said in a statement that it did not conduct a stability test on the final mix of cement after a last-minute change by BP added more of a certain ingredient. Earlier statements said tests showed the cement to be stable.
The cement mix's failure to prevent oil and gas from entering the well has been identified by BP and others as one of the causes of the accident.
BP and Halliburton decided to use a foam slurry, created by injecting nitrogen into cement, to secure the bottom of the well, a decision outside experts have criticized.
The commission said that of four tests done in February and April by Halliburton, only one - the last - showed the mix would hold. But the results of that single successful test were not shared with BP, and may not have reached Halliburton, before the cement was pumped, according to a letter sent to commissioners by chief investigative counsel Fred H. Bartlit Jr.
Halliburton said that the successful test was performed on a mixture different than the one eventually used. While some tests were conducted on the new formulation requested by BP, those tests did not include a foam stability test, the company said.
Tests conducted for the commission by Chevron on a nearly identical mixture have also been released. The results conclude that the cement mix was unstable, raising questions about the validity of Halliburton's test showing that the mixture was stable.
The company said the "differences" between its tests and the commission's were caused by using different materials.
The company, which was BP's cementing contractor, came under increased scrutiny when investigators from the United States president's oil spill commission revealed on Thursday that tests performed by the company before the blowout showed the cement to be unstable.
Halliburton said in a statement that it did not conduct a stability test on the final mix of cement after a last-minute change by BP added more of a certain ingredient. Earlier statements said tests showed the cement to be stable.
The cement mix's failure to prevent oil and gas from entering the well has been identified by BP and others as one of the causes of the accident.
BP and Halliburton decided to use a foam slurry, created by injecting nitrogen into cement, to secure the bottom of the well, a decision outside experts have criticized.
The commission said that of four tests done in February and April by Halliburton, only one - the last - showed the mix would hold. But the results of that single successful test were not shared with BP, and may not have reached Halliburton, before the cement was pumped, according to a letter sent to commissioners by chief investigative counsel Fred H. Bartlit Jr.
Halliburton said that the successful test was performed on a mixture different than the one eventually used. While some tests were conducted on the new formulation requested by BP, those tests did not include a foam stability test, the company said.
Tests conducted for the commission by Chevron on a nearly identical mixture have also been released. The results conclude that the cement mix was unstable, raising questions about the validity of Halliburton's test showing that the mixture was stable.
The company said the "differences" between its tests and the commission's were caused by using different materials.
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