John J Gruber Dr. Synstelien 1108-16 10 October 2015 The BP oil spill: an Engineering disaster On the 20th of April 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico, British Petroleum’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig blew out. Like Chernobyl, Three-Mile Island, and the Challenger explosion, the BP oil spill is amongst the most infamous manmade disasters being the largest marine oil spill in history. The Macondo oil prospect off the coast of Louisiana is predicted to yield 100 million barrels of oil (4.2 billion gallons), which is a medium sized field. BP signed a $34 million lease in 2008 for the field, and began drilling in late 2009 with the Marianas oil rig. This rig was damaged in a hurricane and had to be put out of commission until repaired, and its replacement, …show more content…
Corporate greed and complacency from a long history of success caused the failure of British Petrolium's Deepwater Horizen oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, the effects of which were dead crew members, unprecedented environmental contamination, and multifaceted economic strain. In early February 2010 the Deepwater Horizon began drilling, and operations were expedited in order to stay on schedule, and as a result of the high speed drilling fractures formed in the well bore and gas began to seep in, causing a two week delay in order to complete repairs. The alarm system that detects gas and fire was inhibited in 2009, in mid-March the gas shut-down is bypassed, vital pieces of a critical annular valve on the BOP (the Blowout preventer: the last line of defense against a blowout) are found in the well, and the Senior subsea supervisor Mark Hay remarks that it …show more content…
Operations continue, and these vital safety mechanism failures are disregarded. In late March 2010 BP’s petroleum engineers began to discuss whether to use a single string casing, or a liner casing, a safer alternative with more barriers against gas, but more expensive and time intensive. A BP plan review recommended against the single string style casing, as it creates an open pipeline to the well-head, the only barrier being the, now damaged, BOP. Nonetheless, BP decided to install single string style casings. On April 15th the drilling was completed, and the system is flushed for 30 minutes, to clear air pockets and debris, to prevent cracks and gas leaks. This is normally a 12 hour process. Centralizers are used to keep the pipeline centered and straight, Jesse Gagliano, a contracted engineer, suggested the use of 21, BP installed 6, and BP’s well team leader, John Guide, testified that these were the wrong ones. As a result, the casing was not centered in the reinforcing cement sheath, which caused alignment issues. On April 20th, the casings were pressure test, and the tests were successful. Later that day contractors arrived to conduct a 12 hour series of tests to ensure the seals are strong, but they are sent home. “It was a huge error,” according to Satish Nagarajaiah, an