HateCheese

good info slick75, glad you chimed in to add some info to what is going on.

Can't believe they haven't pumped cement yet and are just using heavy mud to sit on top....... that sure doesn't seem like a long term solution

SLICK75

To be able to effectively pump cement, either from the top or from the bottom (which will be done via the relief well) they have to be able to "push" against it. If they pump from the top before having a functioning BOP in place the temp cap may not have held the pressure theyd require (will probably be somewhere between 7,000-10,000 psi).
At the same time if they pumped that kind of pressure from the bottom through the relief well they would possibly start pumping mud out the top of the blown out well. If that happens it could blow out again.
So its much safer to go through this process now and KNOW you have a functioning BOP in place that will DEFINITELY hold everything in place than it is to get in a hurry and take short-cuts, which may be what led to this in the first place.

As Ive said, I dont THINK they pumped any cement yet. I get most of my information from the same place everyone else does, the media. Since the media has stopped reporting all but the "largest milestones" or anything they perceive as dangerous or costly, I may have missed something about the cement. But I do know for the cement to work as its designed to, it has to be "pressed" to 7,000-10,000 psi. That will compress the cement and cause it to flow into any small cracks and fractures int the area they pump it, which could be the entire space from the wellhead to where the relief well intersects. Then the relief well can pump cement from there down to the bottom of the well if thats what they decide to do. That will probably depend on how deep into the well the damage is. They will probably run equipment down the relief well to "take pictures" of the well bore. It wouldnt surprise me to hear they try to produce this well later down the road when the heat blows over, if the deeper sections of the well are intact.

Diesel

They did pump cement when they did the top kill here is a link:

http://www.geology.com/news/2010/top...oil-leak.shtml

They are just not sure how much made it into the annulus, and the DD2 and DD3 are drilling the relief wells not the Discoverer Enterprise. They are replacing the BOP for obvious reasons. Inspect the old one. If the well was going to produce they would replace it with a tubing head spool or a tree. Why does anyone care if they produce from this well...where do you think the money is going to come from to pay all the claims???? Anyway they are not gonna produce this well, but I'm pretty sure they'll produce from the Macondo lease, and so what.

jlw1972

I also heard that they did pump the cement. My info came from the media also.

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Joey

SLICK75

Youre right I got my rigs mixed up, the Enterprise along with a couple of others are onsite doing the skimming work. DD2 and 3 are drilling. I guess I missed the part of the cement being pumped. Theres still several weeks worth of work to be done before the well was ready for a tree to be installed even if it hadnt blown out. The tree connects to production tubing inside the well and it hadnt been installed yet. Thats one of the things a workover rig would have done after the Horizon left.
There will be plenty of people who care. The media is going to play it off as the well is too dangerous and shouldnt be produced, although in truth its no more dangerous than any other well, the environmentalists are going to jump on the band wagon and tell everyone how its going to lead to more flaming sea turtles and oily pelicans. The anti capitalists are going to scream that its just BP thinking only of money and profit and the general public who dont know the difference are going to believe all of them.
I personally hope they do produce the well. The thing is drilled, TWICE and if theres anything left to be produced I say go for it.