Halliburton's Role In The Oil Spill. [ 2 Items ]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charlie-cray/time-to-drill-down-into-
h_b_559091.html?view=print
Huffington Post (Huff Post Green)
May 1, 2010
Charlie Cray, Director of the Center for Corporate Policy
    
Under pressure from Congress and an inquiring media, Halliburton
began a controlled leak of information about its role in the big gulf
oil spill today, but things could get quite explosive if they appear
to be hiding something.

The WSJ (Russell Gold and Ben Castleman) reported earlier today that
Halliburton "didn't respond" to questions about its role in the
spill. That's odd, given that, as the Journal reported, an
independent expert noted that "the initial likely cause of gas coming
to the surface had something to do with the cement," and the fact
that Halliburton "was handling the cementing process on the rig."

Picking up on the report, Congressman Henry Waxman sent a letter to
Halliburton asking the company to start talking and handing over any
relevant documentation.
Perhaps knowing that it couldn't hold out much longer, the firm
issued a terse statement this afternoon about the "cementing facts
regarding rig incident" , which was hardly illuminating.

The gist:

    * Halliburton performed a variety of services on the rig,
including cementing.

    * Halliburton had four employees stationed on the rig at the time
of the accident. All four were rescued by the Coast Guard.

    * Halliburton completed the cementing of the final production
casing string 20 hours prior to the incident.

    * The company also claims it tested the production casing
string."

    * It also stated that "at the time of the incident, well
operations had not yet reached the point requiring the placement of
the final cement plug which would enable the planned temporary
abandonment of the well, consistent with normal oilfield practice."

Clearly there is going to have to be some careful examination of the
cementing operation and related engineering questions. As Gold and
Casselman report, the MMS says "cementing was a factor in 18 of 39
well blowouts in the Gulf of Mexico over a 14-year period....the
single largest factor, ahead of equipment failure and pipe failure."

Moreover, cracks in the integrity of the company's cementing
operations have happened before. The Journal reporters say
Halliburton was the cementer on a well that suffered a big blowout
last August in the Timor Sea, off Australia, where tens of thousands
of barrels of oil were released over 10 weeks before it was shut
down.

The investigation into that incident "is continuing; Halliburton
declined to comment on it."
It's starting to look like the only thing Halliburton can cap tightly
is its own mouth.
If they don't start spilling their guts soon, what is already
destined to be an ecological disaster will also be a major PR
disaster for a company already saddled with the reputation for being
a war profiteer.

-----------------------

[2] Halliburton's role in the oil spill
By RUSSELL GOLD And BEN CASSELMAN
Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014240527487035725045752145
93564769072.html


An oil-drilling procedure called cementing is coming under scrutiny
as a possible cause of the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig in
the Gulf of Mexico that has led to one of the biggest oil spills in
U.S. history, drilling experts said Thursday.

In the case of the Deepwater Horizon, workers had finished pumping
cement to fill the space between the pipe and the sides of the hole
and had begun temporarily plugging the well with cement; it isn't
known whether they had completed the plugging process before the
blast.

The scrutiny will focus attention on Halliburton Co., the oilfield-
services firm that was handling the cementing process on the rig,
which burned and sank last week. The disaster, which killed 11, has
left a gusher of oil streaming into the Gulf from a mile under the
surface.

According to Transocean Ltd., the operator of the drilling rig,
Halliburton had finished cementing the 18,000-foot well shortly
before the explosion. Houston-based Halliburton is the largest
company in the global cementing business, which accounted for $1.7
billion, or about 11%, of the company's revenue in 2009, according to
consultant Spears & Associates.

The timing of the cementing in relation to the blastand the
procedure's history of causing problemspoint to it as a possible
culprit in the Deepwater Horizon disaster, experts said.

A 2007 study by three U.S. Minerals Management Service officials
found that cementing was a factor in 18 of 39 well blowouts in the
Gulf of Mexico over a 14-year period. That was the single largest
factor, ahead of equipment failure and pipe failure.

The Halliburton cementers would have sought approval for their plans  
   the type of cement and how much would be used from a BP official
on board the rig before carrying out their job. Scott Dean, a BP
spokesman, said it was premature to speculate on the role cement
might have played in the disaster.

Halliburton also was the cementer on a well that suffered a big
blowout last August in the Timor Sea, off Australia. The rig there
caught fire and a well leaked tens of thousands of barrels of oil
over 10 weeks before it was shut down. The investigation is
continuing; Halliburton declined to comment on it.

Elmer P. Danenberger, who had recently retired as head of regulatory
affairs for the U.S. Minerals Management Service, told the Australian
commission looking into the blowout that a poor cement job was
probably the reason oil and natural gas gushed out of control.