Master driller aims to bring relief to oil spill

[sonias]

Houston Chronicle 7/11/10
DISASTER IN THE GULF
Master driller aims to bring relief to oil spill

The nation's hope of ending the scourge of spilling oil in the Gulf rests in the hands of a Houston man who must hit a 7-inch bull's-eye under a mile of water and more than two miles of rock, using a drill bit not much bigger than his two clenched fists.

John Wright is the lead engineer behind BP's critical last chance at slaying the monstrous Macondo with a relief well, and the man steadying the scope for the final kill.

Heading up BP's well intersection team, Wright, 56, is considered the world's pre-eminent oil well assassin, a black hat with a peerless record of quietly snuffing out troublesome wells after all other remedies have failed.

(snip)
Perfect record

The votes of confidence rest on a 25-year track record and work on 83 relief well projects around the world, including the North Sea's infamous Piper Alpha Platform, which exploded in 1988 and killed 167 men. Of those projects, Wright personally designed and managed 40. Sixteen of them involved blowouts, in places like Brunei and Syria, but also California and Texas. All of his wells were successful.

He hopes his Macondo work will make it 41.

Very interesting story about the company and the man who will be trying to kill the oil well. I wish him the best of luck and hope he can pull this off.!

Kill the well, John Wright! Oh and by the way he is a Texan. :)

:bounce::bounce::bounce:

[sonias]

1. As BP gets closer to sealing leaking well, the stakes get higher

Related story:

Houston Chronicle 7/11/10
As BP gets closer to sealing leaking well, the stakes get higher

After nearly three months of trying, BP could be in a position within a little more than a week to begin permanently sealing its leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico — and taking a big step closer to ending the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.

(snip)
But the last few feet to the blown-out well and last days or weeks of precision drilling will present a slew of high-tech challenges, and the stakes for getting it right couldn't be higher.

"Both the credibility and competence of BP and, by extension, the entire industry, are at stake here," said Nansen Saleri, CEO of Quantum Reservoir Impact in Houston and former head of reservoir management at Saudi Aramco.

That's why BP is taking great pains to ensure the first relief well is successful.

"Trust me, there's a lot more oversight on this one than on any well BP has ever drilled," said a person with direct knowledge of the relief well operation.

More oversight is good. I'm hoping they get it shut down - the sooner the better.

:kick:

[Melissa G]

2. BTW, He is a Texan... I love it!

:rofl: :hi: Sonia

[sonias]

3. Oil well assassin

I like the sound of that. I really hope he's that good too.

He must be the new Red Adair of killing runaway oil wells.

:hi: Melissa!

[onestepforward]

4. Wishing great success for Mr. Wright

Please stop the oil!

[sonias]

5. Mr. Wright

I sure hope he is right for the job.

:hi:

[white cloud]

6. Thanks He will make it 41/41

Amazing what they can do these days.

Several great videos here:
How to cap an oil well under 5,000 feet of water
After 8 weeks of fabrication, BP is ready to bolt on its 80-ton well cap using 3 ROV's. Here's how it will (hopefully) work.
http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/gadgets-electronics/blogs/how-to-cap-an-oil-well-under-5000-feet-of-water




BP: new system capturing spilled oil making progress
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/photo/2010-07/12/c_13395649_6.htm

[sonias]

8. We need a real break on this one

Everything has to go right and BP can not be trusted. They need a whole lot of oversight.

Another good oil spill discussion site is this one:
http://www.theoildrum.com

Where I found this disturbing article about BP's hubris:

NY Times 7/12/10
In BP’s Record, a History of Boldness and Costly Blunders

Hurricane Dennis had already come and gone on July 11, 2005, when a passing ship spotted a shocking sight in the Gulf of Mexico: Thunder Horse, BP’s hulking $1 billion oil platform, was listing precariously to one side, looking for all the world as if it were about to sink.

Towering 15 stories above the water’s surface, Thunder Horse was meant to be the company’s crowning glory, the embodiment of its bold gamble to outpace its competitors in finding and exploiting the vast reserves of oil beneath the waters of the gulf.

Instead, the rig, which was supposed to produce about 20 percent of the gulf’s oil output, became a symbol of BP's hubris. A valve installed backward had caused the vessel to flood during the hurricane, jeopardizing the project before any oil had even been pumped. Other problems, discovered later, included a welding job so shoddy that it left underwater pipelines brittle and full of cracks.

"It could have been catastrophic," said Gordon A. Aaker Jr., a senior engineering consultant on the project. "You would have lost a lot of oil a mile down before you would have even known. It could have been a helluva spill — much like the Deepwater Horizon."

Looks like BP was going to be the Gulf destroyer no matter what. :mad:

[onestepforward]

7. It sounds like he is!

:hi:

[sonias]

9. Gulf driller to light up cigar after job is done

Yahoo News 8/15/10
Gulf driller to light up cigar after job is done

NEW ORLEANS – The man with pinpoint accuracy who is drilling the relief well meant to plug BP's runaway well is looking forward to finishing his mission and celebrating with a cigar, a dinner party with his crew and a trip somewhere quiet to unwind with his wife.

John Wright has never missed his target over the years, successfully drilling 40 relief wells that were used to plug leaks around the world. People along the Gulf Coast aren't the only ones hoping he can make it 41-for-41.

"Anyone who has ever worked extremely hard on a long project wants to see it successfully finished, as long as it serves its intended purpose," Wright, 56, who is leading the team drilling the primary relief well, said in a lengthy e-mail exchange with The Associated Press from the Development Driller III vessel.

"That is where my job satisfaction is derived."

Drill that relief well, John. Make it 41 for 41!

:bounce: