The test has failed and yet, no one is acting. The stated goal of 8000 – 9000 psi steady state pressure has not been obtained and yet they continue, sighting the steady rise in pressure to 7000 psi. As suggested in a Washington Post article people are speculating that the pressure in the oil reservoir has been lowered by three months of leakage but this is contrary to an opinion voiced by Kent Wells last month.
It is exactly at times like these that disaster strikes. I can think of a very logical reason why the pressure is lower than you thought it would be yet keeps building to 7000 psi, it is because the well is leaking into a confined space and building pressure as it leaks. What will happen next is we will find out what breaks. If the well is leaking into say the space around the well casing, the first indication of a problem might be the casing being ejected like a rocket destroying all the toys you just placed on top of it.
How can it possibly make sense to anyone to push this test when it is outside of parameters. Another possibility is that the well casing if damaged leaking into a subterranean cavern that is about to explode. It would be very difficult to detect this if the pressure migration was non violent, if it was a leak that has existed all along but now it is pressurizing because the well is capped. This pressurization would not show up seismically or on sonar until the rock starts to crack.
Every possible solution vector points to reopening the well and capturing more oil even if there is a spill associated with it. The relief well will be ale to determine the status of the well bore very soon. During that time 100% containment can be achieved by limiting the flow rate to the production capability, by using partial pressurization. Another factor is the intercept process will be better managed when the well is flowing to prevent a possible failure of the relief well itself.
What is it with everyone and their political PR nonsense. It is extremely dangerous to be taking a wait and see position with something tantamount to a bomb, when it goes off, you have waited to long, if it hasn’t yet, you still hope it won’t, the psychology of this kind of mental trap is well defined in a trail of death and destruction. No single logic vector points to success as you press forward against data that clearly shows the well bore is leaking so knock it off.
What is that back up plan if you destroy the well with this test? Oh, still don’t have one? End this nonsense now, before it is to late.
Ideas to stop the leak 