Halliburton's Role

Commentary By Ron Beasley

As I noted below Halliburton's role in the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig had been largely ignored by the US media.  That seems to be changing:

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.

The process is supposed to prevent oil and natural gas from escaping
by filling gaps between the outside of the well pipe and the inside of
the hole bored into the ocean floor. Cement, pumped down the well from
the drilling rig, is also used to plug wells after they have been
abandoned or when drilling has finished but production hasn't begun.

Halliburton had just completed the cementing process when the explosion occurred.  But it's not just Halliburton's performance that's being questioned but the entire process.

Regulators have previously identified problems in the cementing
process as a leading cause of well blowouts, in which oil and natural
gas surge out of a well with explosive force. When cement develops
cracks or doesn't set properly, oil and gas can escape, ultimately
flowing out of control. The gas is highly combustible and prone to
ignite, as it appears to have done aboard the Deepwater Horizon, which
was leased by BP PLC, the British oil
giant.

Concerns about the cementing process�and about whether rigs have
enough safeguards to prevent blowouts�raise questions about whether the
industry can safely drill in deep water and whether regulators are up to
the task of monitoring them.

If it is determined that the cementing process played a role in the explosion the future of deep water exploration and production is in doubt.

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.

And this is not Halliburton's first:

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.

Update, Quote of the day from The Sideshow:

Given that the biggest oil slick is Dick Cheney, it's not a surprise that Halliburton is responsible for the other big oil slick.