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Relief Well Status?

Posted on 6/14/10 at 1:06 pm
Posted by Chad504boy
4 posts
Member since Feb 2005
176234 posts
Posted on 6/14/10 at 1:06 pm
Is this our only guaranteed thing here? How far along are they? How does a relief well actually stop the flow? Please don't use big words when helping me out! TIA
Posted by BlueCrab
North of Last Island
Member since Sep 2006
7143 posts
Posted on 6/14/10 at 1:18 pm to
Even that is not guaranteed at this point. The relief well should stop it by pressuring up the oil and gas up the new riser taking the pressure off the old hole. This is about as basic as I can get. Hope this helps.
Posted by lsugradman
Member since Sep 2003
8944 posts
Posted on 6/14/10 at 1:20 pm to
Not sure how much longer until they intersect the original well. I've heard it will be August before the relief wells can kill this thing. They stop the flow by entering the well, pumping high density mud to neutralize the pressure of the well and then following that with a crapload of cement to kill the flow of oil into the wellbore.
Posted by Sid in Lakeshore
Member since Oct 2008
41956 posts
Posted on 6/14/10 at 1:21 pm to
quote:

Is this our only guaranteed thing here?


No guarantees in life.
Posted by the LSUSaint
Member since Nov 2009
15444 posts
Posted on 6/14/10 at 1:22 pm to
Yes, pretty much a sure thing once they hit the original well. They intersect it so far down that all they have to do after that is pump the mud into the relief well which sends it into the "main" well. Once enought mud is sent up the main well, it gets heavy enough to stop the oil from coming up, they send in cement and the cement forms a permanent plug. It might be no mud and all cement, not quite sure what they plan. Either way, it's about 95% sure thing, anyone know?

That is a basic overview, I'm sure some will chime in with a bunch more info, but basically they will intersect the well at the bottom and plug it way down there.

Timeframe for completion of first relief well is early to mid Aug. A second is being drilled in case first on fails from a multitude of possible reasons.
This post was edited on 6/14/10 at 1:24 pm
Posted by Chad504boy
4 posts
Member since Feb 2005
176234 posts
Posted on 6/14/10 at 1:23 pm to
August is a long time from now... Geesh.
Posted by the LSUSaint
Member since Nov 2009
15444 posts
Posted on 6/14/10 at 1:24 pm to
Yep, that's why there is the dog n pony show going on out there to try everything else. They got nothing else to do in hte meantime, so they have to act like they are trying everything possible.
Posted by Oyster
North Shore
Member since Feb 2009
10224 posts
Posted on 6/14/10 at 1:27 pm to
last I heard it was at 14,000 ft. The rest of the way will be pretty slow going.
Posted by Chad504boy
4 posts
Member since Feb 2005
176234 posts
Posted on 6/14/10 at 1:39 pm to
quote:

last I heard it was at 14,000 ft.


how many ft left?
Posted by lsugradman
Member since Sep 2003
8944 posts
Posted on 6/14/10 at 1:52 pm to
4,000 if i heard correctly
Posted by Oyster
North Shore
Member since Feb 2009
10224 posts
Posted on 6/14/10 at 1:52 pm to
I think the current well was at 18,300 straight down. The relief well is offset quite a bit from the side of the original well. I dont know what the total depth of the relief well will be.
Posted by lsugradman
Member since Sep 2003
8944 posts
Posted on 6/14/10 at 1:53 pm to
Are they at 14,000' MD? If so then they still have a ways to go. I was hoping that was a TVD estimate.
Posted by Oyster
North Shore
Member since Feb 2009
10224 posts
Posted on 6/14/10 at 2:38 pm to
They are at 14,000 MD RKB. The final depth is to be 18,000 MD RKB.
Posted by MountainTiger
The foot of Mt. Belzoni
Member since Dec 2008
14916 posts
Posted on 6/14/10 at 2:49 pm to
So when they're done, TVD will be somewhere around 16,000'?
Posted by lsugradman
Member since Sep 2003
8944 posts
Posted on 6/14/10 at 3:03 pm to
quote:

The final depth is to be 18,000 MD RKB.


You sure? I heard they were trying to intersect at 18,000' TVD which would probably put their MD above 20,000'
Posted by omegaman66
greenwell springs
Member since Oct 2007
26328 posts
Posted on 6/14/10 at 3:09 pm to
Intersection is planned to be 18000 feet beneath the surface. Since they will now be drilling at an angle the total distance from 14k to 18k is going to be a little more than 4000.

The deeper you drill the slower the process.
Posted by lsugradman
Member since Sep 2003
8944 posts
Posted on 6/15/10 at 8:17 am to
Exactly...18,000' below the surface of the ocean or TVDSS. Which means they will have to drill more than 20,000' of Measured Depth or MD in order to reach the intersection point. I have heard they are at 14,000' MD right now.
Posted by barry
Location, Location, Location
Member since Aug 2006
51335 posts
Posted on 6/15/10 at 11:13 am to
They are currently at 14k feet setting the 13-3/8 liner. After that they have the 11-7/8 liner and then will intersect with the old well with a 9-5/8 liner
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