Transocean workers on the Development Driller II rig, which drilled a relief well at BP's Macondo site in the Gulf of Mexico this month.
Transocean workers on the Development Driller II rig, which drilled a relief well at BP's Macondo site in the Gulf of Mexico this month.

Engineer says he warned BP over deepwater well



A Halliburton engineer has testified he warned BP its design for the Macondo well was flawed. The deepwater exploration well, which had struck oil in the Gulf of Mexico, would be susceptible to surges of natural gas without changes to the design, testified Jesse Gagliano, a shore-based technical adviser assigned by Halliburton to work with BP.

Mr Gagliano appeared this week before a US government panel. The oil company had hired Halliburton, the international oil and gas services firm headquartered in Houston and Dubai, to install a steel liner, or casing, inside the well. On April 20, gas surged up the well bore, triggering an explosion that killed 11 rig workers and caused the biggest oil spill in US history. Five days before that, Mr Gagliano had urged BP to use 21 devices called "centralisers" to ensure the steel casing could be properly secured to the rock, according to his testimony. Instead, BP opted to stick with a design using six centralisers.

"My best engineering analysis would have been to run the 21 centralisers," Mr Gagliano told the eight-member joint US coastguard-interior department panel, which is investigating the accident that sank the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform. The Halliburton engineer said he told BP officials in Houston on April 15 there was a "high probability" of gas flowing through the cement unless they made changes. He said he and two BP engineers spent the rest of the day studying the problem.

"By the end of the evening, we had determined that 21 centralisers would take care of the issue," Mr Gagliano testified. The BP engineers went as far as arranging to fly more centralisers out to the rig but later reversed that decision, reportedly out of fear that using more of the devices could cause the sleeve-like casing to get stuck as it was inserted into the well. Centralisers are used to keep the casing accurately positioned in the middle of the well bore as cement is pumped into the space between the liner and the rock. The cement is intended to create a seal to control pressure from oil and gas in the reservoir.

"Who cares, it's done, end of story, we'll probably be fine and we'll get a good cement job," Brett Cocales, one of the BP engineers, wrote in an April 16 e-mail that came to light two months ago. He added that BP could fix the cement later if necessary. Other e-mails indicated that John Guide, the leader of the BP engineering team assigned to the well, objected to using extra centralisers because they were not consistent with the existing well design and might cause unforeseen problems.

Mr Gagliano said BP did not inform him of its decision. Instead, he learnt of it on April 18 from Halliburton workers aboard the rig. He also learnt that BP had not followed other Halliburton recommendations, such as flushing out the well with fresh drilling fluid before pumping in cement. Asked by investigators why he did not at that point object more strongly to BP's decision, Mr Gagliano said that if the cement job failed, BP could still have pumped in more cement to fix the problem.

But BP did not test the integrity of the cement job. Mr Gagliano said he had not recommended such a test. Richard Godfrey, a lawyer representing BP, pointed to e-mails from Mr Gagliano and other Halliburton employees that said the operation had been successful. "We have completed the job and it went well," Nathaniel Chaisson, a Halliburton worker, wrote to colleagues on the morning of the disaster.

"Halliburton was fully aware of the Macondo well's key design features, including the use of six centralisers around a long string production casing," BP said yesterday in a statement. "If Halliburton had significant concerns about its ability to provide a safe and high-quality cement job in the Macondo well, then it had the responsibility and obligation to refuse to perform the job. "As the evidence today makes clear, Halliburton had no such concerns, which is why its engineers proceeded with the job."

Brian Morel, a BP engineer who helped oversee the cementing operation, was also scheduled to testify on Tuesday but declined to appear. He cited his right under US law not to incriminate himself. Mr Cocales, the engineer who wrote one of the e-mails, is scheduled to testify tomorrow. @Email:tcarlisle@thenational.ae

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GOLF’S RAHMBO

- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)

Director: Jon Favreau

Starring: Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, John Oliver

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

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Scores

Wales 74-24 Tonga
England 35-15 Japan
Italy 7-26 Australia

Europe wide
Some of French groups are threatening Friday to continue their journey to Brussels, the capital of Belgium and the European Union, and to meet up with drivers from other countries on Monday.

Belgian authorities joined French police in banning the threatened blockade. A similar lorry cavalcade was planned for Friday in Vienna but cancelled after authorities prohibited it.

Dubai Bling season three

Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed 

Rating: 1/5

German intelligence warnings
  • 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
  • 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
  • 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250 

Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution

Vidaamuyarchi

Director: Magizh Thirumeni

Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra

Rating: 4/5

 

If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.

When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.

How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
The Sand Castle

Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

Company profile

Date started: 2015

Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki

Based: Dubai

Sector: Online grocery delivery

Staff: 200

Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends

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Cryopreservation: A timeline
  1. Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
  2. Ovarian tissue surgically removed
  3. Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
  4. Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
  5. Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months