Thursday, October 7, 2010

BP (NYSE:BP) Challenged on Installation Time of Centralizers

BP (NYSE:BP) has said it in the past when making a decision on how many centralizers it would need to operate the well successfully, that it would have taken a lot of time to install the 21 recommended by Halliburton (NYSE:HAL).

That assumption was challenged by a technician, who was bringing the centralizers to the Deepwater Horizon oil rig to be installed. BP said it would take at least 10 hours to install them, while the technician said would have only taken from 4 to 8 hours.

A centralizer is what keeps the casing centered in the well bore. That means if it isn't placed correctly, gas and oil would escape from the well.

Instead of the installation of 21 centralizers, BP opted to go with only 6, which could have been a major problem in the well ending up causing an explosion.

Testifying at the joint U.S. Coast Guard-Bureau of Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement investigative panel, technician Daniel Oldfather said he was told the job had been cancelled by BP, but wasn't given the reason.

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