BP "Company Man" forced shortcuts?

[Brian4Liberty]

Negligent homicide?


At a hearing in New Orleans on Wednesday, Douglas Brown, the Deepwater Horizon's chief mechanic, testified about what he described as a "skirmish" between someone he called the "company man" — a BP official — and three other employees during a meeting the day of the explosion.

Brown said he didn't pay particular attention to what they were discussing because it did not involve his engine room duties. He later said he did not know the BP official's name.

"The driller outlined what would be taking place, but the company man stood up and said 'We'll be having some changes to that,'" Brown testified. He said the three other workers initially disagreed but "the company man said 'This is how it's going to be.'"

http://www.timesleader.com/news/AP-Exclusive-Witness-says-BP-took-shortcuts.html

[torchbearer]

company man does call the shots. so its a good suspect.

[UnReconstructed]

The company man does call the shots like torchbearer said but the OIM does have the overall responsibility. A drilling company will do everything they can to please their customer even if it means taking a risk and especially, if they have done it in the past and nothing "bad" happened.

Every one that has ever done a hitch offshore knew what had happened. Transocean was probably behind on the well and the company man started bitching to the OIM, Toolpusher, Rig Supe and the driller and shit went down.

The rigs run 24hrs with 3 shifts, 1200 to 2400, 0001 to 1200 and then a "6 to 6" which is when the "management" works. These shifts are called "towers" but spelled tour like tour of duty... not sure why they call it tower but thats what they say. Before each tour, they have a pre-tour meeting where they go over safety shit and operations shit. This is where I could see this meeting going down... in the pre-tour meeting for 6 to 6.

[lynnf]

there was a guy on 60 Minutes that gave much of the story, including how he jumped off the flaming rig into the ocean and was picked up by a small fishing boat fairly quickly. I believe he mentions the "company man" also. seems the issue he heard was that BP didn't want TransOcean to use drilling mud.
this guy also said the blowout jig had been compromised during a test of it when parts of it came up through the drilling hole- - bits of rubber. and further, some backup electronics in it had been zapped, but they kept on drilling without fixing it, with some muckey-muck saying "it's not a problem".



YouTube - 60 MINUTES -- THE BLOWOUT PART 3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxFtnQdKwXk)


lynn

[free1]

Found this live feed via youtube
http://www.youtube.com/pbsnewshour?feature=ticker

[Brian4Liberty]

According to 60 Minutes, there were three major human errors:

- Main "gasket" on Blow Out Preventer (BOP) is damaged. It is not repaired. This prevents any further accurate pressure tests, necessary for the rest of the operation to be done safely. Also would prevent it from stopping flow in emergency.

- Electrical and control unit problems with BOP. They are not repaired.

- Heavy Drilling mud is pulled out of shaft and replaced with seawater before cement plugging is complete. (cause of the blowout, forced by BP company man).


Contact with BOP was lost in first explosion.

YouTube - 60 Minutes - BP disaster - Deepwater Horizon survivor Mike Williams pt 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0onXmlFgF8I)

YouTube - 60 Minutes - BP disaster - Deepwater Horizon survivor Mike Williams pt 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N58oCgl9j2c)

YouTube - 60 Minutes - BP disaster - Deepwater Horizon survivor Mike Williams pt 3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfzPod_jSh8)

[torchbearer]

so basically, they didn't use mud correctly to balance the pressure.
company man on a schedule because its costing them probably a $100,000 a day to maintin operations. Big wigs are needed the well to produce quickly, so they cut corners.
On any other well, they may have gotten away with it, except on this well- it was a shit ton of gas pressure hiding underneath.

[Brian4Liberty]

so basically, they didn't use mud correctly to balance the pressure.
company man on a schedule because its costing them probably a $100,000 a day to maintin operations. Big wigs are needed the well to produce quickly, so they cut corners.
On any other well, they may have gotten away with it, except on this well- it was a shit ton of gas pressure hiding underneath.

It's always about time and money.

The story said that is was costing a million a day? It was typical, they tried to rush right from the beginning, and kept making mistakes and making the situation worse. Short-sighted management.

They damaged the BOP early on, so that they were never able to accurately measure the pressure.

You should really watch the 60 Minutes segments to hear the full story from the crew members.

[torchbearer]

It's always about time and money.

The story said that is was costing a million a day? It was typical, they tried to rush right from the beginning, and kept making mistakes and making the situation worse. Short-sighted management.

They damaged the BOP early on, so that they were never able to accurately measure the pressure.

You should really watch the 60 Minutes segments to hear the full story from the crew members.

i can believe a million a day for operations, especially in the deep gulf.
onland rigs are a bit cheaper.

[Brian4Liberty]

http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/05/hearings_natural_conflict_on_r.html

Hearings: Natural conflict on rigs between oil company and drilling crews
By David Hammer, The Times-Picayune
May 26, 2010

This is an update from the joint U.S. Coast Guard and Minerals Management Service hearings in Kenner Wednesday into the explosion and fire aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig on April 20, which killed 11 workers and created the Gulf of Mexico oil spill currently fouling Louisiana's coast.

A ship captain with 15 years of drilling experience told an investigative panel Wednesday that he doesn't know why a rig would displace heavy mud with light seawater in the well before closing it off, something BP decided to do just before the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded April 20.

"That's something you learn at well-control school," said Capt. Carl Smith, a former Coast Guard captain serving as an expert witness for the panel run by the Coast Guard and Minerals Management Service. "If you're circulating fluid, you need to monitor how much is going in and how much is coming out. If you get more fluid out than in, it's an indicator that something's going on."

Smith testified that there is a natural conflict on any drilling rig between the company that's leasing the rig and oilfield and the drilling operators. He said the "company man" represents a firm that leases the rig and often pays $500,000 a day to drill for the oil, so he is concerned about speed and cost. The crew, meanwhile, is generally more concerned about safety and controlling the well, he said.

"That's a natural point of conflict that I've seen," Smith said. "Some (company men) have become outright adversaries, but they're the people paying the bills. They control helicopters, the boats, what's going on and off the rig. But I have to say, most of them are safety conscious."

Survivors of the Deepwater Horizon disaster have said that BP's company man argued with Transocean drillers in the hours before the explosion over whether to remove the drilling mud, which provides a key level of protection against a blowout of gas from the well.

[torchbearer]

most rough necks can't stand the company man. he sits on his ass all day in the a/c making the big money while they do all the freakin' work.
The company man can tell them to do something completely stupid, and they know he won't listen to them, so they end up getting fucked somehow.
my dad was a fishing tool supervisor for over 30 years. his position worked closely with the company man, though when he was called out- the company man had better listen to him.

[Brian4Liberty]

my dad was a fishing tool supervisor for over 30 years. his position worked closely with the company man, though when he was called out- the company man had better listen to him.

Lol! Wouldn't this have all worked out better if instead of an oil spill, there had been a small story somewhere that said:

"BP Executive gets his ass beat on Offshore Oil rig. Witnesses state that the BP Company Man had become irrational, and was issuing commands that would have resulted in the deaths of the workers and a major ecological catastrophe. He was subdued by rig workers before safety procedures were violated. No charges have been filed pending a full investigation." :D

[torchbearer]

Lol! Wouldn't this have all worked out better if instead of an oil spill, there had been a small story somewhere that said:

"BP Executive gets his ass beat on Offshore Oil rig. Witnesses state that the BP Company Man had become irrational, and was issuing commands that would have resulted in the deaths of the workers and a major ecological catastrophe. He was subdued by rig workers before safety procedures were violated. No charges have been filed pending a full investigation." :D

sounds like a moral to that story.

[specsaregood]

Sounds to me like it is transocean's "fault" here. And the guy they had talk in the 60minutes segment from that company was less than convincing that it wasn't. I would be less than surprised if BP comes out scott free from all this.

[Anti Federalist]

Sounds to me like it is transocean's "fault" here. And the guy they had talk in the 60minutes segment from that company was less than convincing that it wasn't. I would be less than surprised if BP comes out scott free from all this.

The OIM, the master of the vessel and the toolpusher should have all used the SWA in this case.

I disagree, I think the BP company man is the "bad guy" in all this.

[specsaregood]

I disagree, I think the BP company man is the "bad guy" in all this.

Sure, he isnt' a good guy. But he didn't push the button. In the the end, the drilling company and crew had the final say. I've disagreed with my customers before when they wanted me to do "bad" or stupid stuff (save credit card data in plaintext on a public server for example). I've told them if they wanted it done that way they better find somebody else to do it.

[Anti Federalist]

Sure, he isnt' a good guy. But he didn't push the button. In the the end, the drilling company and crew had the final say. I've disagreed with my customers before when they wanted me to do "bad" or stupid stuff. I've told them if they wanted it done that way they better find somebody else to do it.

Yes, that where the "stop work authority" comes into play.

Everybody had that obligation and failed to use it, sadly.

[specsaregood]

Yes, that where the "stop work authority" comes into play.

Everybody had that obligation and failed to use it, sadly.

Mark my words, when all is said and done, BP is gonna come out smelling like a rose, the drilling company will be out of business and BP will probably get awards for voluntarily doing more than was required of them. Oh and the taxpayers will eat it.

[Anti Federalist]

Mark my words, when all is said and done, BP is gonna come out smelling like a rose, the drilling company will be out of business and BP will probably get awards for voluntarily doing more than was required of them. Oh and the taxpayers will eat it.

We'll see.

I think BP America will fold up shop long before Transocean.

Maybe it's time something was said about foreign companies and foreign flag vessels working in US waters in violation of the (in spirit anyway) Jones Act.

[Brian4Liberty]

sounds like a moral to that story.

There are at least 11 men who in hindsight would have gladly taken a chance with beating their boss's ass rather than do something that was not safe...

or just do this:


Yes, that where the "stop work authority" comes into play.

Everybody had that obligation and failed to use it, sadly.

[Brian4Liberty]

The Company Men (BP Well Site Leaders) have finally been charged with crimes. Multiple counts of Involuntary Manslaughter and Seaman's Manslaughter.


Three former BP employees also face separate felony charges related to the spill, the Justice Department announced. Donald Vidrine and Robert Kaluza, BP drilling managers who oversaw operations on the Deepwater Horizon rig, were charged with 22 counts of negligent manslaughter for the deaths of the 11 rig workers.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/15/bp-oil-spill_n_2136063.html

[kathy88]

most rough necks can't stand the company man. he sits on his ass all day in the a/c making the big money while they do all the freakin' work.
The company man can tell them to do something completely stupid, and they know he won't listen to them, so they end up getting fucked somehow.
my dad was a fishing tool supervisor for over 30 years. his position worked closely with the company man, though when he was called out- the company man had better listen to him.

SO true. My husband operates cranes for gasfield work. Company men come in a lot and try to tell him do something against company rules or just plain stupid. He just refuses. A lot of those guys hate his guts for it, because as soon as the safety guys come in they back my husband the the company guy ends up looking like a tool.

[Dick Chaney]

zz

[Brian4Liberty]

More:


BP well-site leaders Robert Kaluza and Donald Vidrine, who failed to shut down BP's runaway Macondo well in spite of tests showing grave danger, each face 22 manslaughter charges in the deaths of 11 men killed in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion, according to a grand jury indictment handed up Wednesday. They were the oil giant's top two men on the rig at the time of the disaster.
...
Petroleum engineer and university professor J.J. Azar, who was called as an expert witness by the government at hearings investigating the accident, said that even his college students should know that a pressure test cannot be successful if there is any pressure on the drill pipe. There was only one correct response to the test, he said.

"If I was right there on that rig site, whether I was a driller, well site leader, (offshore installation manager), toolpusher, senior toolpusher, and seen that anomaly, I shut the well down, sir," Azar said.

Instead, Vidrine concluded it was safe to remove the drilling mud, replacing it with much lighter seawater. That "invited natural gas and oil to migrate up through the riser and onto the rig floor," the indictment says, eventually dooming the rig and 11 of its crew.
...
More:
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2012/11/3_bp_officials_face_new_crimin.html

[angelatc]

The Company Men (BP Well Site Leaders) have finally been charged with crimes. Multiple counts of Involuntary Manslaughter and Seaman's Manslaughter.

Members of corporations can't be held personally liable. I hear that all the time. So you must be lying.

[donnay]

Mere hours after BP settles, the US Coast Guard confirms there is an offshore (shallow water) platform burning in the Gulf of Mexico in the area of West Delta Block 32 (near West Cote Blanche Bay). The platform is owned by Black Elk Energy and is about 25 miles southeast of Grand Isle.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-11-16/2-dead-2-missing-another-oil-platform-burning-gulf-mexico

[Brian4Liberty]

Members of corporations can't be held personally liable. I hear that all the time. So you must be lying.

Guess it's an unusual situation when 11 people die. These guys are pretty low level, so it's easy to sacrifice them. The moral of the story must be that no matter how ridiculous the directives and orders are from your higher ups, if it results in deaths, "just following orders" won't be an excuse (Military, politicians and connected corporatists excluded.)

[angelatc]

Guess it's an unusual situation when 11 people die. These guys are pretty low level, so it's easy to sacrifice them. The moral of the story must be that no matter how ridiculous the directives and orders are from your higher ups, if it results in deaths, "just following orders" won't be an excuse (Military, politicians and connected corporatists excluded.)

Yeah, I wasn't actually mocking you....:D