They were pumping out the drilling mud when the explosion happened. That’s an important new detail in the NY times story today. During drilling, mud is put in the hole to cool and lubricate the drilling bit and is pumped up through the drilling pipe to remove the rock and other debris from the drilling process. The weigHt of the mud also acts to prevent blowouts. A temporary concrete plug had been put at the very bottom of the hole to temporarily plug the well until it was ready to be used to produce oil.
With the plug in place, they them apparently were removing the drilling mud, which would have destabilized the pressure. If there was natural gas dissolved in the mud (like nitrogen with divers), as the mud was pumped upwards, the gas would expand quickly and increase the pressure in the pipe. Based on the result, it is pretty safe to assume the concrete plug failed to hold.
The articles says a “government” source had told them to be careful about gas buildup. I don’t believe that for a second. Someone in the government is in CYA mode.
The Fringe Left is working very hard to blame this on Dick Cheney – who left Haliburton about 10 years ago.
Pertaining only to Art’s last sentence: The left, looking to calumniate Vice President Cheney once more, are quick to chafe at some of Ann Coulter’s book titles … like “SLANDER,” for instance. Ain’t it so like them?