What does “stop drilling” mean? It’s easy for a politician to think those two words convey an idea, but they don’t. There are about 15 similar rigs currently deployed in the Gulf. Hurricane season is become a statistically significant risk – probably part of why BP was in “hurry up” mode.
Let’s consider a similar rig digging a similar well. Perhaps you’re 1000 feet away from the targeted depth of your well. You’ve got a bore hole filled with drilling mud, and the casing (to prevent contamination of groundwater and protect the well integrity) extends only part way down the bore hole. Now the command comes from the Ruler of the United States to stop. Doing nothing is not an option. You can’t just withdraw the drill string, pull off the BOP and head to Brazil.
At a minimum, you have to seal off the well as if it is was a dry hole. Fill it up with concrete, seal it at the top and cut off the casing and remove the riser. Doing that precludes using that well in the future. Or you can sit in neutral – leave the rig sitting there costing $500k a day doing nothing . You maybe could use the time to install additional casing, but you are now deviating from the original well design – and to a bonehead like Senator Markey “you didn’t stop!”. Nothing about a well is “completely safe” – gas might start leaking in, the rig might be forced to move due to weather. The longer the indecision lasts, the more you are adding risk to process.
In any case, George Soros and his $900 million investment in Petro Brasil will be happy with this development.
