Remember the old news of the BP oil spill?
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-23/stuck-pipe-prevented-shear-rams-from-sealing-bp-well-u-s-says.html
The report is in – ultimately judges and lawyers will decide, but for now it looks like the BOP maker is off the hook. It contains some hints that the BOP was unable to do its job because of the large pressures, the explosions on the surface and the buckling of the pipe.
How I read that is BP and/or the rig operator caused the explosion, didn’t detach from the riser (which would have caused activation of the shear ram, and the rig sank after losing position over the well, creating huge sideways pressure on the drill pipe making it impossible to cut.
If you’ve ever tried to cut into wood while it is carrying weight, as you cut, more and more weight shifts onto the blade until it gets stuck (you may remember the failed attempt early on to cut the pipe using a diamond string cutter..
