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Permalink Reply by Joe Aldridge on March 5, 2011 at 12:09

Interesting article: It sounds like the operating company did not centralize (or use enough centralizers) the casing when they ran it and before they cemented. Kind of sounds like the same problem BP had. They are lucky the well site did not crater. In the past (1940's or so) there were wells in Louisiana that did crater. At that point Department of Natural Resources and the industry setup minimum standards for casing programs. If you look at Well History and the Scout reports you will see that after the casing is run there is a listing of how much cement was pumped and how long the casing was put under pressure to test it. If it holds pressure then DNR considers it safe to continue. Also, There are very specific P&A regulations. Again these were enacted from experience. These other States should have regulations that address this and be charging enough in the permit fees to have inspectors in the field to make sure engineering standards and the regulations are followed. That would minimize shoddy well setup and drilling. I think our DNR does a pretty DARN good job.

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Permalink Reply by Joe Aldridge on March 5, 2011 at 13:04

I agree with her. It sounds like this company might be a fly-by-night operator. There just is no reason for a well to cone around casing if it was done right. That also applies to the NG polluting drinking water thread. Someone took some short cuts or did not do their engineering. Or there were no inspectors checking so they felt they could get by with doing the casing cheaply. In this industry you have to plan for the worst and hope for the best. Operating companies just can't afford to take chances. If they do and things go wrong then the entire industry pays for their mistake. I'm basically an industry person (DRILL BABY DRILL) but I have no tolerance for shoddy work or problems of this type.

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