Thanks to everyone who has expressed concern about Mark, but that was NOT his rig that blew up, thank goodness.
According to what Mark has learned from other offshore folks, the rig that exploded had just completed drilling for a deep-water well in 5000 feet of water to a well depth of over 18,000 feet They had been running casing and cementing. While cementing it's necessary to wait a good while after each section until the cement has hardened enough before the next step because bubbles of gas CAN sometimes work their way up through the still-soft concrete.
According to what Mark has learned from other offshore folks, the rig that exploded had just completed drilling for a deep-water well in 5000 feet of water to a well depth of over 18,000 feet They had been running casing and cementing. While cementing it's necessary to wait a good while after each section until the cement has hardened enough before the next step because bubbles of gas CAN sometimes work their way up through the still-soft concrete.
Mark thinks it's possible that the drillers got impatient before the concrete had time to set up enough, released the safety valve holding pressure on the concrete in order to drill the next section, and gas worked its way through still-wet concrete and caused the explosion that set that rig on fire. I guess once the reports are published we'll find out if that was the case.
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