http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703339304575240210545113710.html?mod=WSJ_newsreel_business
They knew they had a problem and proceeded anyway, because to have fixed it would have realized a cost overrun of 5-10 million dollars. God forbide that should happen right?
Greed kills my friends.
At 5 p.m., workers ran another key test called a negative pressure test, used to determine if the well had been properly cemented, according to testimony given to the committee by BP executive James Dupree and cited by committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D., Calif.).
The pressure in the well was lowered to see if gas could enter. Test results were at best "inconclusive" and at worst "not satisfactory," Mr. Dupree, the BP Senior Vice President for the Gulf of Mexico, said, according Mr. Waxman. It appeared the cement job hadn't sealed off the well and a gaseous mixture was leaking into it, Mr. Waxman said Mr. Dupree said.
A second test was run. Mr. Dupree said its results could indicate that natural gas was building up inside the well, according to Mr. Waxman.
At 8 p.m., less than two hours before the blast, BP officials decided that additional tests "justified ending the test and proceeding," Mr. Waxman said, attributing this information to a communication from a BP lawyer. The congressman said information reviewed by his committee "describes an internal debate between Transocean and BP personnel about how to proceed
.This would have taken a week to 10 days, says one industry veteran. Between the cost of hiring the rig and the subcontractors, this maneuver could have cost BP $5 million to $10 million, according to industry estimates.
This extra work, however, wasn't pursued. Instead, BP forged ahead. A worker on the rig said the crews would usually set a final cement plug and then remove the remaining mud. He said BP called the federal Minerals Management Service to request clearance to take out the mud. BP's Mr. McKay said he wasn't aware of any such call.
