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Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / Interveiw with Transocean Rig Explosion Survivior
- - By Cactusthewelder (*****) Date 05-06-2010 19:44
http://www.marklevinshow.com/article.asp?id=1790422
Parent - - By jwright650 (*****) Date 05-06-2010 20:05
Nice find...that was interesting to listen to.
Parent - - By Cactusthewelder (*****) Date 05-06-2010 20:56
One of the Oil Company Owners, that I work for, sent it to me. Just thought I would share it.

Cactus
Parent - - By waccobird (****) Date 05-06-2010 21:13
Cactusthewelder
Thank You
Marshall
Parent - - By Cactusthewelder (*****) Date 05-06-2010 21:27
Your Welcome. I think it shows just how Dangerous the Oilfield REALLY is. I was just posting something about a Rig I was on that on, that took a "KICK" , a couple of days ago. This happens on Land Rigs as well as Offshore. And like he said in the Interveiw. The Gas is Odorless and Tasteless. You NEVER know what is happening until it is to late.
Parent - - By SMTatham (**) Date 05-06-2010 23:02
Good interview; thanks for sharing that.
Parent - By 803056 (*****) Date 05-06-2010 23:16
Excellent!

Al
Parent - - By ronnie taylor (**) Date 05-07-2010 00:18
WOW!
Parent - - By Joe Davidson (**) Date 05-07-2010 02:06
Hey cactus or one of u other guys that is familiar with drilling rigs. When he is saying "gas" came up and was all over the floor of  the rig, what is this "gas" exactly. I have never been around a drilling rig and was just curious. Is there a technical name for it?
Parent - - By weaver (***) Date 05-07-2010 02:31
H2s...   bad news.. I have been around it too much, not as much as cactus.. its no good
Parent - - By IRWelder (*) Date 05-08-2010 01:31
Just wondering if many of the wells out in the gulf of Mexico are sour (contain H2S concentrations higher than 10 PPM)? Was thinking that maybe not all wells were sour out there. Also, are there many sour wells in the Texas oilfield, on land? Up here in Alberta we have many, many wells with very high H2S content and we also have many wells with no H2S or at least very low concentrations. (sweet wells).
Parent - - By Cactusthewelder (*****) Date 05-08-2010 01:36 Edited 05-08-2010 01:40
Depends on the Part of Texas. Here in East Texas and Southern Louisiana, Almost all of the wells have High Pressure H2S. I was called out 2 weeks ago to Pipe a Bigger Buster. They had Drilled the First well on Location and Skidded forward to #2. They were drilling Surface to 2200. At 1200ft (EXTREMELY SHALLOW) They took a Kick so bad that the local area was under Mandatory Evac. It also Fractured the Local Aquifer and contaiminated the local water supply. The Gas was so bad that the Mud was Bubbleing
Parent - - By cmays (***) Date 05-08-2010 01:55
Yah heard bout that one. Heard it was a bad cementjob and it honeycombed. Pretty crazy stuff!!! My Brother-inlaw was out there.
Parent - - By Cactusthewelder (*****) Date 05-08-2010 01:56
My Son and I were the Welders who were out there
Parent - - By cmays (***) Date 05-08-2010 01:57
In LA right?
He works for Woodgroup pressure control
Parent - By Cactusthewelder (*****) Date 05-08-2010 02:13
Yes. Trinidad 120.  South of Shreveport
Parent - - By Rig Hand (***) Date 05-09-2010 19:39
"Mud was bubbleing with H2S"

Reminds me of Coffeeville, KS.
Parent - By Cactusthewelder (*****) Date 05-09-2010 20:09
In the Tanks
Parent - By jrw159 (*****) Date 05-10-2010 00:26
Holy crap I have been there. LOL Scary

True story..... Shotguns and bottle rockets used in crude #2 to scare off pigeons. I was out the gate doin' 98.

Do you know they make and sell devices specifically for these types of applications, such as air cannons, that are NOT IGNITION SOURCES! Evidently at that time they didn't:-)

Have they started that place back up after it flooded?

jrw159
Parent - - By IRWelder (*) Date 05-09-2010 21:23
Thanks for filling me in guys. I have heard of rigs kicking, not something one wants to happen.
Here in Canada's oil and gas industry H2S training is pretty much mandatory for anyone that wants to be hired or stay hired. Drilling and production as well as construction. Said training is valid for three years and then the course must be taken again, many places won't let you on site without showing your certificate. Is H2S training required in the states that have oil and gas activity?
I have worked with a few guys that have been knocked down by H2S and I sure hope that it never happens to me or anyone else for that matter.
Parent - By Cactusthewelder (*****) Date 05-09-2010 21:25
I have mine !
Parent - By jrw159 (*****) Date 05-08-2010 13:29
In the Panhandle there are as well. Also OK Panhandle, Western KS and Southeast CO.

jrw159
- - By downhill84 (*) Date 05-07-2010 02:53
can somebody explaine what h2s is please
Parent - - By DaveBoyer (*****) Date 05-07-2010 03:04
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_sulfide
Parent - - By Superflux (****) Date 05-07-2010 03:28
Having been through an explosion (Conoco, Sept. 1978, Commerce City, Co.)  that killed 3, one of whom i knew personally, and my wife watching the 6:00pm National evening news while I worked 30 hours blinding off interconnecting pipelines with 200 foot flames...I still sleep less......probably drink more.
I feel for their families and friends.
For those of us that (have or still do) work in the in the extraction industry and seen our bretheren baked, boiled and fried in the line of duty...
I recommend a moment of reverent silence.
Parent - By rick harnish (***) Date 05-07-2010 04:49
Just got one.
Parent - - By raftergwelding (*****) Date 05-07-2010 06:22
H2S Is a poisonious gas it is odrorless and taste less you dont wana mess with it it is heavier than air so it rides across the ground and it is highly flammable
Parent - - By Northweldor (***) Date 05-07-2010 11:17
As Dave has already noted, H2S is not odorless, " ... but quickly deadens your sense of smell... " (wiki article). A first indicator is it's characteristic rotten egg smell. You don't have long after that to clear the area or get breathing apparatus and protective clothing
Parent - - By jrw159 (*****) Date 05-07-2010 15:45
This is correct. It is not odorless but you will only smell it for a split second and you better get somewhere else quick or you WILL hit the ground. I know this for sure from first hand experience.

Texas panhandle on the Longanecker lease. I was out for approximately 2 minutes before they were able to revive me. After that incident I stayed H2s safety trained/certified for 9 years straight.

BTW another dead giveaway will be that the person being affected will start to "snot up". The mucus membranes try to protect themselves and you will be pouring thick snot from the nose. The guy that gave me mouth to mouth had to wipe about a half a gallon of it off my face while trying to revive me. I am sure glad he had a strong stomach and that he spit his dip out before starting. LOL

jrw159
Parent - - By rick harnish (***) Date 05-09-2010 06:47
Wow you got lucky! Was someone masked up and able to pull you out of there, or did you manage to escape before collapsing?
Parent - By Cumminsguy71 (*****) Date 05-09-2010 12:32
Nice post Cactus, also great Q&A after. Very interesting reading for sure.
Parent - By jrw159 (*****) Date 05-09-2010 14:26 Edited 05-09-2010 14:34
Actually I was running tongs on a pole rig coming out of the hole with a string of tubing on a well that had a plug on the bottom end. We got the plug out and had about 6 joints on the bottom of it. We got about 2 of those out when I started feeling funny and started to "snot up" and BAM I hit the ground right there on the well head before the collar on the third joint came out of the hole, tangled up in the slip chains used to keep the pipe slips in place over the casing. The operator chained down the brake handle and him and the other floor hand untangled me and drug me out. They had no masks to put on and were already in it, they were just on the upwind side. 

Yes I was very lucky. I did not even have enough time (or experience that early on in the game, I was just a youngster) to know what was happening. Plus it was quick, two 30' joints on a pole rig goes really quick. Motor rev's up, rev's down and there is your collar, set your back ups and unscrew it, then lay it down, latch the elevators on and do it again. Literally can happen quicker than I can type it. 

jrw159
- - By sillyslik (**) Date 05-11-2010 01:23
hey cactus,
  does h2s give offer a vapor trail that u can see move over the air?or are the initial suffer contact ur only sign?
Parent - - By Cactusthewelder (*****) Date 05-11-2010 09:47
It has a smell, HOWEVER, It is VERY VERY Breif. I will burn your senses almost on Contact. You can see the Vapor, Sometimes, By the time you see it it is to late. When we are on a site where it is expected, We wear a small H2S Sniffer, 24-7
Parent - - By rcwelding (***) Date 05-12-2010 01:54
Is H2S good for anything..??  Can you burn it as a fuel or is it to toxic to even mess with..???  What do they do with it when they hit it..???
Parent - - By Cactusthewelder (*****) Date 05-12-2010 01:57
When they hit it they try and burn it off with a Flare Stack
Parent - By hojopens3 (**) Date 05-13-2010 00:30
i have been welding on rigs in the gulf and on land for most of life and i have seen kicks, blowouts, and fires. fox news was on our rig last week doing interviews and promoting the oil and gas industry. you can google fox news spartan 303 for the article. we dont blow **** up out here like the obama people think we do.
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Parent - By A_DAB_will_do (*) Date 05-12-2010 16:55
I don't know about H2S from well heads, but the H2S that is collected during cracking and refining petroleum is converted into Sulfuric Acid, and other sulfur containing compounds.  That sulfuric acid gets used in fertilizer manufacturing and manufacturing many, many other chemicals and plastics.  Refineries make H2SO4 so fast they sometimes have trouble getting rid of it...
Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / Interveiw with Transocean Rig Explosion Survivior

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