Gaia's messenguer.

The oiler accident.

And so, between laughter and funny comments, questions and other things related to the operation, the safety talk of the day ended, and that first difficult and hot day of June 20, 2002 began, after a few hours Juan de Dios , he checked the time on his small cell phone and it indicated 12:00 p.m.

While reviewing the drillers' log, checking the development and technical data of that well called Caudaloso 2, he realized that there were only 2 wells in that area, Caudaloso 1 and 2, the first of these being explored and completed by the company. national drilling company (PEMEX), terminating it at a depth of 2166 meters.

-How weird? –He thought inquisitively about this information. -Why not at 2200 meters or 2300 meters like this one we are finishing?

And pondering these oil technicalities, he made the comment to Mike Ursulak, who appeared at that moment in the driller's house, which was placed about 9 meters high, with respect to the ground, on the drilling floor to one side. From the derrick, Mike shrugged his shoulders and Juan de Dios amusedly told him that apparently PEMEX had not continued drilling the large well 1, because it was so dangerous that they couldn't do any more.

And with a laugh of acceptance the Canadian supervisor asked Juan de Dios.

-Do you know how to prepare and work with drilling mud?

-Clear! –Answers Juan. –I have spent half my life preparing mud.

-Well, then the order is to restore circulation, control the loss of mud and continue drilling to a depth of 2300 meters. The fluid engineer has already added the plugging material to the mud, and we can start pumping it.

Listening to this, Juan put on his protective helmet, went out to the control console and activated the different systems for measuring pressures and counting strokes per minute, as well as the gas detectors and with Edgar on the pressure control valve, and supervisory staff taking readings on the manyfold choke, as it is technically known. (A component of pipes and valves, which divert the fluids coming from the well, to the gas-mud separator and to the burner) activated by turning the acceleration knobs of the pumps, and slowly that thick and oily control fluid was introduced into that rugged well. , which threatened to go out of control at any moment, after more than half an hour of pumping control fluids, at a controlled rate of 40 strokes per minute, the pressure indicators of the pumps gave the long-awaited signal, the introduced fluid returned and was not completely lost, which indicated that the walnut shell fragments had worked, plugging the micro cracks that had weakened the walls of the flowing well 2, when the EPM counter indicated 1300, the pressure indicators began to move , this confirmed that the anti-loss material was working very well, plugging the micro fractures in the walls of the well, reducing the loss and thus allowing the mud to return to the surface, passing through the control lines to the manyfold, and returning through the gas-mud separator to the dams, which was where the pumps took the mud to introduce it to the well, thus completing what in petroleum technicalities is known as the circulation cycle, and when the pressure was constant, stable and the gas separator- The mud had done its job of sending the mud to the dams, and the gas to the atmosphere, proceeded to open the upper preventer, first notifying the other workers through the loudspeaker, activating the opening lever of the upper preventer, on the control console. remote well closure control, close to the driller's control panel, and took the loudspeaker to give the long-awaited warning, and with a well-modulated and acted voice he said:

-Attention, please pay attention! To all personnel involved in the operation; The mud is circulating!

Thus restoring confidence in that group of workers and technicians, whose job that day was precisely that, to control the well to continue drilling it, finish it and deliver it to the production department, the joy was seen on the workers' faces when they heard the announcement. of the driller, releasing the tension of being in danger, after an hour a call from the Company man to the driller's booth, through the internal telephone, would change things completely, Luís Molina told him to speed up the pumping, to reduce the operation time control, and continue with the drilling program.

-Aware.

Juan de Dios said, regretting the instruction, but before changing the pumping speed, moved by a bad feeling, he notified his supervisors.

Once the rig manager Ron and the supervisor Mike were aware, they proceeded to gradually accelerate the pumps from 40 EPM to 45 EPM, and to 50 EPM, seeking a slow and gradual acceleration in the pumping rate, seeking not to suddenly destabilize the pressures, thus avoiding a pressure or water hammer, which could break the already weak walls of the well, managing to reach 55 EPM without loss of pressure with the sustained circulation of the mud, he was in that process when he heard an imperative voice telling him.

-Accelerate it to 80 strokes per minute!

It was the rig manager Ron, who with the characteristic desperation that predominates in the behavior of trusted personnel, who work in international companies, in his desire to reduce operating costs, took the circular knob that regulated the speed of the pumps, giving a acceleration that indicated 120 EPM, returning it until the indicator marked the requested 80 EPM; Juan de Dios, taken by surprise, did not have time to prevent it, visibly upset, he tried to make the reckless rig manager see that his action could lead to a pressure blow that would break the walls of the well again, causing a new loss of circulation, and therefore hence the decrease in the control fluid column, decreasing the hydrostatic pressure, which was ultimately what kept the gas and oil in the well at the bottom, stable and controlled; Ron Olsen, ignoring his comments, just looked at him askance and said:

-Continue like this until I give you another order.

And he left the control area.