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BP had a third option (other than installing a long strong production
casing or a liner tie‐back) – it could have temporarily abandoned the Macondo
well without setting any production casing, which is an option for wells with
zero drilling margin. For example, in January 2009, on a well BP drilled prior to
Macondo, the Kodiak well at MC 727 Number 2, the Deepwater Horizon crew
temporarily abandoned the well without running production casing. In August
2009, BP and the Deepwater Horizon crew also temporarily abandoned the Tiber
well, KC 102 Number 1, which had similar drilling margin hazards to the
Macondo well, without setting a production casing. BP acknowledged this third
option in a later iteration of the temporary abandonment and production casing
“Forward Plan” discussed above, which stated that the company could plug the
open hole and temporarily abandon the well. BP noted that this was an option if
“hole conditions go south.” While all of the “primary well objectives” had been
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achieved, and although BP could have minimized any additional immediate
spending on the well, the third option would have increased completion costs by
$10 to $15 million because BP would at a future time have had to drill out the
cement plugs, re‐drill the production hole, and re‐log the well data. For these
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reasons, this was BP’s least preferred option.

If BP had temporarily abandoned the Macondo well without running the
production casing, as it had done with prior wells with narrow drilling margins,
BP would likely have had an opportunity to consider other options for setting
the casing, such as sidetracking the well and setting the casing in a location with
a lower potential for lost returns. In addition, as discussed below, if BP had
temporarily abandoned the Macondo well without setting a production casing, it
would not have taken steps to set a lock down sleeve and could have set the
surface plug higher in the well.

86 BP‐HZN‐MBI00143295.
87 Id.

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