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deepwater wells is typically a viable option; however, care should be taken when
designing and executing the job to prevent nitrogen breakout.

Testing the stability of foam cement before it is used in an offshore cement
job is common practice in the industry. Consistent with this practice, Halliburton
shipped samples of the Macondo cement to its laboratory in advance of the date
on which the cement components were to be used on the Macondo well and
retained surplus samples from the testing program. Halliburton conducted pre‐
job testing of the mixture of ingredients to be used in the Macondo cement slurry
to assess whether the cement could be pumped and would set up properly under
conditions simulated to match those down the wellbore.

While Halliburton conducted several pre‐job cement tests, it did not finish
its final compressive strength analysis for the cement used on the production
casing string. Compressive strength analyses determine the length of time for
the cement slurry to develop sufficient strength to achieve zonal isolation and
provide sufficient support to the casing. On April 19, Jesse Gagliano, the
Halliburton in‐house cementing engineer, told the BP well site leaders and Brian
Morel that the compressive strength analysis for the cement job had not been
completed. Nevertheless, BP continued the cement job without this
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information. The Panel found no evidence that BP or Halliburton ever shared
the cement stability results or the OptiCem reports (showing gas flow potential)
with Transocean personnel on the Deepwater Horizon or in the Houston office.

Halliburton’s post‐blowout laboratory worksheets dated May 26, 2010,
show that the foam‐slurry cement did not meet American Petroleum Institute
Recommended Practice (“API RP”) 65. Additionally, laboratory tests
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conducted by Chevron on behalf of the National Commission on the BP
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Deepwater Drilling (“Presidential
Commission”) showed that the foamed cement slurry used on the Macondo well
was not stable.

4. Cementing a Long String

As discussed above, BP debated internally whether to use a long string or
liner with tieback as the final production casing. BP had difficulties with the
cement in one of the two long strings it ran in the Macondo well prior to the

94 BP‐HZN‐MBI00192892.
95 HAL0050590.

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