From the Inside Flap
Nearly everybody has heard of the Deepwater Horizon, a remarkable drilling rig tragically lost in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010. The explosion onboard that rig took eleven lives, eight of whom were my crew and close friends, my second family.
People have formulated their own ideas about the accident,the offshore oil and gas industry, and the rig itself. Many of those notions may have been influenced by televised images, "talking heads" on various media offering opinion and conjecture, and the movie, Deepwater Horizon, a movie held in derision as "distorted fabrications"by those who worked and walked those decks for Horizon's ten years of operation.
I have undertaken this book project to tell readers the real story. It is a story of an industrious team of people who routinely made the impossible possible, by pushing boundaries and the limits of their equipment, never turning away from a challenge. In the 1990s-2000s, oil and gas exploration companies were making huge "plays" in the Gulf of Mexico, especially in deepwater, and the Deepwater Horizon and her crews were right in the thick of these discoveries.
From the construction of the rig in Ulsan, South Korea, this book chronicles the Deepwater Horizon's amazing discoveries and records that spanned the course of a decade. The Horizon crew pushed limits reaching depths the world had never before seen; depths people didn't even think possible only five years before they punched through! With advances in technology and skilled personnel, the Deepwater Horizon led the field in performance for the Transocean fleet, so much so that Transocean Rig Managers sent people to see what we were doing on the Horizon that made us so good.
In this book, I provide a historical perspective of oil, the evolution of offshore drilling, and the shaping forces behind exploration,discovery, and development that have pushed offshore drilling into deeper waters in its quest for energy beneath the seabed. I also examine the economics of the gas and oil industry, and the shortage of trained personnel needed to fill positions on these drilling units which cost more than one-half billion dollars each.
Lastly, I take readers on a whirlwind tour of the companies,mergers, and oversight organizations that created the multi-faceted dynamic at the time of the incident in 2010.
Learning hands-on at the coal face, from Floorhand to Driller, I not only try to explain offshore drilling in lay terms, I also share stories of the people and the rig we operated. These stories are where I hope the reader sees those who worked this rig as real people, the humor, fears, the dangers, the mundane, the thrills, the joys, the conditions, and eventually,the pain experienced by the survivors and the families, indeed the collective heartache of the entire Deepwater Horizon family. One chapter provides a unique perspective of the incident--first-hand accounts from those aboard the rig that night and others who provided direct support.
These are their words. Their stories. All heroes.
Right after a major discovery, I left Deepwater Horizon as a Driller in 2008, after over seven yearsaboard. It was my final time as part of the Horizon crew as Transocean reassigned me to a special project that would have aided deepwater Drillers everywhere. This new technology was eventually test-proven and targeted to be implemented on the Deepwater Horizon,one year before the rig moved to the fateful Macondo well. Because the industry had so over-expanded to where every offshore producer was suffering for more drilling rigs, the business decision was made not to implement this innovative technology that might have prevented the accident.
I want the truth to be known that the events that unfolded in April 2010 were one hundred percent avoidable. Notwithstanding the new technology, if the tools already in place--proper planning, in-depth engineering completed and reviewed by multiple people, and disciplined processes and approvals--were utilized, this tragedy at sea could have been avoided.
To those left behind, peace be with you. To "The Eleven",rest easy my friends.
From the Back Cover
This is a story of an industrious team of people who routinely made the impossible possible, by pushing boundaries and the limits of their equipment, never turning away from a challenge....
"As I started reading this book it takes me into a journey where it brings smile, emotions (happy) and speaks the true life of an "Oilfield Worker" and as I flip through this life cycle (pages) it brings tears, emotions (sad) and journey of this life cycle of the "11 True Heroes" comes to an end.
Greg not only has taken time & efforts to make this book a life cycle of"Deepwater Horizon & 11 True Heroes" but also gives the message out to the readers "a true real story" of an oilfield worker and what it means to his family that can never be forgotten.
I salute the "11 Brave Heroes of Deepwater Horizon" who are in our hearts and I salute and thank Greg for taking this priceless effort, courage and hard work in writing this book and hope this "True Story" reaches out to each and everyone in our "small world of oilfield".
ZK - Rig Manager
About the Author
Writers love to seek great stories, but for author Greg Williams, the best tales have always found him. As a boy, the darkest hours of the night invariably brought visits from strange characters, or epic adventures to exotic locations. In the morning his hand would scribble across the page, documenting each vision before the morning light could snatch it away. As an adult, his curious nature led him to places like the Congo in West Africa, and a rewarding career in the oil and gas industry, where Williams manages deep sea drilling crews of 140 members that span sixteen nationalities. Working in remote locations and high-risk scenarios, Williams has witnessed humanity at its best and most courageous, discussing the industry in his non-fiction work Deepwater Horizon--In the Moment.
Williams loves to connect with his readers.
