Besides the immediate action of closing the well, the main job of the big valve called a Blowout Preventer, or BOP, is to ensure the safe and controlled management of wellbore pressure to prevent an uncontrolled influx of formation fluids, known as a kick, from escalating into a blowout. A kick occurs when the pressure exerted by the drilling fluid in the wellbore is less than the pressure of the fluids in the rock formation, allowing these formation fluids to flow into the well. Once the BOP closes the well, its primary ongoing function is to contain this wellbore....
Log in to view the answer
