David & Tup

My buddies, David Thompson and James Tuppen, Boots and Coots, Inc., 1989-1990. This was an over-pressured Tuscalossa well for Amoco in Lafayette Parish. The well kicked up 5 inch DP and floor hands stabbed the DP with a TIW valve. It leaked so they stuck another TIW valve on top of the first one. It leaked. They stabbed a 3rd TIW valve above the 2nd one with a joint of 5 inch above if for extra weight. It leaked and they called Boots and Coots.

The well was trying to blow the drill pipe out of the hole so David and James snubbed down the DP to the substructure and backed off all three TIW valves with hydraulic tongs. Its ripping up the 5 inch in this photo... and loud. This is an ear plug in each ear, followed by a wad of Vaseline, then another ear plug on top of that, job.

The capping stack is WellCat, from Weatherford. From the bottom up there are slip rams, inverted pipe rams, spacer spool. X-over spool with kill lines and blind rams on top of that. The stack set over the drill pipe and "locked" down via the slip rams. For additional safety the entire stack was then snubbed down to the rotary substructure. A soft kill was performed and SIDPP was 7,200 PSI. The well was then bullheaded dead.

You can't make this sort of shit up. I worked with these guys several times and they both had nuts as big as beach balls. David and I went on another job for Amoco north of Baton Rouge in 1992 and the shut in on that well was 10,200 PSI. When that job was over I did get drunk that night, yes sir.

Those were the good 'ol days. There are not any more wells like these anymore.

The photographer is unknown. So many blowing wells in history never got their pictures taken. We never had time unless we made time. This is from David Thompsons personal files.