Opinion ID: 1171258
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Physical Facts

Text: Aside from the fact there is a total absence of evidence tending to show Terry did any particular thing wrong or in a negligent manner, or that he failed to do anything he could have done and should have done, we have indicated physical facts in the case belie the basis of Haug's opinion that Terry's gravel pack did not go where it was supposed to go. In Oeland v. Neuman Transit Company, Wyo., 365 P.2d 806, 810, reh. den. 367 P.2d 967, we cited much authority for and relied upon the rule that, where evidence is contrary to physical facts, a judgment based thereon should not be sustained. It follows, a fortiori, the rule would particularly apply where the evidence in question is merely the expression of an opinion by a witness and not testimony as to facts observed or known to exist. The first physical fact known and undisputed is that Terry's completion gave very good satisfaction and resulted in a real good well for some five or six months. The most plausible inference to be drawn from this undisputed and admitted fact is that Terry did a reasonably good job in drilling and completing the well; but that conditions in the formation itself changed subsequent to the completion. We have previously mentioned that the gravel ranged from three-sixteenths to three-eighths inch in size. With a ten-inch hole and casing six inches in inside diameter, it is a physical fact the gravel should have gone down without bridging. It is undisputed two and one-half cubic yards of gravel were used for the gravel pack, and as Terry described the finish, he lost sight of the gravel when it went to the bottom. Apparently none of the parties or attorneys calculated how much hole would be filled with the amount of gravel used, but we have. It would be approximately 218 feet, or all but 37 feet of the hole. If the gravel did indeed go out of sight, it becomes fairly certain it went the last 37 feet. Moreover, Haug used water pressure down the inside of the casing and out into the annulus in an effort to dislodge what he conceived to be bridging of the gravel in the annulus. If the gravel filled all but about 37 feet of the annulus, and if the gravel was out of sight on top, the bridging would have to be in the lower few feet. This would be where perforations were because the lower 55 feet were perforated. It thus becomes a fairly conclusive physical fact that the backward water pressure would have freed the gravel if bridged within the perforation zone. It should have freed the gravel if bridged at any other point in the annulus. Haug thought, with all he did, he should have been able to free what he conceived to be a bridging of the gravel above the water zone. When asked why he could not so do, his answer was I don't know. Here again, the most plausible inference is that the gravel went all the way down when it was originally put in the annulus. Haug's opinion that it did not do so overlooks the most obvious physical fact of all  the immense quantities of sand that were displaced in the formation and bailed out by both Terry and Haug in an effort to rework the well. It is common knowledge that water increases in velocity as it gets closer and closer to the well which is the center of its production area. Thus it carries more and more sand through the gravel screen and into the well. Remember the thickness of the gravel screen would be only about one and one-half inches to begin with, being the distance between the outside of the casing and the wall of the well. When large amounts of fine sand are carried out of the formation, it can only leave large voids in the formation. The gravel then cannot help sloughing away from the casing and into these voids. Haug gave credence to this sort of thing in his testimony. He was asked about the well producing several months and if that would not show there was a gravel pack in the well. He admitted a lot of things happen underground and said, You could have had a blow off down there and gravel  quicksand with pressure of water in the hole, gravel moved down. Of course, there was no evidence of a blowoff, but removal of large quantities of the formation with the inevitable voids it would leave could only produce the same effect. It is to be remembered too that Terry did a lot of work with much bailing, in an effort to restore the well, before Haug began. We do not know the width of the perforations and whether any of the gravel could have entered into the casing. Particles of gravel left in place against the casing and small enough to go through the perforations could very well have gone through and been bailed out before Haug began. Another physical fact not taken into account by Haug is worth mentioning. With the kind of emptiness and voidness which would exist in the fine sand formation, after large amounts of sand have been displaced and bailed out, it becomes evident Haug's reverse pressure washing could only drive gravel farther away from the casing and into the sand. In other words, Haug's theory assumes the walls of the well, at the time of his operations were reasonably solid such as they would be through formations like clay and other impermeable compositions. There doubtless were at that time no walls left in the sand formation opposite the casing perforations. In the absence of any substantial testimony tending to say Terry's procedures were wrong or negligent, and in the face of the physical facts we have pointed out, which contradict the basis for Haug's opinion that gravel put in by Terry did not reach its intended destination, there would be no basis for holding Terry liable without making him an insurer or guarantor, which he was not. Judgment should have been for defendant Terry. Reversed.