BP Horizon Deepwater Oil Disaster : Open Thread

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evnow

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This is a new thread talk about the GOM well blowout.

Here is a must read comment by "dougr" on TOD.

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6593#comment-648967

He says the well bore structure is compromised "Down hole". That was the reason Top Kill failed. That also means BOP is in danger of falling over. If the well becomes completely compromised, even the bottom kill using releif wells becomes difficult.

All of these things lead to only one place, a fully wide open well bore directly to the oil deposit...after that, it goes into the realm of "the worst things you can think of" The well may come completely apart as the inner liners fail. There is still a very long drill string in the well, that could literally come flying out...as I said...all the worst things you can think of are a possibility, but the very least damaging outcome as bad as it is, is that we are stuck with a wide open gusher blowing out 150,000 barrels a day of raw oil or more. There isn't any "cap dome" or any other suck fixer device on earth that exists or could be built that will stop it from gushing out and doing more and more damage to the gulf. While at the same time also doing more damage to the well, making the chance of halting it with a kill from the bottom up less and less likely to work, which as it stands now?....is the only real chance we have left to stop it all.
 
While it could happen that the existing well bore is compromised, and there is no way to stop it, I don't think all would be lost.

Why couldn't they drill the relief wells into the actual oil reserve, and start "producing" oil, or letting the oil run into ships from those 2 relief wells, that would take off a lot of pressure from the damaged well, where it might be possible to get in there and seal it up.

I do believe they should start drilling a new "real" well in additon to the relief wells, as this may be needed.. the more "holes" into that reserve, the lower the pressure wil be on each one, and the larger the chances are they could seal up the gusher.

Never say never.
 
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/06/15/transcript.obama.speech/index.html

POTUS talking about Peak Oil ?

After all, oil is a finite resource. We consume more than 20 percent of the world's oil, but have less than 2 percent of the world's oil reserves. And that's part of the reason oil companies are drilling a mile beneath the surface of the ocean: because we're running out of places to drill on land and in shallow water.

For decades, we have known the days of cheap and easily accessible oil were numbered. For decades, we've talked and talked about the need to end America's century-long addiction to fossil fuels. And for decades, we have failed to act with the sense of urgency that this challenge requires.

Time and again, the path forward has been blocked, not only by oil industry lobbyists, but also by a lack of political courage and candor.
 
i'm very skeptical that the drilling of the 'relief wells' in a few weeks will actually solve the problem of the present leak. it might lessen the flow, but not eliminate it.
i don't understand why they couldn't just lower a huge concrete containment block over the present leak NOW.

what are they doing at the leak to stop it now :?: :?:
 
bradford said:
i'm very skeptical that the drilling of the 'relief wells' in a few weeks will actually solve the problem of the present leak. it might lessen the flow, but not eliminate it.
i don't understand why they couldn't just lower a huge concrete containment block over the present leak NOW.

what are they doing at the leak to stop it now :?: :?:

maybe because the seafloor is the consistency of "pudding", and the oil will just start leaking out through the sea floor... The relief wells will work, if the well bore is not too damaged, that's why they are intersecting it "deep"

The pressure is incredible, and it's also not just oil, its estimated to be %40 gas as well...
 
bradford said:
what are they doing at the leak to stop it now :?: :?:

They can't stop it. There are limits to what is technically feasible - and how long things take.

I know, that seems unbelievable.

Thats why drilling should be banned - nobody has sufficiently developed technology to quickly stop such problems in deep ocean.
 
Tillerson really threw BP under the bus at that hearing. He made it sound like the DWH operation was being run by Larry Moe and Curly.
 
LTLFTcomposite said:
Tillerson really threw BP under the bus at that hearing. He made it sound like the DWH operation was being run by Larry Moe and Curly.

It was, BP is a bunch of "clowns", sad to say. They did everything to take shortcuts, and not spend money/additional time for safety. 11 men paid with their lives, and the GOM will never fully recover in our lifetimes. BP should be prosecuted for gross negligence, and we should also bring back the "bushies" from the last presidential term and prosecute them as well, as they are just as responsible for allowing this to happen as the BP criminals.
 
LTLFTcomposite said:
Tillerson really threw BP under the bus at that hearing. He made it sound like the DWH operation was being run by Larry Moe and Curly.

Ofcourse, they all try to distance from BP. Their strategy is to say their own companies are far better than BP - I won't be surprised if they all start blaming the 11 dead men.

Still this is important ...

But he may regret his superstar status at the hearing, as he probably provided the most memorable line, telling lawmakers that when oil spills happen, "we are not well-equipped to handle them."
 
mitch672 said:
It was, BP is a bunch of "clowns", sad to say. They did everything to take shortcuts, and not spend money/additional time for safety. 11 men paid with their lives, and the GOM will never fully recover in our lifetimes. BP should be prosecuted for gross negligence, and we should also bring back the "bushies" from the last presidential term and prosecute them as well, as they are just as responsible for allowing this to happen as the BP criminals.

All true - but this could have happenned to anyone. It was just BP's "bad luck".

http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/14/news/international/total_ceo_BP.fortune/index.htm

As CEO of one of the world's largest oil companies, what are your thoughts on the Gulf spill?

We always knew this could happen and it did. But knowing that it might happen does not mean that it will necessarily happen insofar as we do all we have to do to prevent it. BP (BP) is the number one company in the Gulf of Mexico. It's not Shell. It's not Exxon (XOM, Fortune 500). It's not Chevron (CVX, Fortune 500). It's not Total (TOT). It's BP. BP is number one. So if there is one company who is experienced with the Gulf of Mexico, it's a little bit frightening for the rest. But the first thing we need to do is stop it. And treat it. And then we can talk about who is responsible.
 
mitch672 said:
...and we should also bring back the "bushies" from the last presidential term and prosecute them as well, as they are just as responsible for allowing this to happen as the BP criminals.

The media has conveniently deemphasized the statements that the evil Halliburton was among those screaming the loudest that BP's procedures were improper.

Do we have to wait for "all the problems to go away" before the current administration takes responsibility for anything?
 
LTLFTcomposite said:
Do we have to wait for "all the problems to go away" before the current administration takes responsibility for anything?

Infact I'm surprised they are even taking as much as they are. Shows how "socialist" Obama is.

I find it utterly stupid that they didn't put the blame on "free market" for the utter financial failure of 2008 and "deregulation" for the oil "spill".
 
To paraphrase Col Jessup... we want the oil industry on that well, we need them on that well, because deep down we know our way of life depends on it for the foreseeable future.

We just need them to be more careful, whether it be drilling or piloting super tankers off our coasts. The costs of taking shortcuts has to exceed the savings derived from them. I wouldn't be surprised if insurance rates have already gone way up. Ultimately the whole thing is probably self regulating.
 
LTLFTcomposite said:
We just need them to be more careful, whether it be drilling or piloting super tankers off our coasts. The costs of taking shortcuts has to exceed the savings derived from them. I wouldn't be surprised if insurance rates have already gone way up. Ultimately the whole thing is probably self regulating.

The real problem is in terms of managarial renumeration. Managers should be rewarded for safety records - not just on time, on/under budget project management.

BTW, the bond insurance rates for BP are now going up. This will mean they won't be able to bid in new projects ... and that might mean the end of BP.
 
evnow said:
BTW, the bond insurance rates for BP are now going up. This will mean they won't be able to bid in new projects ... and that might mean the end of BP.

couldn't happen to a better company. the world would be better off without BP.
even if that doesn't kill them, the cleanup costs are going to bankrupt them anyway.
 
mitch672 said:
couldn't happen to a better company. the world would be better off without BP.
even if that doesn't kill them, the cleanup costs are going to bankrupt them anyway.

Goldman Sachs are on the job already. I expect a totally legal but absolutely unethical move to hive off all the assets to a new company with the "old BP" getting all the liabilities and little assets.
 
mitch672 said:
couldn't happen to a better company. the world would be better off without BP.
even if that doesn't kill them, the cleanup costs are going to bankrupt them anyway.

Their board will act to protect the shareholders before that happens.

See here's the deal. Big companies don't pay for anything. In spite of the rhetoric that BP will pay for all this, the reality is that money will be extracted from all our pockets and paid to fisherman to compensate them for the fish they purportedly would have caught, or otherwise given to other small people.
 
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