GOM Oil Spill - BP Stops Oil Leak

[cycloneye]

Live Video from leaking area

[Sanibel]

And the evacuation thing hasn't made the mainstream media because it's simply not true. No sources quoted, not even the mysterious "anonymous source". She's just making it up. Probably gets paid based on page views.

That makes sense because not only is the oil too diluted to burn in that broad a manner but if they did they wouldn't be able to work on the spill...

[psyclone]

Lol those links were an example of black helicopter-type lunacy. no one is being evacuated anywhere, especially tampa bay which has a good chance at getting no oil at all from this. our waters here are clean and beautiful. this story is bad enough on its own...no embellishment is needed.

[vbhoutex]

BP is sitting on less toxic dispersant bought weeks ago here in Houston. Here is a link http://www.click2houston.com/video/23624463/index.html What is next on their list?

[Stephanie]

BP is sitting on less toxic dispersant bought weeks ago here in Houston. Here is a link http://www.click2houston.com/video/23624463/index.html What is next on their list?

They need more studies to see if it is less toxic??? WTH??? It's all about $$$. The ingredients compared between the two should tell you all you need to know about it's toxicity.

It shouldn't take them a week between each try to plug the leak to come up with another solution. This should be a constant assault - one backup plan after another. It's obvious that BP and probably the oil industry as a whole has no backup plan what so ever for the worst case scenerio.

At this point, I think that the government needs to take over, plug the damn thing and fine the crap out of BP AND bill them for the cleanup.

[Dionne]

I seriously doubt that a "plug" will ever happen. At 5000' below sea level the pressure is around 2200 psi.....the blown bore is spewing crude at a pressure greater than the 2200. I don't think anyone knows how much pressure is behind the blow out. We're in new territory. It will be the relief wells that will eventually slow the blow out. Our demand for oil has done damage to the GoM that will not recover in our lifetime.

[Sanibel]

I think they said the pressure of the deposit was something around 13,000 - 15,000 psi.



If they can't cap it they should try to capture as much as they can and get it up to the surface for collecting in barges or burning. I don't think they are capturing nearly as much as they could pressure or not.

[somethingfunny]

I have a suspicion that BP knew from the very beginning, and may have admitted as much in closed-door hearings, that absolutely nothing can stop this leak until the relief well is drilled. But to prevent the image of sitting around doing nothing for 3-4 months waiting for the relief well to be finished, they keep on rolling out different ideas of varying effectiveness every few days. Maybe one will even work, but nobody's betting on it.

I really don't think that BP has any interest in making this spill any worse than it had to be. That doesn't change that they are going to be liable for all damages and had damn well better pay up in full, because I've read some pretty damning reports about corner cutting and negligence.... but I don't believe they're actively trying to not do everything they can to stop the spill as some seem to believe.

[CajunMama]

The pic was taken from an article in The Advocate about the oil washing ashore on Grand Isle, LA. Louisiana just can't get a break. Katrina, Rita, Gustav and now this.

[somethingfunny]

I'm not sure how the oil escaped the booms around Grand Isle and made it on shore, but it's bad news for the entire coastline.

Kathy, how close are you to the marshlands and the surge zone? Because if there's a storm that pushes the oil into the marshes, that's a tinderbox for a massive fire sparked by swamp gas or lightning and I don't think anybody should be around that kind of fire. Seriously. I don't know if there is already a health hazard for people downwind of these chemical dispersants, but I doubt that the government will actually call for an evacuation of the entire region for something that could take years to bring under control. Think about Houston before Rita and then put the entire population of Florida including inland onto I-75....they won't call an evacuation. You need to study the hazards and what-ifs and be prepared to make a really gut wrenching decision if we hit a point of no return environmentally....

[thetruesms]

They need more studies to see if it is less toxic??? WTH??? It's all about $$$. The ingredients compared between the two should tell you all you need to know about it's toxicity.

It shouldn't take them a week between each try to plug the leak to come up with another solution. This should be a constant assault - one backup plan after another. It's obvious that BP and probably the oil industry as a whole has no backup plan what so ever for the worst case scenerio.

At this point, I think that the government needs to take over, plug the damn thing and fine the crap out of BP AND bill them for the cleanup.

It is a constant assault - this isn't one of those things were you can just come up with an idea and do it immediately - it takes time to stage (and sometimes design and construct) what's needed in order to do it. At this point at least they're containing some of the oil (and finally forced them to own up to the fact that their leak estimate was too low), and the top kill attempt should be coming in the next few days. And while I'm all for having BP pay for the cleanup and suffer fines for any laws and regulations not obeyed, the government should only be pressing hard to have it fixed rather than taking over. I've got a feeling that the people most qualified to fix the problem work at BP, or at least in the industry. With all the money there is in that field, they certainly don't work for the government.

I have a sinking feeling that the court cases involved in this may just take about as long as it will for last effects of this spill to be seen.

[WeatherLovingDoc]

BP needs that second relief well successfully drilled, rig established and that huge oil reservoir drained for mega-profit reasons. If they cap the current leaks, it raises the question whether the US would allow them to drill again into the reservoir, given what has transpired and the environmental damage, life and jobs loss and entire ways of living perhaps gone forever. There would be huge American out pour against a second rig/well/collection due to a similar second blow out/problem, yes?

BP has an inherent incentive to let the first well leak continue on so they can get that second one drilled, up and running. I hate to point out the obvious, but it's $$$ true.

Sad.

[CajunMama]

I'm not sure how the oil escaped the booms around Grand Isle and made it on shore, but it's bad news for the entire coastline.

Kathy, how close are you to the marshlands and the surge zone? Because if there's a storm that pushes the oil into the marshes, that's a tinderbox for a massive fire sparked by swamp gas or lightning and I don't think anybody should be around that kind of fire. Seriously. I don't know if there is already a health hazard for people downwind of these chemical dispersants, but I doubt that the government will actually call for an evacuation of the entire region for something that could take years to bring under control. Think about Houston before Rita and then put the entire population of Florida including inland onto I-75....they won't call an evacuation. You need to study the hazards and what-ifs and be prepared to make a really gut wrenching decision if we hit a point of no return environmentally....

Phew! I finally figured out how to copy the image! This is the 72 hour forecast map. As for storm surge, i was 10 miles or less from rita's storm surge.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[Dencolo]

BP needs that second relief well successfully drilled, rig established and that huge oil reservoir drained for mega-profit reasons. If they cap the current leaks, it raises the question whether the US would allow them to drill again into the reservoir, given what has transpired and the environmental damage, life and jobs loss and entire ways of living perhaps gone forever. There would be huge American out pour against a second rig/well/collection due to a similar second blow out/problem, yes?

BP has an inherent incentive to let the first well leak continue on so they can get that second one drilled, up and running. I hate to point out the obvious, but it's $$$ true.

Sad.

Just to clear some things up, but the 2 relief wells being drilled right now have one purpose and one purpose only - to kill the current well. These relief wells themselves will be plugged after their work is done and never be put on production. No one has any incentive whatsoever to let the current well leak. Not BP, not the government, not anyone. BP is losing $10 milion a day while this well leaks and will lose billions in lawsuits. So the above statement is not obvious to me.

Personally I'm not writing off the top kill that they will try in a few days. However, if that does not work I think it will eventually require one of the relief wells to kill the well. I give the odds of the top kill working about 50-50.

[Sanibel]

Just to clear some things up, but the 2 relief wells being drilled right now have one purpose and one purpose only - to kill the current well. These relief wells themselves will be plugged after their work is done and never be put on production. No one has any incentive whatsoever to let the current well leak. Not BP, not the government, not anyone. BP is losing $10 milion a day while this well leaks and will lose billions in lawsuits. So the above statement is not obvious to me.

Personally I'm not writing off the top kill that they will try in a few days. However, if that does not work I think it will eventually require one of the relief wells to kill the well. I give the odds of the top kill working about 50-50.

I can't prove it because the situation is very technical, however, I think there is a minor amount of self-interest involved. In my opinion they could be getting more oil to the surface but aren't because it is too expensive. It could be cheaper for them to say it is too technical or deep to do anything and let the Gulf absorb it. They say they aren't trying to tap that oil jet from the Blowout Preventer because they might make the leak worse but I think pressure and sand-scouring are opening up that leak anyway. It's frustrating that BP is saying nothing about what they will do if that Blowout Preventer fully opens up. The Top Kill will probably do that anyway. I suspect it is more expensive for them to rig more tap pipes onto that leak and process it at the surface so they are just letting it flow into the Gulf.

[WeatherLovingDoc]

"...the 2 relief wells being drilled right now have one purpose and one purpose only - to kill the current well. These relief wells themselves will be plugged after their work is done and never be put on production."

Sorry then, I must have missed this comment in all the many BP newscasts about their ongoing efforts. So, good news then, drill into the multimillion barrel oil reserve with the sole intention of shutting down the leaking first well and then cap off the two relief wells as well. Game over for BP.

This gives me a sense of relief. I thank BP for their forward thinking on this point, given the reality of damage to our Gulf and its Peoples.

[Dencolo]

Right now BP says they are spending $10 million on this disaster. I assume more than $9MM is going to the cleanup (booms, burnings, shore cleanup, etc) and far less than $1 million is going to activities at the actual wellsite. So I would assume BP would want to do everything they could at the wellsite to prevent the massive quantities from escaping into the GOM, therefore costing them millions everyday in cleanup costs.

I agree that scouring is likely slowly eating away the restriction that the riser had on this well. This would allow for higher rates. However if this well is producing 20,000 bbls a day or more, it's pressure source is likely depleting. So rates may be about the same as initial - hard to say. BP is backing off the rates of oil they are bringing to the vessel. Don't know why, but I assume they are afraid of hydrates. If that line freezes up there right where they started at the beginning.

[Sanibel]

The well was a problem and trouble from the start:

By Kevin Spear, Orlando Sentinel
11:55 a.m. EDT, May 23, 2010

Oil company BP used a cheaper, quicker but potentially less dependable method to complete the drilling of the Deepwater Horizon well, according to several experts and documents obtained by the Orlando Sentinel.

"There are clear alternatives to the methods BP used that most engineers in the drilling business would consider much more reliable and safer," said F.E. Beck, a petroleum-engineering professor at Texas A&M University who testified recently before a U.S. Senate committee investigating BP's blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico.

He and other petroleum and drilling engineers who reviewed a log of the Deepwater Horizon's activities obtained by the Sentinel described BP's choice of well design as one in which the final phase called for a 13,293-foot-long length of permanent pipe, called "casing," to be locked in place with a single injection of cement that can often turn out to be problematic.

A different approach more commonly used in the hazardous geology of the Gulf involves installing a section of what the industry calls a "liner," then locking both the liner and a length of casing in place with one or, often, two cement jobs that are less prone to failure.

The BP well "is not a design we would use," said one veteran deep-water engineer, who would comment only if not identified because of his high-profile company's prohibition on speaking publicly about the April 20 explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon or the oil spill that started when the drilling rig sank two days later.

...

According to the Deepwater Horizon's well ticket, that struggle defined almost every foot of progress made by the rig — until the Gulf's geology finally won.

In late February, the rig was losing mud in a weak formation, according to the well ticket. Among the variety of tricks drillers have at their disposal when that happens, the most reliable is to continually reinforce a well with permanent sections of casing or with liner and cement. Deepwater Horizon did that nine times.

In early March, the rig experienced a double dose of trouble, according to the well ticket: The pressure of the underground petroleum temporarily overwhelmed the mud, triggering alarms on the rig. At nearly the same time, the rig's drill pipe and drill bit became stuck in the well.

Just one or the other of those occurrences would amount to a bad day for any rig.

Deepwater Horizon recovered, but only after losing hundreds of feet of drilling pipe — likely at an equipment cost of several million dollars — and losing nearly two weeks of rig time.

The rig then progressed an additional 4,955 feet before again losing mud to a weak formation.

By mid-April, Deepwater Horizon reached the well's total depth of 18,360 feet — more than 3 miles — where it again encountered a formation that swallowed mud.

Rig workers twice lowered measuring instruments connected to steel cable into the well. The tools should have passed smoothly to the bottom, but instead they hit obstacles near the bottom — more evidence of an unstable well.

[Aquawind]

Well this is not typical and clearly from the spill.. Tarballs on shrimp near the Keys!

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2010/may ... r-coated-/

[Sanibel]

The Loop Current is pinching-off and closing like it occasionally does. This should keep the main spill from reaching the Keys for a while. However it is only a matter of time before it inevitably ends up there. Especially since the leak is doing nothing but adding more oil by the day.