GOM Oil Spill - BP Stops Oil Leak

[Aquawind]

I am a little surprised this thread is not more active on a very important night for more than just the USA. The alternative fix is months away... Looks like the camera shot cleared up but, there are more holes leaking than before either way..

[CajunMama]

Someone on The Oil Drum caught the period of when the water turned murkey

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZFD_Ay6F9s[/youtube]

[Aquawind]

Hopefully just ROV bumping of the bottom..

[Sanibel]

I think the pressure would have damaged the Blowout Preventer by now if it was going to fail suddenly. So that is good news anyway.


I also think the muddy oil you see coming out of the Blowout Preventer is also working its way downward. They said it would take ten hours to reach 1000 feet. What happens is the weight of the heavy oil/mud works against the pressure and eventually the mud thickens and chokes off the flow.

They estimated the opening between the partially deployed shear jaws was a 1/2 inch but from the mud coming out it looks like it could be more.

[somethingfunny]

I'm not an expert so I can't really post a whole lot to contribute positively to this thread...there are plenty of angry comments I could make but they'd all be about blame, idiots in charge, and how hopeless this situation seems to be.

I like following disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes because there's nobody to get angry at, nobody to blame for them. We fight them and try to predict them, mitigate the damage and rebuild....it's incredibly complex, yet simple in the way that our enemy is completely blameless. Man-made disasters like this oil spill are just as devastating as a hurricane, but also completely infuriating because we know they could have been prevented.

Since I don't want to derail this informative thread into a political nightmare, all I can say is I'm so sickened by what's going on that I've got to be numbed to the news until it all ends and I can then take in the final damage toll.

[WeatherLovingDoc]

Good Morning, and saying that truly wishing the BP Top Kill news today will indeed bring GREAT news.

The BOP pictures still show flow of something, how much is mud vs other is the question. I can't tell much on the rate of flow as opposed to yesterday afternoon.

Here is what Reuters is reporting BP said 6 hours in to the infusion process:
BP exec: Appears only drilling mud flowing from well
Wed May 26, 2010 8:52pm EDT

HOUSTON, May 26 (Reuters) - BP Plc (BP.L) (BP.N) Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said on Wednesday it appears drilling mud, not oil, was gushing from a ruptured undersea well six hours into an effort to halt a month-old oil spill.
"What you've been observing coming out of the top of that riser is most likely mud," Suttles said at a news conference broadcast from a Louisiana command center. "We can't fully confirm that because we can't sample it. And the way we know we've been successful is it stops flowing."

And from CNN:
"Venice, Louisiana (CNN) -- BP officials may know by Thursday afternoon whether the oil company's latest attempt to cap the runaway leak in the Gulf of Mexico is yielding results.

"I think we just need to take the next 24 hours and actually see what the results are," said BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles from Robert, Louisiana.

The operation, known as a "top kill," that began Wednesday afternoon was going according to plan, he said, with drilling mud being applied to the well at a rate of up to 65 barrels per minute."

Today's a big day for all of us. As the rest of you, I'm very hopeful for success.

WLD

[WeatherLovingDoc]

Live links currently:

http://www.cnn.com/video/flashLive/live.html?stream=stream2&hpt=T2

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6511

[brunota2003]

65 barrels per minute??? How much pressure is that?

[Skyhawk]

65 barrels per minute??? How much pressure is that?

It depends on how much mud is in the hole. The more mud the less pressure required.
How the pressure changes at the BOP is an indicator of progress or non-progress.

[Sanibel]

Edit.


Pressure must not have gone down as they said.

[angelwing]

Ummmmm...not so fast

APNewsBreak: New, giant sea oil plume seen in Gulf



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100527/ap_ ... ew_plume_1

[WeatherLovingDoc]

Reuters: BP oil well "top kill" bid continues, no update yet‎

HOUSTON/MIAMI, May 27 (Reuters) - BP (BP.L) is continuing with its "top kill" operation to try to plug its leaking Gulf of Mexico oil well but has no immediate update to give on whether it has succeeded, a BP spokesman said on Thursday.

Spokesman David Nicholas was responding to a Los Angeles Times report that had quoted a U.S. Coast Guard admiral leading the oil spill response as saying the top kill procedure had succeeded in blocking the leak.

"The top kill operation continues, there are no operational updates," Nicholas told Reuters.

He could not say when the next progress report would be given but recalled that BP executives had said it could take up to two days to tell whether the top kill operation, which started on Wednesday, had worked.

The oil spill response unified command, which includes both BP and the Coast Guard, said it could not confirm or deny the Latimes.com report, which cited Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen.

BP shares were up more than 5 percent in London trading.

Allen told National Public Radio that BP engineers had "been able to force mud down and not allow any hydrocarbons to come up." But he added this did not mean the well was sealed or that the problem was solved.

The top kill attempt, which has been underway for more than 20 hours, involves pumping heavy drilling fluids into the top of the well to try to halt the oil flow. If it succeeds in doing this, cement would then be injected to cap the well.

BP Managing Director Robert Dudley said earlier on Thursday the procedure was "moving the way we want it to." But he told NBC's "Today Show" it was too early to say whether it had been successful."

[x-y-no]

Looking hopeful. My biggest worry was that the extra pressure would cause some new breach, but that hasn't happened thank God.

[WeatherLovingDoc]

Setback Delays ‘Top Kill’ Effort to Seal Leaking Oil Well in Gulf

" BP had to halt its ambitious effort to plug its stricken oil well in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday afternoon when engineers saw that too much of the drilling fluid they were injecting into the well was escaping along with the leaking crude oil.

A technician at the BP command center said that pumping of the fluid had to be stopped temporarily while engineers were revising their plans, and that the company hoped to resume pumping by midnight, if federal officials approved.

The technician, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters, said the problem was not seen as serious. “We’re still quite optimistic,” he said, but cautioned: “It is not assured and its not a done deal yet. All of this will require some time.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/28/us/28spill.html?hp

Plus New Link to Ongoing Oil Drum commentary:
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6516

[Skyhawk]

As I understand it BP stopped pumping at 11 last night. Since the well was not under control at that time, all the mud in the well bore has subsequently been blown out, i.e. the attempt failed. It had failed well before the government announced it had succeeded!

[WeatherLovingDoc]

How disappointing: it appears the majority of the mud did not fill the pipe below the BOP, but rather went into the GOM. Here is a repost from Rockman on the Oil Drum that succinctly describes problems with an ACTIVELY leaking well " top kill" attempt:

"As you probably guessed the rest of the mud went into the GOM.

And everyone: you can stop taking about BP pumping cement into the hole to plug the well. I know it's difficult for most to envision what's going on down there. But this isn't a simplification of the situation: you have a pipe sticking straight up the air and it's flowing 10 gallons per minute out the top. You stick a tube down the pipe and start pumping cement. Question: how long for the cement to harden? Answer: never. The cement is going to mix with the water and flow out the end of the pipe. Honest...I didn't dumb down this example. That's exactly what would happen if the pumped cmt down the blow out if it were still flowing. No one has ever set a cement plug into a flowing well in the history of the oil business. But you can shove a packer down a producing csg string and stop or at least slow a flow considerably. But can't shove a packer down this hole: can't get it through the BOP. And if you could there's drill pipe in the way.

Sorry to be such a downer..."

And from poster aliilaali:

"what has happened essentially is

Top Kill Attempt No 1 failed last night....they pumped 30000 bbl of kill mud in 10 hrs ......thats 50 bbl per min ....or 2100 gal per min .....and if they really had to go upto 2100 gal per min to jam the mud downhole that means they are loosing a lot of kill fluid through the leaks and not enough is making its way downhole or they are loosing ti all in the formation..

going forward for top kill attempt no 2

the only thing left to even try is ....pump junk in the BOP ....hope a few pieces stick and provide enough coverage on the leaks that when they pump mud again it goes downhole....this is the only logical attempt they have

we are in 10% or less success chances range here folks...no mistake"

WLD

[Stephanie]

What about an underwater explosion? Wouldn't that cause the earth to fall unto itself around the well and plug it? I know that there are plenty of consequences that need to be considered before doing this and would it work?

[WeatherLovingDoc]

I read about that question on the Oil Drum Stephanie and apparently the seabed (floor) is softer than most realize, firm pudding-like consistency, and may cave in and draw adjacent areas in too if exploded, forming even more holes (unlike firmer or hard substances like mountain rock). Then there is the problem of even getting an explosive device down the BOP, pipes etc...Consensus was pretty much it would wreck havoc.

Maybe more knowledgeable people than I might comment about this.

[Stephanie]

Thanks for relaying what Oil Drum said.

[Sanibel]

Bad information was relayed saying the pressure was way down.


The cracks in the Riser coming out of the Blowout Preventer are too big to allow the back-pressure needed to force the mud down the well.


They never bothered to tell us a top kill has never worked on a flowing well.