BP unsure how much oil in reservoir in Gulf spill

[JCMach1]

Source: Gainesville Sun

BP spokesman John Curry says the company does not know how much oil is contained the vast reservoir nearly three miles beneath the seafloor.



Curry said Sunday that the company didn't have time to properly analyze how much was in the discovery well. He says if the oil rig had not exploded, BP PLC ultimately would have drilled another well to complete that analysis...

Read more: http://www.gainesville.com/article/20100530/ARTICLES/100539971/1156?Title=BP-unsure-how-much-oil-in-reservoir-in-Gulf-spill

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This is really not good :(

[gristy]

1. "does not know how much oil is contained the vast reservoir"

Well, of course they don't. I would not expect them to.

[dipsydoodle]

20. Some details here

The oil field the Deepwater Horizon had tapped is said to be the second largest deposit in the world. Viewzone.com reports, “The site covers an estimated 25,000 square miles, extending from the inlands of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Texas.

http://merriemarie.amplify.com/2010/05/25/bp-deepwater-horizon-tapping-second-largest-oil-deposit-in-the-world/

You'd find elsewhere that its composed of 10% oil and 90% gas.

[Nihil]

29. That is a seriously worrying ratio ...

> You'd find elsewhere that its composed of 10% oil and 90% gas.

You know those things about "sudden methane releases" that can
have such an impact at a global level ...?

:scared:

[Lagomorph]

27. "Vast" says enough....

LOL.

[metapunditedgy]

2. Bullshit. They certaonly have some estimate of the capacity of the reservoir.

I've seen estimates (big numbers) thrown around over at The Oil Drum. And nobody builds a $100M well with absolutely no field work to estimate what it will produce.

BP is so full of crap on this whole disaster. Of course they have some idea what's down there, even if they don't know exactly.

[Divine Discontent]

3. their bloody fingers want back in that hole if they can! it's probably a huge one or they wouldn't

have went after it to begin with. They care NOTHING about how many die, because they are collectively "a company", and they want profit - and they'll continue making profit no matter what happens, and that's sick. They need taken over by the govt and their assets need to be used to recover from this massive disaster they caused.

[pengillian101]

9. I am in agreement!

Send in the Coast Guard with untied hands and let them FIX this!

(edit for spelling)

[wordpix]

23. +1 they're definitely losing the huge profits with this reservoir, whatever it holds

[TheEuclideanOne]

5. If they don't know, there is your answer

It is clearly a given that they do know, the scary thing is that they won't say. If the answer was not "a shitload of oil", they would at least give an estimate.

I do have a question that I have been wondering about for a while, and maybe somebody knows. My understanding is that the accident happened when they were shutting down the well. Why would they be shutting it down if there was so much oil left?

[obxhead]

6. My understanding is that it was an exploratory well and

that it was being temporarily plugged to move in the proper equipment to begin the actual production phase of the well.

Thats my understanding. If I'm wrong I would truly like to have it explained to me properly as well so that I do not continue further misinformation.

[TheEuclideanOne]

8. Well, if you are correct, than that makes there answer even more difficult to believe

So what they are saying is that they just finished their exploratory phase, but have no idea what the results were? "Yeah, that's a good one"

[obxhead]

10. no no

I was answering why they were shutting down the well. I guess exploratory was possibly the wrong word. They knew what was there, this was the initial drilling, and the were capping the well temporarily to move in the proper production equipment.

How much time and money BP was saving in that transition from drilling to production by taking shortcuts is another great question.

I believe BP has a very good idea of what's down there and refuse to say because it would be one more number to add to the equation of the actual spillage total.

[metapunditedgy]

14. Evidence is already surfacing that BP (and Transocean) cut a lot of corners,

if the posts over on TheOilDrum are to be believed.

BP's only way out of this is to subvert justice. Of course, that strategy usually works pretty well for American corporations.

I think it's really important that the Justice Dept. go after the execs and other responsible parties. No more "big fines" for mega-corporations. Put people in jail and take away their ill-gotten fortunes, and things will start to change. I keep harping on this because I believe it's the only way.

[obxhead]

16. well said,

heads must roll for there to be change.

[TheEuclideanOne]

18. If they rolled in 1979, we would not be chatting about this right now.

All of those Rethugs who keep talking about their grandchildren would certainly agree, right? (I am here on all week. Please tip your waitstaff)

[time_has_come]

21. I dont' know about "exploratory." The DWHorizen was the driller.

It drilled to the oil, reached it, was supposed to plug/cap the hole and move off to make more holes elsewhere while an oil pumping rig (not that this shit requires pumping) would take over.

But yeah, whatever the case they have an estimate, and it's big.

[bhikkhu]

7. A well gets temporarily capped after its completed

until the production infrastructure is all in place.

[JCMach1]

11. That is part of the lies oil tells- everything is guestimated...

It is a science, but a VERY uncertain one.

[felinetta]

22. Another fat lie. They don't dare tell the truth about this.

[BelgianMadCow]

28. iirc from the oildrum - tens of millions of barrels at the least

so 400 million + gallons.

It should be much, much more - otherwise, like 5-10% of the reservoir would be gone by now (2-4 times Exxon Valdez), impossible since then it would also dry up in 10 months - highly doubt that, unsure of typical stay time however.

[Botany]

4. oh please

they have no data as to proven or recoverable reserve in the formation they were drilling into?

[JCMach1]

12. Estimates are for investors... I am sure they only know there is

a lot... i.e. to justify the drilling investment.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

13. Another CYA statement for BiggestPolluter.

Lying sacks.

[dogfacedboy]

15. Bullshit, Curry! You are a lying piece of shit!

And a big "GO FUCK YOUR MOTHER" to everyone in BP management!
Seize BP's U.S. funds, and send this foreign scum outfit packing.
No lawsuits; no "legal recourse" for BP!
GET THE FUCK OFF U.S. SOIL!!!

[PSPS]

17. The shocker is that such a question and its answer was reported.

This means that they are either contemplating or, worse, building up to the horrible revelation that the entire reservoir will end up in the Gulf.

[AmericaIsGreat]

19. 50 million barrels

Is what a BBC presentation had yesterday while talking about the spill. Don't know where that's from or how accurate, but that's what they had.

[Barrett808]

31. I've also seen that number elsewhere -- 2.1 billion gallons. n/t

[ProudDad]

24. Deepwater Horizon: This Is What the End of the Oil Age Looks Like

"But the following should be an even clearer conclusion from all that has happened, and that is still unfolding: This is what the end of the oil age looks like. The cheap, easy petroleum is gone; from now on, we will pay steadily more and more for what we put in our gas tanks—more not just in dollars, but in lives and health, in a failed foreign policy that spawns foreign wars and military occupations, and in the lost integrity of the biological systems that sustain life on this planet."

http://www.postcarbon.org/blog-post/102326-deepwater-horizon-this-is-what-the

www.transitionus.org

[defendandprotect]

26. If we're as stupid and insane as Deepwater and BP we will continue on with oil. . . .

If we have any brains whatsoever we will move to alternative fuels and stop

burning fossil fuels --

which may, after all, be the very ballast of our planet!!



And, in that connection, keep in mind that the dams and reservoirs the Army Corps of

Engineers built since the 1950's are "IMPACTING THE ROTATION OF THE EARTH" -- !!!

According to a NY Times report quite some years ago. A flurry of knock down the dams

was ongoing for a while and then seemed to stop.

[defendandprotect]

25. Could this keep pouring out oil for a year?

[Hempathy]

30. If left to spew, it would pour out oil beyond all of our lifetimes.

There's a lot of oil down there, and it would take a long time for it all to come out one small drill hole.

[subsuelo]

32. Liars. n/t