Transferring oil from broken well an option for BP

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Source: Associated Press

THEODORE, Ala. — The first of two relief wells being drilled to stop the Gulf oil gusher could be done by the end of the month, BP officials say, but if that doesn't succeed, one backup being considered is transferring the crude to non-producing underwater wells that are miles away.

BP would run the flow through pipelines across the floor of the Gulf of Mexico, said retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the Obama administration's point man on the crisis.

"That would take some construction and some time. It would probably move us into the late August timeframe," Allen said.

Still, the best hope to stop the spewing oil from the blown-out well a mile under the sea is the relief wells. Though officials said the first could be finished by the end of July, weeks ahead of schedule, they are quick to point out that such an optimistic timetable would require ideal conditions every step of the way.

That is something that has rarely happened since the leak began more than 2 1/2 months ago with the deadly explosion of the rig Deepwater Horizon 50 miles off the Louisiana coast.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gIXWYBTpLtSayJtg41LKXpxSxVPAD9GRDR602

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Call me crazy, but the idea of BP running pipelines across the floor of the gulf to siphon the oil from one reservoir to the other, scares me to death.

[Angry Dragon]

1. I believe there are hundreds of miles of pipes on the Gulf floor now

[Lone_Star_Dem]

4. Yes, there's I think something like 31000 miles of pipelines

It may be even more than that. My intelligent mind knows that, but my emotional mind is still concerned about them messing this up as well and causing even more destruction to the gulf.

[mbperrin]

2. If they could pull the flow into a pipeline on the bottom, they could

pull the flow into a tubing run going up. This is more smoke up our butts to make us think there are more options to consider, more time to stall.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

5. I tend to agree

I also think if they could have saved the oil they'd have tried to save the oil first. I worry that if these relief wells fail they know it's going to keep going until it drains down enough for the pressure to become something they can more easily manage. Which could take who knows how long. However, I admit I'm not in this field of work and don't know what is actually possible. I am just an average person stuck watching the gulf die while I sit by angry and helpless.

[mbperrin]

6. I worked in the wellhead business for 12 years, ending in the early 90s.

I installed equipment in the field, did troubleshooting, finally ended as an administrator. That does not make me a definitive anything, but I really did work on more than 1500 wells personally in that period, and it sounds to me like they have drilled into a much higher pressure formation than they were counting on.

A friend of mine still in the business says that the blowout preventer was rated at 20000 psi, but that well pressures may have been double that. If that's the case, even the relief wells may only be a partial answer.

[dipsydoodle]

8. When Dennis Kucinich

was interviewed he used the expression "unprecedented" when describing the size of the blowout at which point he was neither able to condemn nor excuse BP for that very reason and for that reason would not do so. That was a week or back. In the absense of any technical knmowledge I had wondered if the unforeseen scale was such that the BOP could not have coped anyway.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

9. Most of the people I've spoken to say the pressure of the well is likely beyond manageable levels

Which is why several of them don't hold as much hope for the relief wells. The one thing they all agree on is how the man in charge of the relief wells is the best in his field. I can't remember his name, but they said if it can be done on this well he's the man who can do it.

[Trajan]

16. I read a decidely anti-deep-water-drilling blog blurb recently ...

That mentions 100,000 psi .... That seems an extraordinary amount of pressure to me ... How does one 'control' pressures so high ? ...

The blog author was quite alarmed by those high pressures AND the level of gas present in the system ...

[mbperrin]

17. The highest current working pressure equipment is 60,000 psi.

API rated wellhead equipment actually does perform well within its specifications. 3,000# equipment must test and hold at 6000#, 5000# must test at 10,000#, 10 @ 15, 15 @ 22.5 and so on. I have seen accidents in the field, but they were never failures of properly maintained equipment.

I did watch a rig burn at Mentone, Texas, in 1981 when the blowout preventer seemed to fail. After the investigation, the repair company had failed to replace either set of rams, so it was just an empty vessel. That's not an equipment failure, that's people. I've also seen tubing fly out of the hole when the mud was too light, but that's an engineering miscalculation, or an attempt by a company man to skimp on mud expense.

I have been extremely worried about the lack of testing in these new offshore fields, because it does seem like pressures there are really irregular - I'm only speaking now as a friend of several people still working in the industry, not from any personal observation. But if they really have drilled into something beyond current design, that well is going to run away until enough gas has blown out to come down to workable pressures. I hope that's not the case, because that could literally take years.

In our own neck of the woods, the Permian Basin, we're just about drilled out - 100,000 wells now producing fewer than 10 barrels a day on average, but really cheap to pump up. I'm greatly encouraged by the hundreds of large wind generators springing up around us here, and I hope that we can abandon the search for ever scarcer petrocarbons as we switch to a different energy paradigm.

[Psephos]

12. Using a jerry-rigged vertical pipe vs. using a structurally-sound platform intended for the purpose.

How long is that jerry-rigged vertical pipe going to last in a hurricane? Even without any storms, the BOP and casing pipes are being eroded from within by grit in the oil. The oil is currently pressurized around 8000-9000 psi at seafloor surface (even more down-pipe). At that force, it acts a lot like a water jet saw. It's a matter of time before the casing pipe fails, and then the oil will penetrate the rock around the well beneath the seafloor, and bubble up in an area the size of a football field.

If the relief wells fail, using drilling platforms as a siphon base is far better than the house of cards they're using now.

[DCBob]

3. Sounds like they are prepping us for another failure..

I hope not but their track record is not good.

[PJPhreak]

10. The Gent in charge if the relief wells is John Wright of Boots and Coots

He is the best in da bidnezz,so far he is 40 fo 40.

[AtheistCrusader]

7. That doesn't explain how they intend to harness the end of that damn pipe

sticking out of the sea floor. This is no different than siphoning it up to a ship. You still need a pressure-capable seal on the end of that damn well head, that does not LEAK, before pumping the oil to a ship, another well, or straight up Heyward's ass for all I care.

[MiniMe]

11. Just goes to show you that BP's main objective is to get the oil out

Not to stop the flow of oil. I have thought that from the beginning when they were trying to capture the oil coming out. I would rather they captured it than have it spill into the Gulf, but if they put as much thought and money into stopping it as capturing what leaks the gusher may have been stopped by now.

[Psephos]

13. Each barrel of oil that might fetch them $70 will cost at least $500 or more in fines.

US government will assess fines of up to $1100 under the Clean Water Act for each barrel of oil spilled.

Additionally, each barrel of oil causes damage that is recoverable in court. Add another $500, at least...maybe a lot more.

That makes it at least $1500/bbl vs. $70/bbl. Not hard to see which has a bigger impact on the bottom line.

You still think their economic motivation is to "get the oil out"?

Please.

[Thor_MN]

14. A barrel they recover is a barrel NOT spilled

Are you saying that they are going to get fined for the oil they don't spill?

[Psephos]

15. That will be determined in court, one way or another.

That's one reason why having a good measurement of flow vs. capture rates is so important. What we read in the news is not a good measurement.

However, it's a side issue. There is an $1100 fine per barrel spilled that can be assessed, but the fines will be dwarfed by the tort awards. (I.e., by people suing for damages.)

Meanwhile, to clarify: the person I responded to claims that BP's principal motivation is to "get the oil out." In other words, to produce the well, rather than shut it down. To sell oil and make a profit.

My point is, that's nonsense. It's vastly more in BP's financial interests to shut the well down ASAP, and forget about producing it. Every barrel that spills is costing BP at least $1500...possibly a lot more. The well bore is compromised, the casing is shot and about to give, the down-hole conditions are catastrophic. No sane company would EVER think about trying to produce this well. They would do any and every thing to get it killed and keep it that way forever.

Even if stopped tomorrow, the spill will cost BP way more than if they produced the well until the reservoir ran dry and they sold every drop. WAY more. The reservoir holds 50 million bbl. 50 million x $70 = $3.5 billion. And that's a gross sales number, not adjusted for acquisition and production costs. The net number would be considerably less.

Some think the reservoir holds more than 50 million bbl. Ok, so double it. Triple it. Quadruple it. Quintuple it. Doesn't matter, the potential revenue can not cover even the escrow payment.

BP has already handed over $20 billion to the escrow fund. Already, it has cost them six times what they could of hoped to make by draining the reservoir dry and selling every drop.

That $20 billion is a down-payment. Who knows what the real cost to BP will total? A hell of a lot more than $20 billion, that's for sure.