Official: Seep Found Near Well

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Official: Seep Found Near Well
Officials Overseeing Gulf Disaster Now Pondering Next Step
COLLEEN LONG, Associated Press Writers
POSTED: 7:33 am EDT July 18, 2010
UPDATED: 5:50 pm EDT July 18, 2010

NEW ORLEANS --
A federal official said Sunday that scientists are concerned about a seep and possible methane seen near BP's busted oil well in the Gulf of Mexico.

Both could be signs there are leaks in the well that's been capped off for three days.

The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Sunday because an announcement about the next steps had not yet been made.

The official would not clarify what was seeping near the well. The official said BP was not complying with the government's demand for more monitoring. BP spokesman Mark Salt declined to comment on the allegation, but said "we continue to work very closely with all government scientists on this."

Read more: http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/money/24299755/detail.html

[gateley]

1. I'm glad they're keeping an eye on it. I'm interested to see how

they'll proceed with this info. Thanks.

[bobburgster]

83. Hmmm, the Obama administration doing something right?

Glad there are some willing to point that out on here. Thanks :)

[drm604]

2. I hope they are successful with one of those relief wells soon.

I've been skeptical of this "fix".

[patrice]

3. I was wondering why they don't want to do anything with the capped-off well, like bring it into pro

duction.

[LawnKorn]

7. Oh Noze! The well is seeping. We will just have to pump all the oil into tankers now ... and sell it

BP has the well head under control now. They can throttle the flow of oil, and even shut it off when they are exchanging a full tanker for an empty one.

The money grubbers at BP just want to make a few million dollars off of the well before they kill it. The Government should confiscate every drop of oil they pump into tankers.

[Schema Thing]

32. yeah they should, but they should also make the well produce

it's full amount for next few years, with every penny going to gulf restoration, damage mitigation, and deepwater drilling safety.

[kirby]

37. Let me repeat for the 100th time...

All oil proceeds collected goes to National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

39. How can we be sure this is happening or going to happen?

[liberation]

46. It is not like BP would ever lie, right?

I mean, they have been model citizens during this whole ordeal. Plus corporations have no incentive at all to forfeit their profit proposition or anything.


There is nothing more trustworthy than a sociopath, especially when they talk about displays of empathy and remorse.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

81. exactly

i dont buy this act of goodwill or whatever they think it conveys...

[bergie321]

44. Is that why

They are burning all of it?

[kirby]

66. They are not burning all of it...

They did not have capacity to capture all of it so they are burning some of it. Them not profiting from it probably
removes the incentive to capture as much of it as quickly, but it is no excuse for people to just make shit up around here.

Over the past month more and more ships with storage capability have come online reducing the amount burned.

For example, on July 9th:

" BP said it retrieved 12,070 barrels of oil during the first 12 hours of Friday, 7,930 barrels of which was collected and 4,140 barrels of which was flared. "

[eowyn_of_rohan]

89. So they haven't burned any of it to keep it from going to shore

so people won't see how much is really out there? oh - and did they give a shit that they burned countless animals alive in the sargassum, without allowing people to rescue them? I know that is a different issue but I have to mention it.

And regarding amounts of oil retrieved, burned, or spewing, they have lied before, so what "BP SAID" doesn't mean a whole lot to many people anymore.

[jmowreader]

54. Well, what the hell else do you want to do with it?

You want to keep on dumping the shit into the ocean? I have NO problem with them selling the oil, seeing as how they owe a cubic shitload of money for Gulf restoration and need to get it from somewhere. I do, however, have a problem with them selling it and pocketing the proceeds.

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. "BP was not complying with the government's demand for more monitoring."

:wtf: :wtf:


guess just "the small people" have to follow rules and laws.

[gateley]

6. By this point you'd think we'd have people GLUED to the BP people

knowing what they were doing -- and not doing -- every damn minute.

[another saigon]

11. just goes to show

we do not live in a democracy. Any one who still has doubts is in denial.

CORPORATIONS RULE!!!

[slackmaster]

13. That seep wouldn't have dared to happen if government overseers were micromanaging the operation

That oil and gas would have just stayed where it belongs.

[tex-wyo-dem]

40. From your post it appears you have...

Complete confidence in BP's intentions of being completly forthright with all information, even though that information may hurt their stock price and bottom line.

Sometimes I wish I could live in that world, but then the hallucinogenics wear off.

[slackmaster]

41. Straw Man Fallacy

Description of Straw Man

The Straw Man fallacy is committed when a person simply ignores a person's actual position and substitutes a distorted, exaggerated or misrepresented version of that position. This sort of "reasoning" has the following pattern:

1. Person A has position X.
2. Person B presents position Y (which is a distorted version of X).
3. Person B attacks position Y.
4. Therefore X is false/incorrect/flawed.

This sort of "reasoning" is fallacious because attacking a distorted version of a position simply does not constitute an attack on the position itself. One might as well expect an attack on a poor drawing of a person to hurt the person.
Examples of Straw Man

1. Prof. Jones: "The university just cut our yearly budget by $10,000."
Prof. Smith: "What are we going to do?"
Prof. Brown: "I think we should eliminate one of the teaching assistant positions. That would take care of it."
Prof. Jones: "We could reduce our scheduled raises instead."
Prof. Brown: " I can't understand why you want to bleed us dry like that, Jones."

2. "Senator Jones says that we should not fund the attack submarine program. I disagree entirely. I can't understand why he wants to leave us defenseless like that."

3. Bill and Jill are arguing about cleaning out their closets:
Jill: "We should clean out the closets. They are getting a bit messy."
Bill: "Why, we just went through those closets last year. Do we have to clean them out everyday?"
Jill: "I never said anything about cleaning them out every day. You just want too keep all your junk forever, which is just ridiculous."

http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/straw-man.html

[axollot]

95. No kidding. Always said that world must be nice....

speaking of that world. Since we've been roasting our arses off lately - I want all the AGW people to apologize for their comments over winter. Australia is freezing now. Luckily they do not have Rash or Beckkk

Cheers
Sandy

[ronnie624]

48. I think you misunderstood the other poster.

Like me, she just seems disgusted by watching the U.S. government wheedle, "pretty please", of the almighty BP.

[Trajan]

57. What nonsense

BP represents it's own interests and ONLY it's own interests ...

WE need (That is ALL citizens) need to have independent verification of the actions occurring at the wellhead ...

Is there an 'Oil corporation sycophants' forum in DU ?

Oh wait .. it's all about how government FAILS at everything it tries to do ... so let the wolves mind the henhouse ...

uh huh ... Fucking government .... Dontcha hate'm ?

(:sarcasm: for me .. TRUTH for you)

FACT: the area around the wellhead has apparent fissures and rents in the seafloor that could be leaking due to the great pressures within the reservoir, on the order of 50 tons PSI ...

But hey ... why look ? .... Lets just believe the bastards that broke it ...

Fuck that ...

[The Green Manalishi]

33. I don't think we ever has.

It's been a corporate oligarchy with 'democratic' trappings at least since Ike, arguably since the railroad could 'railroad' people off their land. Basically we get Democratic and Republican flavored oligarchs who throw occasional slabs of red meat such and civil rights or low taxes respectively to the proles.

[another saigon]

35. I agree completely

What is surprising is that still, after all of the exposure of the oligarchs, americans still bleed RW&B.

[liberation]

49. It has been an oligarchy since day 1.

Was there a single founding father who was poor, or of a humble standing?

[The Green Manalishi]

64. Franklin started pretty poor.

But he retired wealthy, (mostly) loved and famous by 40.

[lark]

88. Thad Allen is a BP stooge

but for some reason Obama trusts him?? Don't understand what's going on with this.

[Nihil]

101. There's a reason for that ...

> Don't understand what's going on with this.

... and the reason is that you're f*cking stupid.

Allen isn't a stooge but you are incapable of thinking beyond the
trivial "Team America Fuck Yeah" level so that's why you are
having a problem.

:eyes:

[bertman]

5. Rec. nt.

[Snarkoleptic]

8. Hope the relief well can put a permanent stop to this.

Also, hate to be the word police but...
When did it become acceptable for the word "busted" to be used in describing anything that's failed/broken/inoperative?
"...possible methane seen near BP's busted oil well in the Gulf of Mexico."

Is this the best our journalists can do?

[Igel]

36. Oh, no!

It's an uprising by the linguistic underclass.

Eh. It's informal. In a society in which much formal stuff is sniffed at contemptuously by the sniffing elite it's only natural that informal variants come to be considered more formal than the originally formal varieties.

I'm vaguely grateful that the merger of preterite and past passive participial forms that's on-going (although differently in different parts of the US) didn't simply yield "bust" instead of "busted." Then again, that merger seems to appear more when adjectives are used predicatively than when they're used attributively.

[swag]

9. Poo.

[jaxx]

10. Might be relevant :

*Does anyone know what Skandi 2 is collecting or watching? Darned if I can read the ops legend against that silvery background.

*It is zoomed in really, really close on the gas collection being done right next to the wellhead. It is collecting into what looks like an inverted tin funnel when seen in its entirety.

*"Gas Monitoring". It is sampling the tiny bubbles which they are fairly certain are just normal and probably nitrogen bubbles from cement which has recently been temperature cycled (and are seen on other wells) but they want a sample just to be absolutely certain. That's what has been said at briefings.

2:45pm http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6745#comments_top

[gateley]

12. Good point about no evidence (as of yesterday?) of methane hydrate,

so it will be interesting to see what's up.

[lob1]

14. 2 or 3 weeks ago they found a 2nd leak that was much

bigger than the broken cap. I haven't heard anything about it after they verified its existence. Could this "seep" have anything to do with that?

A second point. "we continue to work very closely with all government scientists on this". My understand is that BP won't let scientists anywhere near anything. Is that just more lying BP PR?

[PJPhreak]

23. "2 or 3 weeks ago they found a 2nd leak that was much...

bigger than the broken cap. I haven't heard anything about it after they verified its existence. Could this "seep" have anything to do with that?"

Link to this story Please?

[lob1]

25. I didn't have any links, so I googled DU for

"2nd oil leak (or plume} in Gulf". There are a whole bunch of OP's about it. I just grabbed these two. Google it if you want to read more.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x539243

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4418170

[PJPhreak]

55. Matt Simmons,Oh Him...

You are speaking of the dude who Shorted BP Stock then claimed that the BOP was pulled outta the GOM Floor,Dragged six miles,restuck itself back in the floor of the GOM,and then started automagically spewing oil while leaving a Oilcano six miles away,all the while the BP Mercado Well #2 at Mississippi Canyon sits on a "Bubble of Methane the size of Mt Everest"

That matt Simmons?

Debunked at length at "The Oil Drum" Here... http://www.theoildrum.com/

Edit to Add:

It appears the rig was damaged from Ivan in 2004 and may have been leaking since then

Diamond Offshore spokesman Gary Krenek tells us his company was hired by Taylor Energy to "plug and abandon" the existing well. He declined to comment on the reported leak.

The rig was damaged by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, according to Times Picayune. However, Diamond Offshore tells us, however, it was not hired to close the well until 2009. We're waiting on Taylor and NOAA for an statement on how long and how much oil has been leaking.

Damaged in 2004...unrelated,From one of the posts in the Thread link You posted...Debunked!

[redirish28]

15. If it isn't possible methane but ACTUAL methane in the area we need to

worry about a possible implosion and the effects of that.

[Uncle Joe]

16. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Judi Lynn.

[activa8tr]

17. I am just SO DAMN DEPRESSED by this whole event that I just

tune out, turn it off. We know private corporations are raping the world to make obscene profits.
We know our government is totally clueless after 8 years of Bush, and we know Obama can't actually make a difference.

We just have to hope we don't pollute the entire 7 seas of the world permanently, and that the Gulf will come back to near normal in 5 to 10 years.

Other than that, I give up. We need a government to control and protect us, and in order to do that we have to get rid of all Republicans who are all about protecting their wealth at whatever cost.

[aquart]

18. How come Bush was able to make such a huge difference, but you say Obama can't?

Bull cookies. Pasture pastry. Barn buns.

[activa8tr]

20. A bull in a china shop can make a big difference with the china, but

few people can put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

I'm not insulting Obama, I love the man and am one of his most active supporters. But not even Superman can clean up this mess.

Did you misunderstand me?

[piedmont]

43. Republicans are the agents of entropy, in other words. nt

[aquart]

47. Good analogy.

I will honor you by stealing it.

[activa8tr]

79. Be my guest. Actually I think a bull in a china shop is less damaging

than Bush2 was to our nation.

[truedelphi]

19. If it was simply a matter of the Republicans screwing us over, we would not have to worry.

But the Dems have controlled the House and the Senate for four years, and they now have the WH.

However, everything remains the same - Financial situation is firmly in control of the Big Players on Wall Street, who are very good buddies with Bernanke and Geithner.

Big Pharma and Big Insurers wrote the health Insurance "Reform" bill. Although that "Reform" offers some relief, the fact remains that the Big Insurers have inflated their prices, in some cases as much as 30% right before this bill went into effect. The result is that many Americans will never really have health care - they will be mandated to pay premiums, co-pays and then an additional fifteen to twenty percent of the cost of any major procedures. (While millions of us in the fifty to sixty years of age arena cannot get work because who in the world will employ someone if it means 50 to 100% more in premiums than would cost them to employ someone younger and perkier?)

Meanwhile BP is in charge of things in the Gulf, and even in places where it could make headway, government agencies such as the Army Corp of Engineers take weeks to review measures that BP would fund and that would help save the LA coasts and estuaries and marshes.

And then there is the whole matter of BP squashing the American right of freedom of the press, with this Administration saying nothing about how our need to know is being wiped out by the same company that caused the Oil Catastrophe.

[activa8tr]

21. True DAT! Yeah, Republicons are not our only enemy, but

they sure are in no mood to help regulate oil pharma and banks.

[demoncrat]

22. according to plan

Just a matter of time til they hook up a line to the well head and send some more oil topside. thats the plan.Or thats what I would do.

[truedelphi]

99. Welcome to DU, demoncrat

And congrats on your first post.

[obxhead]

97. That's EXACTLY what the oil industry wants.

If the public tunes out or moves on it means the government won't have to do anything like create meaningful regulation.

I find that to be an complete failure.

[cwydro]

24. Seep? Seep?

What does this mean in BP speak?

I remember when 150 thousand gallons a day was considered a leak...

Seep?

God help us and god help the poor creatures of the Gulf.

[profgoose]

26. The Oil Drum: Today's Threads...

BP's Deepwater Oil Spill - Concern about Seeps and Pressure (PM Open Thread)

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6746

BP's Deepwater Oil Spill - Taking it Day by Day (AM Open Thread)

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6745

The 50-year farm bill

http://campfire.theoildrum.com/node/6728

Drumbeat: July 18, 2010

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6744

BP's Deepwater Oil Spill - Test to Continue Another 24 Hours - and Open Thread (Saturday pm)

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6742

[IndianaGreen]

27. Thanks for the links, profgoose!

This is the doomsday scenario!

[profgoose]

28. let's really hope this stays a scenario and they are just being cautious...plz, plz, plz

seriously...this would be horrifying.

[bluerum]

29. Color me shocked.

I want to believe.

[alp227]

30. Oh great...here we go again

There's no doubt that things could go kerplooie again just as I heard when the well was first plugged.

[MissDeeds]

31. So very sorry to hear this

I was afraid the capping was too good to be true. Damnit.

[dgibby]

34. It would appear Matthew Simmons was right after all.

He said there was another leak or leaks.

http://usgulfoilspill.com/gulf-oil-spill-videos/matt-simmons-on-the-gulf-oil-disaster-another-leak-flv/

[profgoose]

51. we're pretty far from that evidence-wise...

not saying it's not what's happening...but right now, we don't know anything other than there's a seep. Simmons has said that there's something going on miles away that is gushing more than the wellhead. We have no proof of that yet.

don't lose your crap yet folks, this may just be a minor snafu--or it may be really bad. let's try to figure out what we know first.

[truedelphi]

102. Thank you for the link to Matt SImons. n/t

[NickB79]

38. Is it time for the nuclear option yet?

If the sea floor itself is cracked and leaking, what options do we have for sealing it now?

[slackmaster]

87. Killing the well from the bottom will fix the problem

This isn't "Crack in the World".

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059065/

[eowyn_of_rohan]

90. yeah GREAT idea - sea floor leaking? Let's NUKE it!

[Poll_Blind]

42. Ok, nuts in throat time: Seep discovered "a distance from the well".

Per this information reposted at The Oil Drum.

I don't know how this could mean anything but that there is/was substantial damage to the well downpipe and either the seepage has been occurring all along (albeit at a lowered rate because it was able to escape from the well-head) or the extra pressure has ruptured and already-weakened portion of the well somewhere, again, downpipe.

The anomalies at the well-head I could almost not give a shit about although those are certainly concerning in any other relative context.

I'm worried about a mother-fucking chunk of the sea bed starting to spew oil cause you can't cap that.

I applaud the government asking for how to open the motherfucker up as quick as possible in a safe manner if something looks like it's going to go down like that. This is the right thing to be thinking right now.

At this point if BP is foot-dragging or being in any way uncooperative I have no problem with armed U.S. servicemen present 24/7 in wherever the control center is to make sure if the U.S. government wants something done it gets done.

I realize the U.S. government is not the expert here but in comparison, they're not the negligent corporateers: BP is.

PB

[Nihil]

82. Yeah, that's been a recipe for success over the last century or so ...

> I have no problem with armed U.S. servicemen present 24/7 in wherever the
> control center is to make sure if the U.S. government wants something done
> it gets done.

Just what a stressful situation needs: armed meatheads ...

:eyes:

[Poll_Blind]

84. I totally agree but when, on one hand, I've got ignorant government and...

...on the other, evil corporation, I'm siding with ignorant government. At least in this instance.

The problem is, as some had commented at the Oil Drum, there is or was a little tug of war between the government and BP about what to do with the well cap. BP only has BP's interests at heart, and as they've shown before, they're willing to do amazingly dangerous/stupid things in what they perceive to be defense of that interest.

That's the problem, IMO. Still can't trust BP to cause a much bigger problem in an attempt to shave a billion of their total bill.

PB

[Nihil]

100. Fair comment. (n/t)

:shrug:

[Kablooie]

45. I think this means that if the well remains capped it could force a blowout somewhere else.

If a blowout happens around the base I heard that there is no known technology to stop it.

[grahamhgreen]

50. Shut it in.

[Old Vet]

52. From what Ive read................

Should the correct pressure be reached, A small town block could blow-out of the ocean floor. Well talk about getting serious about those relief wells, Last I heard there within a 100ft.

[dipsydoodle]

53. Rec n/t

.

[DCBob]

56. Its possible this is just a natural seep.. there are numerous natural seeps in the Gulf..

and they tend, of course, to be near oil deposits. But of course they should take this seriously and make sure it is not related to this well.

http://geology.com/nasa/oil-seeps/

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/01/000127082228.htm

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=unlike-bps-natural-oil-seeps

[tclambert]

59. I'm sure the BP flacks will SAY it is a natural seep.

Then a few days later, the media will report a massive oil plume. Then experts will talk about the possibility of damaged pipe below the seafloor, and the effect of oil under extreme pressure eroding and further cracking the area around this inaccessible leak. The only solution, they will say, is a relief well. BUT, a relief well is trickier than they've been telling us. They basically have to intersect the existing well below the damaged spot.

This story may have a few twists yet.

[DCBob]

61. No doubt there are some "twists" left to go but I hope your scenario does not play out..

that would not be good for anyone.

[Greg in Cheeseland]

58. Seep has been recorded on video

The so-called "seep" could be leaking from many fissures both near the capped well and even miles away. The pressure never hit 8000-9000 psi in the integrity tests, which would assure that well is properly capped. It peaked at about 6700 psi, which suggests there may be other leaks. There are a series of videos that clearly show leakage from fissures in the seabed. You can view them in this article: http://www.examiner.com/x-23316-Madison-Independent-Examiner~y2010m7d19-Videos-confirm-additional-leaks-reported-in-seabed-near-capped-well. While the well itself may be capped, the reality is that the oil leak is not fixed, only shifted away from the well head cameras and the light of the media, where it is hoped Americans will not notice it.

[DCBob]

60. Actually the pressure has not peaked.. it is still going up.. slowly..

The lower than expected pressure readings could be do to partial depletion. I dont trust BP, but you have to keep it real regardless.

[Odin2005]

62. Aw, SHIT!

[Baclava]

63. Thad Allen statement released - well integrity test will continue another 24 hrs

July 19, 2010
Statement by National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen:

"Yesterday I sent BP a letter stating that there were a number of unanswered questions about the monitoring systems they committed to as a condition of the US government extending the well integrity test. Last night a conference call between the federal science team and BP representatives was convened to discuss some specific issues, including the detection of a seep near the well and the possible observation of methane over the well. During the conversation, the federal science team got the answers they were seeking and the commitment from BP to meet their monitoring and notification obligations.

Ongoing monitoring and full analysis of both the seepage and methane will continue in coordination with the science team.

I authorized BP to continue the integrity test for another 24 hours and I restated our firm position that this test will only continue if they continue to meet their obligations to rigorously monitor for any signs that this test could worsen the overall situation. At any moment, we have the ability to return to the safe containment of the oil on the surface until the time the relief well is completed and the well is permanently killed."

http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/doc/2931/791891/

[DCBob]

65. So, it sounds like its not necessarily a crisis situation.. probably just a natural seep..

but they do need to verify it.

[Baclava]

67. Sounds to me like the admiral & "the federal science team" just let BP off the hook, if it blows

Of course, us mushroom people will just have to continue to live in the dark and believe them all.

I was watching one of the ROV's late last night as it was panning to the left over a flat grey featureless ocean floor scene, then a long stream of gas bubbles rose out of the mud off in the distance as it panned, and it jerked to a stop, moved back to where it saw what I saw, tried to focus in - then the feed went dark.

I trust no one.

[DCBob]

77. Not being critical, but I have heard so many stories of people seeing "things" on the cams..

and turned out to be nothing, its hard to believe anything from anyone at this point. I dont think the Admiral would "let BP off the hook" if there were an obvious immediate crisis. He and the fed science team must be convinced that is likely a natural seep or that its not serious enough to open the well back up. That is the only scenario that makes sense to me.

[Baclava]

78. It's hard to believe anyone when they keep us guessing with little leaked slivers of information.

I guess I should thank the Norwegians for their ROV's - gives me something to watch.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

91. What do you see in this pic from the Boa Deep Cam?

I captured this on July 2.

[DCBob]

92. extremely blurry vid capture that could be almost anything.

:shrug:

[eowyn_of_rohan]

94. don't you see the faces? they aren't blurry.

:hide:

[DCBob]

96. LOL.. you got me..

;)

[obxhead]

98. LOL

[Purveyor]

68. Engineers Detect Seepage Near BP Oil Well

Source: REUTERS

Sun Jul 18, 2010 11:07pm EDT

By Chris Baltimore

HOUSTON, July 18 (Reuters) - Engineers monitoring BP Plc's (BP.L)(BP.N) damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico detected seepage on the ocean floor that could mean problems with the cap that has stopped oil from gushing into the water, the U.S. government's top oil spill official said on Sunday.

Earlier on Sunday, BP officials had expressed hope that the test of the cap which began Thursday could continue until a relief well can permanently seal the leak next month. Oil gushed from the deepsea Macondo well for nearly three months until the new cap was put in place last week.

But late on Sunday, the U.S. government released a letter to BP Chief Managing Director Bob Dudley from retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen that referred to an unspecified type of seepage near the mile-deep (1.6 km-deep) well along with "undetermined anomalies at the well head."

"I direct you to provide me a written procedure for opening the choke valve as quickly as possible without damaging the well should hydrocarbon seepage near the well head be confirmed," Allen wrote.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1813113320100719

[Skink]

69. Kramer what did I tell you.

http://www.phillymag.com/articles/exit_inverview_danny_woodburn/

[sandnsea]

70. Link to letter

http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/posted/2931/BP_Letter_18_July.791571.pdf

[dalter2009]

71. Why pressure in BP well is growing at 2 PSI per hour?

The intake end is grinding up from bottom, thus there is less
oil to lift in well pipe above intake end. At 2 PSI an hour
that works out to 508 lbs less oil and gas in pipe as the well
length shortens 15" plus per hour at the 7' ID intake
pipe end.

For rest of article:
http://www.no1stcostlist.com/Forums/viewtopic/p=447.html#447

Reducing the pressure by uncapping the well is exactly what we
should not do for it increases the grind up rate, thus
reducing the time left for relief wells to do there job.

[AtheistCrusader]

72. There's nothing wrong with the cap.

There's something wrong with the well bore. Ie: It's pierced.

As long as it's not leaking more than the full-open pipe end, keep it shut, and monitor it for pressure drop, which would indicate whatever hole it has in it already, just got bigger.

Keep on drilling the relief wells, kill it from below. Done.

[freedom fighter jh]

76. Delete

[thecrow]

73. Didn't we see pictures of this "seepage" WEEKS AGO???

[DCBob]

74. Yeah, I think this is same one... its probably a natural seep..

There are thousands of them in the Gulf and they tend to be near oil deposits... for obvious reasons. But they do need to make sure it is not related to this well.

[Greg in Cheeseland]

75. The seep has been recorded on several videos

The so-called "seep" could be leaking from many fissures both near the capped well and even miles away. The pressure never hit 8000-9000 psi in the integrity tests, which would assure that the well has been properly capped and the oil flow has been stopped. It peaked at about 6700 psi, which suggests there may be other leaks. There are a series of videos that clearly show leakage from fissures in the seabed. You can view them in this article: http://www.examiner.com/x-23316-Madison-Independent-Exa... . While the well itself may be capped, the reality is that the oil leak is not fixed, only shifted away from the well head cameras and the light of the media, where it is hoped Americans will not notice it.

[Baclava]

80. BP says - "seep" is not ours

Source: Reuters

LONDON, July 19 (Reuters) - Oil giant BP said a seep detected in the Gulf of Mexico may not be related to its blown out Macondo well, which has caused the biggest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

Spokesman Robert Wine said on Monday that BP engineers were the source of information behind comments from the government's top official overseeing the spill response effort, Admiral Thad Allen, that a seep was detected "a distance from the well".

"The data is being reviewed by the government's technical team," Wine said.

Last week a cap was placed on the well, halting the flow of oil for the first time in three months.

If the data confirmed that Macondo was the source of the seep, the choke on the cap would be opened, and oil flowed to support vessels on the surface, Wine said. (Reporting by Tom Bergin; editing by Simon Jessop)

http://alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/WLA8656.htm

---------------------------

Govt man: "we got this" - well test will continue


July 19, 2010
Statement by National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen:

"Yesterday I sent BP a letter stating that there were a number of unanswered questions about the monitoring systems they committed to as a condition of the US government extending the well integrity test. Last night a conference call between the federal science team and BP representatives was convened to discuss some specific issues, including the detection of a seep near the well and the possible observation of methane over the well.

During the conversation, the federal science team got the answers they were seeking and the commitment from BP to meet their monitoring and notification obligations.

Ongoing monitoring and full analysis of both the seepage and methane will continue in coordination with the science team.

I authorized BP to continue the integrity test for another 24 hours...

http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/doc/2931/791891/


-------------

Looks like they finally got their stories lined up on the same page.

[DCBob]

85. So now what? I wonder if Allen will accept that? I suspect he will..

Considering all the available information, its probably just a natural seep as I posted earlier.

[Baclava]

86. So now what? The well integrity test goes on...per BP & the "Federal Science Team"

I suspect we wouldn't have even had this "seep" conversation if the BP engineers hadn't been overheard by some reporter and got the whole ball rolling. John Q public remains in the dark here with all the mysterious methane reports and "anomalies" being seen - we get whatever scraps of information get leaked or they want us to see...not that we'd know anything anyway.



yeah - I read their press releases


http://www.bp.com/genericarticle.do?categoryId=2012968&contentId=7063829

Subsea Source Control and Containment

BP continues to work cooperatively with the guidance and approval of the National Incident Commander and the leadership and direction of federal government including the Department of Energy, Department of the Interior, Federal Science Team, Bureau of Ocean Energy, Management, Regulation and Enforcement, U.S. Coast Guard and secretaries Ken Salazar and Steven Chu.

At this time, the well integrity test on the MC252 exploratory well continues.

During the test, the three ram capping stack has been closed, shutting in the well. All sub-sea containment systems (namely, the Q4000 and Helix Producer systems) have been temporarily suspended.

The pressure inside the well recently has been measured at approximately 6,792 pounds per square inch and continues to rise slowly.

As directed by the National Incident Commander, extensive monitoring activities are being carried out around the well site. Information gathered during the test is being reviewed with the government agencies, including the Federal Science Team, to determine next steps. Depending upon the results of the test and monitoring activities, these steps may include extending the well integrity test or returning to containment options.


edit (more snips)

The sealing cap system and many of the other containment systems have never before been deployed at these depths or under these conditions, and their efficiency and ability to contain or flare the oil and gas cannot be assured.

Work on the first relief well, which started May 2, continues. The well reached a depth of 17,864 feet as of July 18th and the next scheduled operation is to carry out a ranging run. The first relief well has approached its last casing end point and, following the casing set, additional ranging runs will be used to guide the drill bit to a MC252 well intercept point. After interception, operations are expected to begin to kill the flow of oil and gas from the reservoir by pumping specialized heavy fluids down the relief well.

The second relief well, which started May 16, is at a measured depth of 15,874 feet and has been temporarily halted so as not to interfere with the ranging runs being performed in the first relief well.

Although uncertainty remains, the first half of August remains the current estimate of the most likely date by which the first relief well will be completed and kill operations performed.

[Dappleganger]

93. We knew this would happen...

There's been rumors of seepage for some time now but the only way to really prove it was to cap off the main pipe.