BP says they should have the gusher stopped by early August

[NNN0LHI]

http://mystateline.com/fulltext-news/?nxd_id=164206

Friday, May 21 2010

(Venice, LA) -- Oil continues flowing out of a broken well in the Gulf of Mexico at a rate some scientists say could be as high as two-point-nine million gallons every day.

BP's official estimate of the leak had been put at 210-thousand gallons of day, but that number is close to the amount they have been able to siphon off using a two-mile long tube inserted into the broken pipe. snip

He said the company will try to clog the well with heavy fluids and cement either Sunday or Monday, while a relief well won't be finished until early August at the soonest.

[aquart]

1. Are they trying to be funny? AUGUST?

[DURHAM D]

6. No - this is when the first relief well will reach the existing borehole.

There is no guarantee it will be able to successfully intersect and cement the original well. That is why a second relief well is also being drilled.

It may take 5, 6 or 7 attempts to accomplish the plug.

[nenagh]

21. Reading the technical information available at "The Oil Drum" blog

has been invaluable to my understanding of the issues involved...

These are in the main professional engineers and others involved in oil well drilling and they are discussing factors they see that have contributed to the blowout.

Sorry unable to link...

[DURHAM D]

31. Yes - it is excellent.

I have been trying to find out since day one about the casing - size, depth and cementing. Finally today I got the answer about the size of the production casing and outside casing.

[nenagh]

39. Good information for you there ....

Especially from yesterday afternoon and last night..

Some are discussing and giving lots of information about the casing and pressures etc..

It is a bit hard to follow the threads, but the info is there... Good luck

[DURHAM D]

43. Some of it has been easy for me.

Some not so easy.

I grew up in the oil patch but it was land based not off-shore. The basics are the same although all that ocean water does greatly complicate the process.

[damntexdem]

24. Or, alternatively, make the whole thing worse.

After all, they've shown themselves to be so very competent to date. ;-)

[DURHAM D]

29. I honestly don't think it can make it worse -

provided all known tests and precautions are taken. Hopefully the U.S. Government will be doing its job and looking over their shoulders.

[Ignis]

53. How sad is it that we have to HOPE they do so?

I'd be more comfortable if the feds had been looking over BP's shoulder from Day One of this crisis, rather than the EPA telling BP to use less/different dispersants after they've already been used.

:banghead:

[nenagh]

45. You know the tragedy is that in one blog entry they speak..

of the "Company" man on the drilling rig and he seems to have the last word, so to speak...

But I suppose we won't really know until some BP people are under oath.

[aquart]

60. Oh, you think they won't lie to your face then?

They will. But you'll know because their voices get tight. It becomes really obvious when a tricky prosecutor asks a question they can answer truthfully. The voice completely relaxes with relief. The difference becomes so apparent you wonder why they bother.

[zanana1]

2. Tell that to the animals. nt

[tridim]

3. Estimate based on what?

Their stellar record of being completely wrong about everything?

BP's PR dept is unbelievable.

[amborin]

8. the fake spill #s, which our NOAA countenances

[proudohioan]

4. Early August? Is this something from The Onion?

They've got to be kidding....

On second thought, as BP continues their pursuit of their almighty profits, they probably aren't kidding.

[mikelgb]

5. Oh goody! Just in time for Labor Day gas price hike!

[amborin]

7. unacceptable

[flamingdem]

11. They think they are God. They don't care what we think. nt

[Hempathy]

64. then what would you have them do at this point?

[SidDithers]

9. The first relief well was started on May 2...

and was always expected to take 3 months to be completed.

Fingers are crossed that the top kill attempt this weekend works, and plugs the drill shaft.

Sid

[liberal N proud]

10. Florida will need to change their advertisement to Black Beaches

AUGUST? :nuke:

[flamingdem]

12. Not just Florida, try New Jersey! nt

[liberal N proud]

20. No kidding

I was just thinking of the Pristine White Beaches of Florida we so love.

I also fear what will happen to the manatee, will this be the final blow?

[nashville_brook]

13. is this a friday news dump?

[Wednesdays]

61. A dump? More like the whole outhouse!

:mad:

[Codeine]

14. This is pretty much in line with the original relief well estimates.

Cross your fingers and hope the top kill works, but they're dealing with tremendous pressures, so who know?

[AnArmyVeteran]

15. August of what year?????

[Rex]

16. Oh well, no worries then.

:spew:

[ShortnFiery]

17. OK, someone please educate us? Aren't there four submarines that can dive 5000 feet?

Can't they bring in 1 or 2 of those deep-sea capable submarines to this site? Could their assistance in some way SPEED UP the process of capping this massive leak?

[dgibby]

19. No.

Water pressure at that depth would crush a sub.

[Webster Green]

23. The navy deep diving sub "Alvin" can go 3 times this depth.

There are others as well. They are designed to go deeper than conventional subs.

[ShortnFiery]

28. Right, I can't quote the source but I heard on CNN that only 4 submarines are capable of

diving below 5000 feet.

I say, WTH, bring them all to the leak site! This is A GLOBAL DISASTER in the making.

Anything that talented engineers can come up with to plug the leak using these submarines is worth a try?!?

[dgibby]

32. Cool!

I was basing my answer on a news broadcast, the source of which I can't recall. I should know better than to rely on the MSM for accuracy! My bad! Thanks.

[racaulk]

27. DSV Alvin and DSV Sea Cliff can dive far in excess of 5,000 feet. n/t

[blueworld]

26. Well, I saw a woman on some news show yesterday (CNN?) & she said yes

But they aren't owned by the US. I believe she said Russia, Japan, the UK & I can't remember the fourth country. I also can't remember which show; the Ed Show? CNN? Sorry.

[ShortnFiery]

30. This is a GLOBAL Disaster. Call them up?!?

[DURHAM D]

33. France. nt

[nenagh]

34. My understanding is that the relief well [s] have to be drilled down...

to just above the level of the depth of the original well..

Why?.. Because as one drills deeper into the earth one encounters increasing pressures in various of the rock formations.. They drill safely by using increasingly dense material which equalizes the pressures in the well and in the formation...

If the relief well is not dug down deep enough.. the pressures will not be equalized sufficiently for maintainance of the well... and drilling deeply enough takes time..

[Codeine]

37. They could observe

but they don't have heavy manipulation equipment that could do anything. So far as observation goes the remote vehicles will do that just as well at no risk to human life.

[ShortnFiery]

40. You're certain on that? Sure that these deep sea subs don't have manipulation equipment?

I'm not trying to be a jerk, just would like to make extra sure?

[Codeine]

44. Heavy duty manipulation equipment that could work

on a job with that kind of pressure? Yeah.

[ShortnFiery]

47. How about this: Get the brightest engineers to devise a hair-filled thick ...

apparatus to affix to the bottom of one of these deep sea subs? It could dive and "plug the leak" on the bottom of the ocean? When they have to surface before the other hole is fully drilled in August, another of the 3 remaining deep sea submarines could take it's place.

Rotate the four deep sea world subs until the second hole is fully drilled?

We need to get the engineering talent within the entire WORLD COMMUNITY involved in correcting this massive problem.

[Codeine]

48. There is no way on earth

that a submersible could effect enough downward force to stop that kind of high-pressure flow. That's like you or I trying to hold our hands over the end of a firehose, only about ten times more impossible.

[ShortnFiery]

52. OK, thanks.

What a tragedy. :(

[Hempathy]

63. In what way exactly could/would you imagine that they'd assist?

:shrug:

[dgibby]

18. By August,

the entire Gulf and parts of the Atlantic will be a giantic graveyard. What a flustercluck!:grr:

[damntexdem]

22. What they say is true: they SHOULD have it stopped by August.

In fact, they SHOULDN'T have had the gusher in the first place.

But given their abject failure on the latter, and their multiple failures since, I'm a little doubtful about their August promise -- as august as it may be.

[disillusioned73]

25. WTF?!?!?!

Seriously, what the hell is going on in this counrty?? If this statement doesn't get outrage from both the American public and our Federal Gov. then we are gonna be in deep shit!!

[dgibby]

36. We're already in deep shit,

and welcome to DU.

The Gulf is going to be a dead zone by August. We are screwed.

[disillusioned73]

57. Thanks for the welcoming..

even with 100 post in I still feel rather green

[Codeine]

38. Outrage won't make the relief well drill any faster,

unfortunately.

[disillusioned73]

58. No it won't..

but isn't that part of the problem. I've gotten the sense that capping or shutting it down has not been BP's first priority. It seems to me after one month that someone would have come up with a way of shutting it down - but of coarse that is not in the best interest of BP's shareholders and thus why the Federal gov. needs to step in BIG TIME

[earth mom]

67. Hell, there are informed people here on DU that don't give a damn about the oil spill

because it makes their precious Obama look bad!

There are some seriously fucked up people in this country that have sold out their ethics and conscience for bullshit reasons! :grr:

[blindpig]

35. They don't care.

The motherfuckers simply don't care. They may have killed the Gulf already, sentenced one endangered species to death already, and they don't care, except as bad PR affects their sales.

Expropriate without compensation. Corporate officers and government enablers to the Hague for crimes against humanity.

[TwilightGardener]

46. My proposal is this: offshore rigs MUST from now on have relief wells mostly pre-drilled.

Ready to complete within a certain time frame (a week?) in case of an uncontrolled leak or gusher. Won't help now, but maybe in the future, as a prevention to this sort of ridiculous incompetence. It's like starting a fire and then realizing the nearest fire truck is two states over. Oops, edit to add, meant to reply to OP.

[Codeine]

50. That's not a bad idea, really.

I mean, I'm sure it might be hard to judge when you're going to break through, but maybe drill three simultaneously and whichever pops through first is the well while the other two become relief wells in waiting.

[Statistical]

51. I woudl say it is like starting a fire then trying to build fire hydrant network.

Partially predrilled relief wells (within 1000m of oil depth) would make sense.

As would two independent BOP (stacked on top of each other) with triggers rigged in parallel so a failure/malfunction on one causes the other BOP to automatically close. Then the entire complex linked to acoustic dead-man's switch.

[blindpig]

54. Doesn't matter.

As long as the profit motive is paramount all else is secondary.

It may well be that this technology is incapable of being used without risk of 'mishaps' and should be shelved. But even if it were capable of being used in a safe manner it never will with capitalism in the drivers seat.

[NoGOPZone]

41. Translation: We'll stop the leak when it runs out of oil. nt

[Hempathy]

65. If that were the case- it would be spewing for years to come.

there's a lot of oil down there, and BP still wants to tap it- so it's definitely in their interest to stop it asap.

[lpbk2713]

42. I'm assuming that's August 2010?

I'll bet if we told BP they are no longer allowed to sell their products in the USA they
would have that "leak" plugged before they could even say "it's their fault not ours".

[Kitty Herder]

49. August?! Fucking August?!!!

God, that's depressing. I hope their attempt to clog it with heavy fluids and cement works better than some of their other bright ideas have.

[Dank Nugs]

55. We may be very well looking at a massive extinction level event / collapse of the ecological chain

It might be a bit of an exaggeration, but it's not just the oil that's leaking. Keep in mind that it's a 10,000 to 1 ratio of natural gas to oil. There's far more methane and other gases leaking. The leak could very well get bigger. It's too early to tell what kind of damage this will do. But if it gets into the ocean currents and spreads to the rest of the globe, humanity is fucked.

Some drastic action is going to be required, and it's very unthinkable. Detonate a thermonuclear bomb and fuse that leak. That will kill the fishing industry in the gulf region.. forever.

[Statistical]

56. The nuke?

"Detonate a thermonuclear bomb and fuse that leak. That will kill the fishing industry in the gulf region.. forever."

Not likely. Nuclear detonations underground have very little radioactive release. More radiation from a nuclear detonation comes from fallout. Burn't material sucked through radioactive (but short lived) fireball. That doesn't happen underground.
Water also is an incredibly good shield for radiation.

[NYC_SKP]

59. When that one's done, thousands more are waiting to happen. 50,685 other holes in the gulf.

And thousands and thousands of miles of gas and oil pipeline.

Unbelievable:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8385057

:patriot:

[Karenina]

62. BP has ANOTHER, BIGGER disaster waiting to happen in the Gulf.

Please do support Ken Abbott in his suit to SHUT BP's ATLANTIS RIG NOW!!! It's bigger and deeper.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/37199423#37199423

He's working with Food and Water Watch.

[Duer 157099]

66. DUer 157099 says they should have already stopped the gusher

but they don't listen to me

[TK421]

68. Considering the amount that has gushed out in a month, imagine three more

months of that shit....

fuckwits, the stinking lot of 'em