Posted on 06/13/2010 6:39:37 PM PDT by GonzoII
As I noted Tuesday, there is growing evidence that BP's oil well - technically called the "well casing" or "well bore" - has suffered damage beneath the level of the sea floor.
The evidence is growing stronger and stronger that there is substantial damage beneath the sea floor. Indeed, it appears that BP officials themselves have admitted to such damage. This has enormous impacts on both the amount of oil leaking into the Gulf, and the prospects for quickly stopping the leak this summer.
On May 31st, the Washington Post noted:
Sources at two companies involved with the well said that BP also discovered new damage inside the well below the seafloor and that, as a result, some of the drilling mud that was successfully forced into the well was going off to the side into rock formations.
"We discovered things that were broken in the sub-surface," said a BP official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. He said that mud was making it "out to the side, into the formation."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonsblog.com ...
unless the relief wells further compromise the defective strata...
relief wells can collapse...especially since they are drilled as deviated wells....over 5 degrees past vertical.
Relief wells can be truly horizontal or anything inbetween...and then when it zeros in on the bad wellbore...it could make it worst...
risky risky business
yes circular saw blades were used for one project...however the diamond chain was used to make the “clean(er) cut” for the cap...
It does seem like that isn't a bad strategy. Just tell every oil company in the world that they can set up shop in that area. It would take time for them to set up, but a couple dozen rigs could probably decrease the current flow substantially.
imagine a huge meteror hitting in the gulf...around the dinosaur era....
this has happened before...just no recorded history
bfl
The oil leaking from the well is more than can be stored in surface ships so how bout putting together a floating pipeline from the surface ship to the New Orleans off shore oil port
The port is about 20 miles off the Louisiana coast and handles about 1 million barrels of crude oil a day, or 11 percent of U.S. imports. It consists of mooring buoys, platforms and pipelines.
The port is 20 miles offshore and that leaves about 30 - 40 more miles of floating pipe needed to bridge the gap. The oil could be stored in one of the many underground salt dome storage facilities in Louisiana where it could be processed and later refined.
NOOP can handle a hell of a lot more oil than what is being lost and maybe the well could be opened up even more to relieve some of the back pressure that's causing problems down hole as they call it.
Worse, their two wells they’re drilling now to pump it out are going into the same fragmented shaft.
As far as the planet is concerned this is about as worrisome as a Mosquito bite.
A thousand years from now there won't be any evidence at all of the oil spill unless some archaeologist digs down to discover it.
A 1000 years in relationship to the planet's life is akin to a second of your life.
The planet is fine and would be fine if a thousand such wells blew at the same time.
On the other hand humans and animals will have to tough it out for 4 or 5 years (after the oil leak is stopped)
Here are some really good pictures of the oil spill. Quite an extensive set.
http://www.katu.com/news/photos/95866799.html
B.S. This is Obama’s disaster. Otherwise, let’s ask him what Bush would do and bring back people with a brain to handle this dang disaster!
The irony of Obama going down because of an environmental catastrophe humors me to no end. Hung on his own petard.
That’s a TV station (KATU, Channel 2) from my old stomping grounds, Portland, Oregon. Thanks for the link ...
Nope...and as they say, them's fighting words.
“I don’t believe in the no-win scenario”.
James Tiberius Kirk
I'm starting to freak out some too...
The purpose is to divert flow from the fragmented shaft to the new shafts. Suppose they only can tap 66% of the flow, its still a significant improvement.
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