Posted on 06/23/2010 12:30:26 PM PDT by foolscap
June 23, 2010
Oil from the BP oil spill disaster is spewing again into the Gulf of Mexico at nearly full force after a venting system connected the so-called containment cap over the blown-out wellhead was damaged in an accident with a robot sub, said Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the commander in charge of the government's effort to control the 65-day-old spill.
COO Doug Suttles is dispatched to Florida's Pensacola Beach to oversee cleanup.Separately, Allen said two cleanup workers have died in unrelated accidents in the Gulf, the first deaths reported since 11 people died in when Deepwater Horizon drilling rig burned and began the crisis in April.
Allen said the small sub bumped into the venting system connected to the containment cap. That sent gas rising through the plumbing that sends warm water down to the cap to prevent solid crystals -- known as hydrates -- from forming in the cap.
"They are checking the containment cap right now," said Allen at a midday briefing in Washington. "If there are no hydrates in the containment cap, they will attempt to reinstall the containment cap and begin producing later on today. If there are hydrates they will probably have to re-run the pipeline and that'll take a considerable amount longer."
Before the problem with the containment cap, Allen said it had collected about 700,000 gallons of oil in the previous 24 hours. Another 438,000 gallons were burned.
Up to 14 controlled fires are being conducted every day, and they've already burned 125,000 barrels that otherwise would have drifted toward shore. At the site of the accident, two tankers have been collecting oil siphoned up from the containment cap. And huge ocean skimmers, the largest of their kind, have been scooping up 8,000 barrels of oil per day.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Sounds like we’re pretty much right back to day one all around.
This is just awful. All that beautiful oil wasted.
Removal of the LMRP cap allowed more oil to escape into the Gulf of Mexico while oil collection efforts are stopped on the Discoverer Enterprise drillship, Allen said.
However, oil continued to be collected and burned on the Helix Q4000 surface vessel. Oil directed to the Q4000 comes through the choke line of the BOP via a manifold on the seafloor and up a riser to the surface.
LMRP cap temporarily removed from gulf spill collection
http://www.ogj.com/index/article-display/8644174455/articles/oil-gas-journal/general-interest-2/hse/2010/06/lmrp-cap_temporarily/QP129867/cmpid=EnlDailyJune232010.html
If we could only get Rolling Stone on this case, the problem would be resolved within 24 hours.
Don’t worry, obviously there’s plenty.
Not at all. There is now infrastructure in place to handle things quickly. BP predicted that the cap would be replaced in ten or so hours. And I'll bet some joystick jockey is missing several chunks of buttocks-meat.
OTOH, I wonder if this might accelerate the placement of the new "bolt-on" cap, which would eliminate the possiblity of this type incident.
This oil rig mess is becoming a metaphor for the United States. Relentless negative news and nobody seems to be able to do anything about it...
The containment cap on top of the Macondo blowout in the US Gulf has been pulled the the Transocean drillship Discoverer Enterprise has moved off location after a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) hit the cap.
When it bumped the cap, the ROV inadvertently closed one of the vents that regulate the amount of oil and natural gas flowing up through the system and keep pressure from building, Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said at a press briefing in Washington.
The closure caused pressure to build in the system and hydrocarbons began bubbling up through the line that is used to inject warm water around the pipe bringing oil to the surface.
The water keeps natural gas hydrate chrystals from forming in the line and clogging it.
Discoverer Enterprise, which was flaring natural gas from the production line, moved off location after the hydrocarbons were spotted due to worries that it could ignite.
Allen said he hopes to rehook the system this afternoon and Helix Energy Solution’s service platform Q4000 continues to flare off about 10,000 barrels per day.
http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article218519.ece
You gotta wonder what the robot sub driver uttered when he realized what had just happened—”Oops”, “Uh-oh”, “Oh s**t!”...?
happy day 64!
and is 0bama in planning sessions around the clock? hardly.
if he meeting with engineers to determine the best course of action? hardly.
has he even appointed a qualified person with oil drilling experience to oversee the situation? hardly.
looks like its dems @ work as usual.
Somebody let Zilch know after he makes the turn at Congressional.
I think they-as in the BP engineers and workers on the ground, not the smarmy executives and our incompetent squared govt-have done pretty well and at times surprisingly well in containing the oil coming out so far given what they have had to work with. I can see where you are coming from-I to hear most media coverage tell it, everyone from the bottom up who works for BP is a useless screw up. But I think how badly the govt has also run the affair cannot be overestimated. And to be honest, I still wonder of this could have been sabotage.
Thanks. I feel a little better.
Inadvertantly? BULLiSH I T E
As if we ever got past day one. I am not a government conspiracy person by any stretch of the imagination, but by golly all of this really makes me questions things. Especially after they have tried to shut down dredging off Louisiana for a land break. Why should New Orleans have to plead with the Dept of the Interior to try and save their own state? This makes me mad as a hornet.
No, the relief wells, continue on with their progress as well.
http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article218519.ece
Relief
The ultimate fix to the blowout, a pair of relief wells being drilled near the original Macondo bore, continue slightly ahead of schedule, Allen said.
Despite the good news, Allen stuck with his mid-August estimate to kill the well, saying that a lot could happen to slow the operation.
BP plans to intercept the Macondo well at a depth between 16,700 feet and 17,000 feet below the drill floor.
At first, BP just plans to drill into the casing to begin circulating mud, but it the drill pipe, which could still be in the wellbore at that level is providing a flow path for the oil, the UK supermajor may need to drill into the pipe as well, Allen said Tuesday.
The wells are being drilling by the Transocean semi-submersible rigs Development Driller 2 and Development Driller 3.
Ranging
Development Driller 3 is currently at about 15,670 feet and has begun to angle the well 23 degrees toward the Macondo bore.
Drillers will bring the bit very close to the Macondo wellbore and then will use magnetic sensors to locate the wellbore in a process called “ranging”.
The relief well will then continue down and relocate the bore again a couple hundred further downhole, BP exec Kent Wells said.
Development Driller 2 was about 9660 feet below the drill floor, Allen said Friday.
Once they do intercept the Macondo bore, crews will begin a bottom kill, pumping mud into the well to suppress the hydrocarbon flow and then cementing the well to plug it permanently.
” I wonder if this might accelerate the placement of the new “bolt-on” cap, which would eliminate the possiblity of this type incident. “
I was wondering about as well. I have heard some news sources say that plan has already been deemed a failure as they were not able to remove any of the bolts needed, but now I am way past the point of believing so much as a syllable that comes from any coverage of this at face value. Maybe they will now go for that instead from here.
Time for 0-bummer to kick more ass.
s...
Ain’t that the freaking truth my friend
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.