See other Science/Tech Articles
Title: Despite the "End of the World" as some 4um prophetic posters claim: The world has not ended: BP, U.S. Aim to Seal Gulf Oil Gusher Within Days, Allen Says
Source:
Bloomberg.com
URL Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010- ... ll-within-days-allen-says.html
Published: Jul 9, 2010
Author: staff
Post Date: 2010-07-09 16:18:59 by buckeroo
Keywords: None
Views: 274
Comments: 17
BP Plc may contain all of the flow from its Gulf of Mexico oil gusher within the next four days by accelerating installation of a tight seal between the damaged wellhead and surface production vessels, said Thad Allen, the government’s national incident coordinator. The quickened timeline is necessary to complete surface and subsea connections needed before another storm roils the Gulf, stalling work, Allen said today at a press conference in New Orleans. It may also result in thousands of additional barrels spilled over several days while the work is done. Obama administration officials probably will tell BP to begin as early as tomorrow replacing a leaky cap atop the well that has been routing about 16,000 barrels of oil a day to the surface. Today, crews are connecting to the well a ship BP has estimated can take as much as 25,000 barrels per day beginning July 11, Allen said. “This is in anticipation of a weather window that will allow us seven to 10 days of good weather,” Allen said. “We’d like to take advantage of that.” Rough seas after the passage of Hurricane Alex southwest of the well site last month delayed connection of the Helix Producer I and forced more than 500 oil-skimming vessels into port. Allen reiterated today he doesn’t expect BP to stop the gusher with a relief well 13,000 feet (3,962 meters) below the seafloor before mid-August. The Helix vessel, capable of handling 25,000 barrels of oil a day, may be connected today for tests, he said. Oil Collection BP collected 24,395 barrels of oil yesterday, with 16,305 barrels processed aboard the drillship Discoverer Enterprise and 3,090 barrels flared from the Q4000, an offshore rig, as oil and gas continued to gush around the loose-fitting cap. As much as 60,000 barrels a day may be flowing from the well, a committee of government and academic scientists estimated. The disaster began 82 days ago when a BP well drilled by the Deepwater Horizon rig blew out, killing 11 crew. The rig sank April 22 after burning for more than a day, leaving the mile of pipe that had connected it to the well crumpled on the seafloor. To make a tight seal, the drillship and its cap will be moved away so underwater robots can unscrew six bolts holding the stump of pipe left after a robot sheared away most of it June 3, Allen said. A purpose-built sealed cap with connections to the surface would be bolted in place, with the whole process taking three to four days, he said. Success Expected “The expectations now are that they are successful in making a switch,” Brian Youngberg, an analyst at Edward Jones in St. Louis who rates BP shares “sell” and owns none, said in a telephone interview. “If they have problems with it, I think the market would view this negatively.” Until this week, BP and the U.S. Coast Guard had planned to wait until the Helix Producer I was connected and drawing oil and gas through a line connected below the top of the well, reducing the size of the gusher and the pressure that may buffet the robots during the cap replacement. They’d planned to take a number of days to determine the next step, Allen had said. Today, Allen said quick work reduces the risk of further delays, and that the sealed cap improves BP’s chances of successfully plugging the well from the bottom by injecting mud followed by cement through a relief well. With a tight seal at the top, engineers will get accurate flow and pressure readings, clues to the condition of the well bore, he said. Killing the Well “If they have that cap in place, they have an added advantage in trying to kill the well,” said Don Van Nieuwenhuise, director of professional geosciences at the University of Houston. “It should ensure the kill will work.” Controlling flow atop the well will assure that cement injections have a chance to set, he said. BP, the government and outside petroleum experts have speculated that the blowout occurred because the well bottom was improperly sealed, allowing oil and gas to gush to the surface around the drill pipe itself. Pressure readings may indicate whether that occurred and suggest how BP should move to kill the well at the bottom, Allen said. To contact the reporter on this story: Jim Polson in New York at jpolson@bloomberg.net.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: buckeroo (#0)
We will see.
This sure sounds like steer manure. Even if they are sucessuful at pluging the well head, there are still several leaks in the sea bed. Hope, and change? I don't think so!
It's unrefined crude oil, it'll dissipate soon enough. Earth, heal thyself....
__________________________________________________________ Killjoy.
Eventually. It's been 21 years since the Exxon Valdez spill and yet Prince Edward Sound is still closed for commercial herring fishing. Louisiana alone produces 20-25% percent of the total domestic seafood in the lower 48 states and 75 percent of all seafood harvested in the northern Gulf of Mexico. So far more than 30% of the fishing grounds have been closed with more closing everyday. Hopefully the warmer air will cause mother nature to work faster at her oil dissipation.
"The Central Intelligence Agency owns everyone of any significance in the major media." ~ William Colby, Director, CIA 1973–1976 Nothing in the State, everything outside the State, everything against the State - Jan Lester, Escape From Leviathan "When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that justifies it." - Frederic Bastiat Good order results spontaneously when things are let alone. - Zhuangzi
I hope this is right and the well is sealed asap. But I'll believe it only after it succeeds. Even so, sealing it won't make all the previously oil already set loose on the gulf disappear. That damage has already been done.
B.S.
The Truth of 911 Shall Set You Free From The Lie
Yes. The livelihoods of many have been destroyed and many animals have died needlessly because of delay and inaction. Especially when foreign countries were offering their help to get the oil out of the water and the Kenyan tellin' 'em to ef off.
Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end. He (Gordon Duff) also implies that forcibly removing Obama, a Constitution-hating, on-the-down-low, crackhead Communist, is an attack on America, Mom, and apple pie. I swear these military people are worse than useless. Just look around at the condition of the country and tell me if they have fulfilled their oaths to protect the nation from all enemies foreign and domestic. That's a brain dead idea if the well is damaged below the seabed, which is exactly what has been reported, and is the reason why the "topkill" method didn't work. If anything it would cause the ruptures in the pipe to rip open, spewing MASSIVE amounts of oil AROUND the pipe leading to the seabed.
It never ceases to amaze me that people will continue to believe known and proven liars, over and over again.
Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end. He (Gordon Duff) also implies that forcibly removing Obama, a Constitution-hating, on-the-down-low, crackhead Communist, is an attack on America, Mom, and apple pie. I swear these military people are worse than useless. Just look around at the condition of the country and tell me if they have fulfilled their oaths to protect the nation from all enemies foreign and domestic. Actually, I read somewhere that everyone of those countries that offered, offered their ships for a fee, including, I think, Israel. Maybe such offers should have been paid for and accepted, but supposedly none of the offers was an act of charity, unlike how the US is constantly sending free aid worldwide whenever there's a natural disaster.
That is something I had not heard other than for Holland--unless I misunderstood it, their offer said nothing about any fees. I don't know anything about it but couldn't a ship that could skim crude oil from the water take the oil as a fee? I don't know if that would cover their expenses and make them a profit, just a thought.
Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end. He (Gordon Duff) also implies that forcibly removing Obama, a Constitution-hating, on-the-down-low, crackhead Communist, is an attack on America, Mom, and apple pie. I swear these military people are worse than useless. Just look around at the condition of the country and tell me if they have fulfilled their oaths to protect the nation from all enemies foreign and domestic. I'll believe it when I see it. I just don't think it is going to happen.
Name calling is juvenile.
Look, the world isn't ending just yet.
"we ought to lay off the criticism" -- Pinguinite, circa 2010-05-26 22:17:22 ET
I agree. I would very much love to see it plugged and the leak stopped but I don't blindly trust that they can do it. If they do it, that's great. If they don't I won't have been fooled by promises someone couldn't, or wouldn't, keep.
Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end. He (Gordon Duff) also implies that forcibly removing Obama, a Constitution-hating, on-the-down-low, crackhead Communist, is an attack on America, Mom, and apple pie. I swear these military people are worse than useless. Just look around at the condition of the country and tell me if they have fulfilled their oaths to protect the nation from all enemies foreign and domestic. deleted
The relationship between morality and liberty is a directly proportional one.
#2. To: buckeroo (#0)
My joy over McCain's defeat, is offset by my disappointment over hObama's victory.
#3. To: buckeroo (#0)
Obama is the miscegenated bastard of a white communist whore. True story.
-Schweizerische Schuetzenzeitung (Swiss Shooting Federation) April, 1941
#4. To: buckeroo (#0)
Despite the "End of the World" as some 4um prophetic posters claim:
#5. To: X-15 (#3)
(Edited)
It's unrefined crude oil, it'll dissipate soon enough. Earth, heal thyself....
#6. To: buckeroo (#0)
#7. To: buckeroo (#0)
#8. To: Pinguinite (#6)
But I'll believe it only after it succeeds. Even so, sealing it won't make all the previously oil already set loose on the gulf disappear. That damage has already been done.
Lord Acton
OsamaBinGoldstein posted on 2010-05-25 9:39:59 ET (2 images) Reply Trace
#9. To: buckeroo (#0)
To make a tight seal, the drillship and its cap will be moved away so underwater robots can unscrew six bolts holding the stump of pipe left after a robot sheared away most of it June 3, Allen said. A purpose-built sealed cap with connections to the surface would be bolted in place, with the whole process taking three to four days, he said.
"The real deal is this: the ‘royalty’ controlling the court, the ones with the power, the ones with the ability to make a difference, with the ability to change our course, the ones who will live in infamy if we pass the tipping points, are the captains of industry, CEOs in fossil fuel companies such as EXXON/Mobil, automobile manufacturers, utilities, all of the leaders who have placed short-term profit above the fate of the planet and the well-being of our children." - James Hansen
#10. To: buckeroo (#0)
#11. To: bluegrass (#10)
Lord Acton
OsamaBinGoldstein posted on 2010-05-25 9:39:59 ET (2 images) Reply Trace
#12. To: James Deffenbach (#8)
Especially when foreign countries were offering their help to get the oil out of the water and the Kenyan tellin' 'em to ef off.
#13. To: Pinguinite (#12)
Actually, I read somewhere that everyone of those countries that offered, offered their ships for a fee, including, I think, Israel. Maybe such offers should have been paid for and accepted, but supposedly none of the offers was an act of charity, unlike how the US is constantly sending free aid worldwide whenever there's a natural disaster.
Lord Acton
OsamaBinGoldstein posted on 2010-05-25 9:39:59 ET (2 images) Reply Trace
#14. To: buckeroo (#0)
BP, U.S. Aim to Seal Gulf Oil Gusher Within Days
#15. To: TooConservative (#4)
Killjoy.
#16. To: farmfriend (#14)
I'll believe it when I see it. I just don't think it is going to happen.
Lord Acton
OsamaBinGoldstein posted on 2010-05-25 9:39:59 ET (2 images) Reply Trace
#17. To: buckeroo (#0)
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest