Corpusfishing.com

[Oil Field Trash II]

Here's a link updating the story about BP placing the containment dome over the most severe of the leaks.

what a task ahead. Hopefully it goes well, and they are able to start containing a large volume of the oil.

keep your fingers crossed and say your prayers....

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/05/leak-stop_update_robots_positi.html

[Central Scrutinizer]

Is it just me or has anyone else noted the distinct shift in the way the news is reporting this oil leak, in terms of the volume amounts?

Everything I read now is in terms of gallons/day, instead of the standard way of reporting oil in barrels. it makes a BIG difference in perception, as 5,000 barrels of oil (what ought to be the number thrown around) is being reported as 210,000 gallons. It's a correct conversion, but that's not the point.

Oil spills are almost ALWAYS treated in terms of barrels, not gallons. WHERE IS MY DAM& FOIL HAT????

[rawlbay]

Ehh, I don't mind. When I hear someone talking in terms of gallons, that's how I know not to pay all that much attention.

Of course, if I had one of those OPA 90 claims (or a news company), you can bet I'd be throwing around the gallon numbers. Hell I would even spell it out - IN EXCESS OF TWO HUNDRED AND NINE THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED AND NINETY NINE POINT NINE GALLONS!!!!

[landlocked beachbum]

I'll bet that you haven't heard a word about the 100+ year flood in Nashville either, unless you watch FOX news. The people who live there aren't standing in the middle of a flooded street or on their rooftops yelling "come get me", so there's no drama and no finger pointing going on ..................... YET! Just let Obama keep ignoring THAT one and things are libel to change!
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Dave


"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has it's limits". Albert Einstein

[Central Scrutinizer]

[Capt Mike Singleterry]

That containment box was kinda like the Camaron BOP on the wellhead....
neither one worked.

Mike

[ltorna1]

I heard ice formed on the dome and prevented it from sinking correctly? Anybody hear news on what plan B is?
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[Oil Field Trash II]

They are going to drill two relief wells from different directions to intersect the original wellbore. This is going to take a long time.. probably close to 3 months before one of the wells intersects into the well that is blowing out, at which point they will pump kill mud down to stop the flow.

I heard they are going to try the containment box again, but with some modifications. It was filled up with ice from the gas hydrates and became too bouyant to sink down over the leak...

no one knows for sure exactly why the blowout occured. whether it was a failed process or failed part, looks like the jury is still out.

I just heard friday that although the BOP was made by cameron, it had been sold to another party, and was being inspected outside of Cameron's responsibilities or procedures...

BP is trying to say it's the rigs fault, even though BP sets the target zone, they design the casing program, they determine pore pressure (possibly through a contractor), they detail what cement and mud properties are required... so I don't see them just skirting out of this deal and passing the buck.


I have my own theory on what happened, which is basically they got in a hurry after setting the cement plug, and dicsplaced the riser too quick before the cement was set up. OR... just a bad ceemnt job. That's about the only way you can get gas up the backside of the well.

[Capt Mike Singleterry]

OFT....I know it's just speculation but I've been thinking the same thoughts that you have about the cement job. Maybe in a hurry?
Really sad for all the families and the enviroment.

Mike

[Oil Field Trash II]

There were executives on the rig to present an award because the job had gone well, up to that point. Maybe it was a combination of people being nervouse with a bunch of executive/management people on board... maybe they were just trying to move off to a new location, but I did hear they only waited on cement for 3 hours prior to performing a negative test and displacing the riser.

It's a horrible deal all the way around... the families, the environment, and the industry in general...

[bk005]

Time between a negative test and time between displacing riser are to two different things. News articles state it was 20 some hrs after to displace riser.

Who knows yet, tons of variables and many things or chain of events that could have happened.

[Fishbrains]

I don't know a thing about drilling for oil in the gulf. However I'm amazed that oil companies are allowed to drill out there & not have something in place to be able to deal with a ruptured pipe gushing 1000's of barrels of oil a day into the gulf. No thought something like this could happen?

For those of you with some knowledge of these sorts of things, how bad is this going to be for the gulf if it can not be contained until the relief well is completed in 3 months?

[frayed]

Seems it should be required that a relief well should be put in place before the main line is tapped.
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Jeff

Get Busy

[sotx23]

Frayed- A relief well is exactly what it sounds like. If a relief well was in place FIRST then it wouldnt be a relief well, it would be the primary well with all of the pressure. A relief well is drilled to RELIEVE the pressure of the INITIAL well.

There are also things called injection wells- Where oil companies are after heavy crude that is hard to produce. They will inject steam and/or natural gas to pressure up the formations around their target to make production easier.

[kweber]

drilling for oil can be likened to inserting a straw into the bottom portion of a highly pressurized diaahriacic colon. sometimes it aint purdy
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