BP's Gulf Oil Problem

[Frederick]

 

I am now thinking they have gone a depth too far drilling this well and there is no way this will be resolved soon !  Is this the end of deep sea oil drilling ?

http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2010/05/bp-admits-top-kill-not-working

[Théière]

I thought it was just a dastardly plan to sink America [:D]

[AnOther]

I must say that I'm quite surprised that they did not start drilling another parallel well to tap into the existing one to divert the flow weeks ago when the disaster happened. It's a tried and proven method and would not have interfered with the other highly tenuous methods they have been attempting in the slightest.

Top kill is an almost last ditch desperation tactic with a very slim chance of success. You have to remember that you're talking about at least a 10 or 12" bore pipe, and possibly much larger, with hydrocarbons being expelled from it at anything up to several hundred bar so it doesn't take a lot of imagination to realise how difficult it would be to plug that by trying to shoving golf balls and other debris down it.

[pachapapa]

Do you mean a relief well?[:)]

[IMG]http://media.nola.com/2010_gulf_oil_spill/photo/19relief-well-statusjpg-8cc1ced7ca4db9e6.jpg[/IMG]

[pachapapa]

As of Press Release of 29th the 1st relief well is at 12090 feet.

http://www.bp.com/genericarticle.do?categoryId=2012968&contentId=7062487

[AnOther]

Parallel - relief, as you like.

I obviously have not been keeping up but more than happy to be proved wrong [;-)]

EDIT: The Mother Jones link fails to mention the well in progress and in fact states:

"short of waiting at least three months for a relief well to be drilled" suggesting that drilling had not commenced hence my surprise.

[Quillan]

Its an El Queda conspiracy to de-stable the US [;-)]

[NickP]

I find it quite amusing that everybody and his dog says they know how to cure the problem, shame that BP don't have the same information.   [Www]

[andyh4]

Ernie

as you are in the industry perhaps you know different, but I would have thought it would take some time to find another deep ocean platform to drill the relief well.

[Théière]

[quote user="NickP"]I find it quite amusing that everybody and his dog says they know how to cure the problem, shame that BP don't have the same information.   [Www][/quote]

Really, do you have a list of everyone and their pets who has a cure?

[Clarkkent]

[quote user="NickP"]I find it quite amusing that everybody and his dog says they know how to cure the problem, shame that BP don't have the same information.   [Www][/quote]

On the BBC News 24 yesterday was an interview with the former head of Shell who said that in circumstances such as this all the oil majors would be co-operating with BP to help them solve this problem.

On the Andrew Marr programme, Sir Harold Evans (former editor of The Times and The Sunday Times) said that when the inevitable investigation into this catastrophe took place he hoped there would be a parallel enquiry into why BP allowed itself to be pressured into the cost savings/cutting which brought it about. I suspect he was talking about the concept of "delivering shareholder value". The captalist economy, in its present form, is obsessed with squeezing cost out of every operation so that shareholders can obtain the greatest reward. I consider that if a company delivers excellent service to customers, that will deliver far more value than aggressive cost cutting.

When the blame for this catastrophe is apportioned, how much will be attributed to American motorists who want to drive their gas guzzlers using absurdly cheap fuel?

[AnOther]

[quote user="andyh4"]Ernie, as you are in the industry perhaps you know different, but I would have thought it would take some time to find another deep ocean platform to drill the relief well.[/quote]The the global economic downturn has hit exploration quite significantly so I'm sure that there are plenty of mothballed drilling rigs around the place, the problem being mobilisation of course. Given the seriousness of the catastrophy though, and in the absence of something being available in a timely manner, I would expect another rig already working in the area to be commandeered but even if one were only a handful of miles away a move could take a couple of weeks before drilling commenced.

The fact that one relief well has already reached some 12,000ft suggests that the rig involved could well have already been on station and engaged in drilling for the same field in which case it may have been possible for them to partially pull up and kick off in the required direction or more likely start a completely new hole.

[Frederick]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/30/oil-spills-nigeria-niger-delta-shell

When it comes to oil spills ...what about this one ? Who is going to clean up this ....nobody !

 

[Théière]

International Rescue?

[Quillan]

[quote user="Clarkkent"]

When the blame for this catastrophe is apportioned, how much will be attributed to American motorists who want to drive their gas guzzlers using absurdly cheap fuel?

[/quote]

More to the point whilst BP are paying for all this out of their own pocket I keep getting the feeling that somebody else is going to have to pay in the end, no guessing on who thats going to be. [+o(]

[NickP]

[quote user="Théière"]

[quote user="NickP"]I find it quite amusing that everybody and his dog says they know how to cure the problem, shame that BP don't have the same information.   [Www][/quote]

Really, do you have a list of everyone and their pets who has a cure?

[/quote]

 

Not at hand, but the following address might be a good start.

4 Battersea Park Road
London
SW8 4AA

[:D]

[Clarkkent]

[quote user="Quillan"][quote user="Clarkkent"]

When the blame for this catastrophe is apportioned, how much will be attributed to American motorists who want to drive their gas guzzlers using absurdly cheap fuel?

[/quote]

More to the point whilst BP are paying for all this out of their own pocket I keep getting the feeling that somebody else is going to have to pay in the end, no guessing on who thats going to be. [+o(]

[/quote]

I hope that it will be the shareholders.

The retail supply of  fuel to motorists is a pretty cut-throat activity and petrol is seen by many motorists as a commodity product. Most purchase decisions are made on the basis of price and brand loyalty is low. Any attempt by BP to recover its losses at the pumps would probably result in a catastrophic reduction in sales.

[AnOther]

Hands up who thinks that the previous poster should get his superhuman a55 over the Gulf pronto [:D][:D][:D]

[pachapapa]

[quote user="andyh4"]

Ernie

as you are in the industry perhaps you know different, but I would have thought it would take some time to find another deep ocean platform to drill the relief well.

[/quote]

By the 30th April it was becoming apparent that attempts to use ROVs to actuate the recalcitrant BOP were doomed to failure and that a relief well would be required. The well was spudded over the weekend and drilling commenced on 02 May. On instructions from the White House a second relief well has been initiated.

But do come in Ernie please and illuminate Andy.[:P]

P.S.

Work Begins To Drill Relief Well To Stop Oil Spill

Release date: 04 May 2010

BP today announced that work has begun to drill a relief well to intercept and isolate the oil well that is spilling oil in the US Gulf of Mexico. The drilling began at 15:00CDT (21:00BST) on Sunday May 2.

The new well, in 5,000 feet of water, is planned to intercept the existing well around 13,000 feet below the seabed and permanently seal it. The new drill site is about half a mile on the seabed from the leaking well in Mississippi Canyon block 252, and drilling is estimated to take some three months.

[Quillan]

[quote user="Clarkkent"][quote user="Quillan"][quote user="Clarkkent"]

When the blame for this catastrophe is apportioned, how much will be attributed to American motorists who want to drive their gas guzzlers using absurdly cheap fuel?

[/quote]

More to the point whilst BP are paying for all this out of their own pocket I keep getting the feeling that somebody else is going to have to pay in the end, no guessing on who thats going to be. [+o(]

[/quote]

I hope that it will be the shareholders.

The retail supply of  fuel to motorists is a pretty cut-throat activity and petrol is seen by many motorists as a commodity product. Most purchase decisions are made on the basis of price and brand loyalty is low. Any attempt by BP to recover its losses at the pumps would probably result in a catastrophic reduction in sales.

[/quote]

I was thinking about your comment "On the BBC News 24 yesterday was an interview with the former head of Shell who said that in circumstances such as this all the oil majors would be co-operating with BP to help them solve this problem.". If they all put 0.5p or cents per litre on their prices it wouldn't take long before they got their money back. [;-)]

[Clarkkent]

[quote user="Quillan"]

I was thinking about your comment "On the BBC News 24 yesterday was an interview with the former head of Shell who said that in circumstances such as this all the oil majors would be co-operating with BP to help them solve this problem.". If they all put 0.5p or cents per litre on their prices it wouldn't take long before they got their money back. [;-)]

[/quote]

I must admit that that possibility did cross my mind - but that would be in restraint of trade, and the fines likely to be imposed on all the oil companies would pay off the UK's budget deficit. Perhaps it has some merit after all ....

[8-|]

[Clarkkent]

[quote user="AnOther"]Hands up who thinks that the previous poster should get his superhuman a55 over the Gulf pronto [:D][:D][:D]

[/quote]

But the crude is contaminated with kryptonite, otherwise no problem ...

[just john]

[quote user="Clarkkent"] The captalist economy, in its present form, is obsessed with squeezing cost out of every operation so that shareholders can obtain the greatest reward. [/quote]

You really don't think that environment protection gets a higher rating in a communist country like Russia or China do you!

This reminds me of a couple of Winnies quotes,

The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings;
the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy,
its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. 

and
You can always count on Americans to do the right thing -
after they've tried everything else. - Winston Churchill
 

 

[Clarkkent]

[quote user="just john "]

You really don't think that environment protection gets a higher rating in a communist country like Russia or China do you!

[/quote]

I think that where everything is concentrated on "the bottom line", capitalism red in tooth and claw is as ruthless as Stalinism or Maoism. I'm not quite sure how I would characterise modern China, it seems to be a one party capitalist country.

The saving grace of an open society is that open criticism is allowed - except where a miscreant company can obtain a super-injunction.

[pachapapa]

Gulf Oil Sunday WebCam.

http://edition.cnn.com/video/flashLive/live.html?stream=stream3