'Not for public': the oil spill may be getting much worse

[stickdog99]

I was very surprised that BP got that much pressure on shut-in and that it did not fall off. Normally on a failed test, the pressure will peak and then start to fall off as it leaks. BHP (bottom hole pressure) is around 13,500 psi and to get half that at the well head is not terrible. It is very difficult to estimate or calculate the shut in well head pressure when the formation fluid's properties are unknown (the shut-in well head pressure is reduced by the hydrostatic head of the formation fluids in the well). Heck, it's hard even when they are known (compressibility and phase states of gases).

At least they are not going to try something really stupid like bullheading the well (top kill). I read an article and saw a video which said they are going to try to relieve the pressure by producing it to the surface. BP's insistence on keeping the well shut in is not good. This whole affair should have been handed over to a competent oil company under the auspices of an emergency governmental body from the beginning. That BP is still calling the shots has me greatly concerned.

Hugo, you spoke too soon.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/20/us/20oilspill.html

Kent Wells, a senior vice president for BP, said the company was studying the possibility of a “static kill,” in which heavy mud would be pumped into the recently capped well. Also known as bullheading, the procedure would force the oil and gas back down into the reservoir.

“The static kill does give us a new option,” he said at a briefing in Houston. A decision to proceed could be made in several days, Mr. Wells said.

He said that the procedure could speed the process of sealing the well and that the digging of a relief well, which has been seen as the ultimate solution and could be completed by August, might be needed only to confirm that the technique had worked.

[crikkett]

Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen will make the final decisions on the next step.
...

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/mon ... etail.html

I lift a toast to Adm. Thad Allen.

IIRC he was supposed to have retired in May. Whether it's the best thing or the worst thing to have happened to him (depending upon whether or not he actually saves the world) this is certainly the most ironic, dramatic and exciting thing that could have happened to him.

I hope his wife loves and supports him. I think he's a hero, but I may not have enough information to make that call.

[stickdog99]

I'm definitely curious about Allen's heroic exploits.

[stickdog99]

BP: 90 days later, we still can't handle collecting all the oil from the gusher

The company said yesterday it stands ready to resume burning about 8,000 barrels of oil a day aboard the Q4000 vessel, and to collect as much as 25,000 barrels a day aboard the production ship Helix Producer I. BP is continuing work to connect two other vessels that would bring total capturing capacity to as much as 80,000 barrels a day.

To resume surface collection, BP would have to spill oil into the Gulf for several days to reduce pressure enough for the ships to handle the flow, and clear the well of any sand that may have collected, Allen said.

[ninakat]

Scientists have discovered four gas "seeps" at or near BP's blown-out Macondo well since Saturday, but at this point, the federal government doesn't believe they're a problem and will allow BP to leave the cap on the well for another 24 hours while it watches for signs of ruptures in the underground portion of the well.

Bubbles have been spotted on the seabed about three kilometers away from the well, a few hundred meters from the well, at the base of the original blowout preventer on the well, and coming out of a gasket in the flange on the capping stack that was installed last week.

...

http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill ... _a_pr.html

There's your problem right there. It (the nebulous "government") really couldn't give a shit, in the final analysis. This is really playing out very, very badly because of their supposed ineptitude. Sorry folks, ninakat doesn't buy the incompetence theory any longer. These people are truly evil. I don't know why I'm acting surprised. I guess it's just such a huge sign of their complete disregard for the planet and for mankind's future -- and it's frankly overwhelming and very frightening. And we're absolutely powerless to turn this around, that's the hell of it.

(stickdog, good to see you around -- thanks for the input on this thread, which I'm trying to keep up with -- it's so damn complex but so damn important)

[Nordic]

America blog busts BP's photoshop job on their website.

http://www.americablog.com/2010/07/bp-p ... mmand.html

Washington Post now has story:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 05256.html

Jesus Christ, these idiots can't even photoshop a picture competently.

[DoYouEverWonder]

America blog busts BP's photoshop job on their website.

http://www.americablog.com/2010/07/bp-p ... mmand.html

Washington Post now has story:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 05256.html

Jesus Christ, these idiots can't even photoshop a picture competently.

If they're lying about the little stuff, then they're probably lying about the big stuff too.

Why go through the trouble to fake a photo like this? Just to try to make themselves look better then reality?

Remember BP controls the ROVs and the cameras. What kind of games are they playing with those images?

[stickdog99]

Well blowout caused by BP using well to dispose of toxic waste

In the hours before the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded, BP pumped into the well an extraordinarily large quantity of an unusual chemical mixture, a contractor on the rig testified Monday.

The injection of the dense, gray fluid was meant to flush drilling mud from the hole, according to the testimony before a government panel investigating the April 20 accident. But the more than 400 barrels used were roughly double the usual quantity, said Leo Lindner, a drilling fluid specialist for contractor MI-Swaco.

BP had hundreds of barrels of the two chemicals on hand and needed to dispose of the material, Lindner testified. By first flushing it into the well, the company could take advantage of an exemption in an environmental law that otherwise would have prohibited it from discharging the hazardous waste into the Gulf of Mexico, Lindner said.

The procedure mixed two substances. "It's not something we've ever done before," Lindner said.

[smoking since 1879]

[NeonLX]

Well blowout caused by BP using well to dispose of toxic waste

In the hours before the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded, BP pumped into the well an extraordinarily large quantity of an unusual chemical mixture, a contractor on the rig testified Monday.

The injection of the dense, gray fluid was meant to flush drilling mud from the hole, according to the testimony before a government panel investigating the April 20 accident. But the more than 400 barrels used were roughly double the usual quantity, said Leo Lindner, a drilling fluid specialist for contractor MI-Swaco.

BP had hundreds of barrels of the two chemicals on hand and needed to dispose of the material, Lindner testified. By first flushing it into the well, the company could take advantage of an exemption in an environmental law that otherwise would have prohibited it from discharging the hazardous waste into the Gulf of Mexico, Lindner said.

The procedure mixed two substances. "It's not something we've ever done before," Lindner said.

So when do the criminal proceedings start?!?

AHAHAHA! Just kidding...

[Nordic]

Well blowout caused by BP using well to dispose of toxic waste

In the hours before the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded, BP pumped into the well an extraordinarily large quantity of an unusual chemical mixture, a contractor on the rig testified Monday.

The injection of the dense, gray fluid was meant to flush drilling mud from the hole, according to the testimony before a government panel investigating the April 20 accident. But the more than 400 barrels used were roughly double the usual quantity, said Leo Lindner, a drilling fluid specialist for contractor MI-Swaco.

BP had hundreds of barrels of the two chemicals on hand and needed to dispose of the material, Lindner testified. By first flushing it into the well, the company could take advantage of an exemption in an environmental law that otherwise would have prohibited it from discharging the hazardous waste into the Gulf of Mexico, Lindner said.

The procedure mixed two substances. "It's not something we've ever done before," Lindner said.

Holy shit!

When the well became a gusher on April 20, a fluid that fit the general description of the mixture rained down on the rig.

Stephen Bertone, chief engineer on the rig, said in testimony earlier in the day that part of the rig was covered in an inch or more of material that he said resembled "snot."

Sure, a deepwater oil rig is just one big TOILET to be used by the oil companies. Good GOD!

[beeline]

Link

Is experimental well cap making disaster worse?

COLLEEN LONG and MATTHEW DALY

The Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS - Scientists huddled Tuesday to analyze data from the ocean floor as they weigh whether a leaking well cap is a sign BP's broken oil well is buckling.

Oil and gas started seeping into the Gulf of Mexico again Sunday night, but this time more slowly, and scientists aren't sure whether the leaks mean the cap that stopped the flow last week is making things worse.

The government's point man on the disaster, retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, will decide again later Tuesday whether to continue the test of the experimental cap , meaning the oil would stay blocked in.

He said Monday the amount of oil leaking was so far inconsequential. But ever since the flow of oil was closed off Thursday, engineers have been glued to underwater cameras and pressure and seismic readings, trying to determine whether the cap is displacing pressure and causing leaks underground, which could make the sea bed unstable and cause the well to collapse.

"As a condition of moving forward with the well-integrity test, BP has to report to us any anomalies and act on those within four hours," Allen said Monday.

Seepage from the sea floor also was detected over the weekend less than two miles away, but Allen said it probably has nothing to do with the well. Oil and gas are known to ooze naturally from fissures in the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.

At a Monday afternoon briefing in Washington, Allen said BP could keep the cap closed at least another 24 hours, as long as the company remained alert for leaks.

For those whose livelihood depends on clean waters, worries about the cap were tempered by relief that the oil stopped gushing.

"I'm for anything that will stop the oil from coming," said Capt. Ty Fleming, who runs charter fishing trips in Orange Beach, Ala. said Tuesday. "I guess when you've got how many million gallons pouring out before, and now you have less, it's like comparing a coconut hitting you in the head with a raisin. The raisin would be insignificant."

BP and the government had been at odds over the company's desire to simply leave the cap in place and employ it like a giant cork in a bottle until a relief well being drilled deep underground can be used to plug up the well permanently.

Allen initially said his preference was to pipe oil through the cap to tankers on the surface to reduce the slight chance that the buildup of pressure inside the well would cause a new blowout. That plan would require releasing millions more gallons of oil into the ocean for a few days during the transition , a spectacle BP apparently wants to avoid.

On Monday, Allen budged a bit, saying unless larger problems develop, he's not inclined to open the cap.

Also on the table: Pumping drilling mud through the top of the cap and into the well bore to stop up the oil flow. The idea is similar to the failed top kill plan that couldn't overcome the pressure of the geyser pushing up.

BP said it could work now because there's less oil to fight against, but it wasn't clear how such a method would affect the cap's stability. Allen said the relief well was still the plan for a permanent fix.

BP and the government are still trying to understand why pressure readings from the well are lower than expected. Allen offered two possible explanations: The reservoir the oil is gushing from is dwindling, or there is an undiscovered leak somewhere down in the well.

"I'm not prepared to say the well is shut in until the relief well is done," which is still several weeks away, Allen said. "There are too many uncertainties."

BP and the Coast Guard learned that lesson the hard way after they initially said no oil was coming from the site of the Deepwater Horizon rig after it exploded April 20, killing 11 workers. Even after it became clear there was a leak, the company and its federal overseers drastically underestimated its size for weeks.

Government investigators are trying to determine whether BP missed a leak of hydraulic fluid in a critical safety device that could have prevented the disaster. A drilling supervisor testified Tuesday that he reported the leak to his supervisor weeks before explosion.

Ronald Sepulvado, a BP well site leader, told a panel of government investigators in suburban New Orleans he didn't know if federal regulators were notified of the leak, as required.

Work on a permanent plug is moving steadily, with crews drilling into the side of the ruptured well from deep underground. By next week, they could start blasting in mud and cement to block off the well for good. Killing the well deep underground works more reliably than bottling it up with a cap.

Somewhere between 94 million and 184 million gallons have gushed into the Gulf over the past three months in one of America's worst environmental crises.

BP PLC said the cost of dealing with the spill has now reached nearly $4 billion. The company said it has made payments totaling $207 million to settle claims for damages. Almost 116,000 claims have been submitted and more than 67,500 payments have been made. BP stock was down slightly Monday.

"I'm hoping that they'll get everything cleaned up within the next one to two years. Let's hope things will get back to normal," said Terry Lash, manager of Doc's Seafood Shack & Oyster Bar in Orange Beach, Ala. "We're hurting really bad, but there are other restaurants that are worse than we are."

[stickdog99]

Bullshitters will try to bullhead

I'm listening to Kent Wells Monday afternoon McBriefing. After all of the normal generalities, he has just dropped the bomb that they're considering the "static kill". He said that it's not approved and they studying it, and then did not elaborate. So far, the press hasn't picked up on it and are mostly focused on the Hatfields and McCoys style feud that kicked up yesterday after the Suttles briefing.

In his brief introduction of the "static kill" he did mention that the lower than expected wellhead pressure had raised the possibility of this procedure working. Platts Oilgram (an industry rag) finally asked the question as to how it worked, and he described a procedure that is called "bullheading" even though he didn't use that term. To bullhead is to pump into a well from the top rather than circulating in through a pipe inside the well. This can work in a static well if you can get mud to start into the well and don't exceed the working pressure of the wellhead. As more mud is pumped in, hydrostatic pressure from the heavier mud will build, pushing the oil and gas back down the well. It differs from the top kill in that the well is shut in (thus, static), and they now have a closed system rather than the leaky riser they dealt with in the last kill. The problem with this procedure is the limitation of the wellhead equipment, in this case the BOP and components, which still concerns me because of the flex joint and riser connector that we have discussed in detail several times.

I predict that they will try this. Anything to keep from opening the well and measuring the flow. We'll continue to watch this, and I'll update as more becomes available.

[stickdog99]

Bob Cavnar discusses BP's motivations on Countdown

[No_Baseline]

Had to link a copy to the whole article, sorry. I think the part blaming as many other linked companies speaks for the sorry-article-mess

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jul/2 ... s-reviewed

Don't single out BP over oil damages, David Cameron warns USUS Congress urged to temper thoughts of legal backlash against oil giant

(33)Tweet this (33)Patrick Wintour in Washington The Guardian, Wednesday 21 July 2010 Article history
David Cameron and Barack Obama in the Oval Office. The PM has rejected congressional calls for a full inquiry into the release of the Lockerbie bomber. Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

David Cameron yesterday warned US legislators not to pass laws designed to make BP uniquely responsible for the Gulf oil spill, so pushing compensation demands and fines up to levels that the oil giant could not absorb.

Insisting he did not want "a war of words" with America over BP, he said there had been speculation that compensation and fines could rise to as much as $40bn (£26bn).

Speaking on ABC television, he said: "We need to be clear about what BP's responsibility is: cap the well, yes, clear up the mess, yes, make compensation, yes absolutely – but would it be right to have legislation that independently targets BP rather than other companies? I don't think that would be right.

"Would it be right to say that BP has to pay compensation for damages that were nothing to do directly with the spill? I don't think that would be right."

Cameron believes he largely has Barack Obama's support on this issue, and that the White House wants to persuade congressmen to temper their demands, even though they are under pressure due to the midterm elections.

Some congressmen have been calling for changes to the law, rather than having compensation claims against BP settled in the courts under existing law.

British officials stressed that while the issue of BP did come up in the 75-minute private talks yesterday between Obama and Cameron, and again at lunch, the bulk of the discussion had been on Afghanistan, and the latest plan to sideline the Taliban by refocusing aid, rooting out corruption, training the Afghan security forces and reaching a comprehensive political settlement that excluded hardline Taliban.

Cameron also continued to scale back what victory will look like when British troops leave Afghanistan by 2015.

He said: "We are not in Afghanistan to create the perfect democracy or the perfect society." But he insisted it will no longer be a safe haven for terrorists.

The prime minister and the president also found time to discuss sanctions against Iran, the need to restart face-to-face Middle East peace talks between Palestinians and Israel, and even the fate of Gary McKinnon, accused of hacking into the Pentagon computers.

By the end of the day there seemed a genuine warmth between the two men, who share a similarly direct and analytical approach.

British officials had resigned themselves to BP overshadowing some of Cameron's efforts to forge a strong personal relationship with Obama and start making a political mark in Washington as a much needed new substantial centrist figure from Europe.

The oil spill, and more recently the revival of interest in BP's murky role in lobbying for oil exploration rights by pressing the case for a Libya-UK prisoner transfer scheme, meant BP was going to dominate the public side of his first visit as prime minister.

The interest frustrated some of the Cameron team as they were two events over which Cameron has had absolutely no direct influence.

BP has admitted that the lobbying on the prisoner transfer agreement in 2007 was designed to get Libyan backing for an exploration agreement.

The claim has prompted the US foreign affairs committee to stage hearings on the issue on 29 July and Cameron yesterday promised full co-operation.

BP has said that its lobbyist, a former UK intelligence agent, did not specifically lobby for the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, jailed in Scotland for the 1988 Lockerbie bomb. But it was clear that Obama, like Cameron, did not want to turn the issue of BP's reviled behaviour into a UK-US issue. Cameron argued "it should not be an issue between the two countries", pointing out that BP has "39% of its shareholders in the US and 40% in the UK".

Obama also went out of his way not to be drawn on whether BP had been right to lobby for a prisoner release scheme that might have contributed to the release Megrahi.

Cameron said there was no mystery on how Megrahi came to be allowed to return to Libya last August, saying it had been the misguided decision of the Scottish executive in Edinburgh on compassionate grounds, because he has cancer.

"It was the biggest mass murder in British history, and there was no business letting him out of prison," Cameron said.

He said that he and Obama were in "violent agreement" on that.

The fact that Megrahi is still alive a year later when doctors had predicted he would only survive three months only made matters worse. He had served eight years of a life sentence for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in which 270 people died.

There have been calls for Megrahi's medical records to be released, along with the minutes of two phone calls between BP lobbyists and the former justice secretary, Jack Straw, in January 2009. Earlier this year, Straw turned down a freedom of information request.

British officials said in Washington last night: "The previous government have already released a lot of information under FoI requests. If there is any further pertinent information deemed to be relevant, we would be happy to consider that."

Figures from the Labour government including Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Straw would have to be consulted first, but would not have the power to veto any release, the officials said.

A British official rejected calls to demand Megrahi's return from Libya. "A decision has been taken," he said. "He is no longer in a Scottish prison. There is no legal process for his return."

The scale of the congressional heat on the issue had taken some British officials by surprise. Embassy staff had initially rejected a request from four senators to meet the prime minister. Cameron reversed that decision, and was to meet them at the British embassy tonight to try to prevent the row spiralling out of control.

Speaking on ABC television, he said: "We need to be clear about what BP's responsibility is: cap the well, yes, clear up the mess, yes, make compensation, yes absolutely – but would it be right to have legislation that independently targets BP rather than other companies? I don't think that would be right.