BP's Deepwater Oil Spill - The Two Options - and Open Thread

The Oil Drum ^ | August 17, 2010 - 10:33am | Heading Out

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

So who makes the decision? BP are now faced with a couple of problems that may have arisen because of a false assumption early in the process, about the condition of the well. They have now been led to two different choices, as to how to proceed with the final steps. Let me explain what I mean and how, I believe, these came about.

At the beginning of the disaster, when the plans were being made to bring in a relief well to seal the bottom of the flowing well, it was necessary to make a number of decisions. One of these had to be where the relief well should intersect the well that was flowing.

If you go back to those times there was an increasingly dominant viewpoint that developed in the early weeks that the failure had been in the cement surrounding the production casing, and that, as a result, the oil and gas was flowing up the outside of the production casing, through the gap between it and the liner segments higher in the well, and then through a failed seal in the BOP, down into the main flow channel and up through the center of the BOP.

Accordingly when the relief well was planned, it was assumed that there was a flow channel that had developed down through the cement in the annulus to the reservoir. The path of the relief well was therefore aimed so that it would intersect the annulus at the top of the gap below the last lined segment of the well. Once there it would allow a check that there was flowing oil, and could then be used to force mud and then cement into the annulus to displace the oil. The cement would push the existing fluids down the well, back into the reservoir, and thus create an 800-ft long plug in the annulus. If there were indications that there was still some flow up through the production casing, then the relief well would have re-drilled through the injected cement, and then, using a milling bit, cut an access slot through the casing.

***********************************This is an EXCERPT*******************************

[Marine_Uncle]

Heading Out does a nice job as usual of describing the scenario as it develops. I bookmarked this one for future use.
I am a bit amused however that admiral Allen or for that matter those from the Fed/State side as well as BP would even blink at a mere thousand gallons of oil being dumped at most into the water at this point.
With thousands of gallons per hour entering the GOM every minuted due to natural seepage almost makes this a joke.
Where is the ACLU on this. Don't the oil eating microbes have any rights? They are being deprived of their natural food.

[Marine_Uncle]

Rockman’s reply to Syncro was most interesting.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Don't the oil eating microbes have any rights?

ROFL!