Yeah, physics is wierd sh*t, man.
For some reason all those formulas haven't changed since they were figured out.
What the writer has failed to notice, is that the rig technology HAS changed, that the bits to drill the well are different (polycrystalline diamond cutters, now) driven by far more advanced mud motors, surveyed by MWD (measurement while drilling) tools which pump up a survey in six minutes or so as opposed to shutting down and running a wireline tool down the drill pipe to get a survey--and pulling it out and developing the film, or the other advances in technology which will enable those relief wells to be drilled in a third of the time the ones were for the Ixtoc 1.
Until the fundamentals change, the basic solutions will not.
Without good casing, the well will have to be killed from below. Some things just don't change.
BTW, there was a 'junk shot' on the Ixtoc well, but they used lead and iron balls, not golf balls.
No apples to oranges involved, they're both oil wells.
Ixtoc wasn’t spilling anywhere near what this one is.
Those relief wells are to do what in a few weeks?
Are they going to drill into the original well
and plug it, against 14,000 psi? Drill through the
original casing against 14,000 psi. Has this been done
before?
I think there is enough evidence that the well casing is
broken as the Oil Drum writer states, and shouldn’t
we use this possibility of what may happen to depressurize
whole field by drilling 100s of wells and using the
oil. Like filling tankers there instead of in the ME.
And getting connected to pipelines.
Granted either process scares the hell out of the powers
running things now,, powers being the greenies, the
socialists, the oil companies, ildouche and crew, etc.
Like going on as now and a complete collapse putting
an inch of oil all over the Gulf, or using the oil instead
of ME/Chavez oil, with gas dropping to a dollar thus
losing the government a quarter of their tax revenue,
and wells being drilled all over which greens don’t want,
but maybe a good excuse to creat a surplus oil
deal which definated helps all of us, the economy,
and lower pressure stops the chance of a huge disaster.
All these wells can be drilled to regulations, hooked up
immediately, not done with shortcuts like BP did and
ildouches crew allowed.Ed