Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.
couldnt they drill a hole next to it and drop a bomb down to collapse the hole?
I know I’m really late to the party (just making a fashionable entrance) but what caused the original blowout?
As long as this pressure exceeds that in the well, the net result will then be that the mud begins to push the oil and gas back down the well, and the well fills up with mud. The weight of that mud should then be enough to exert a pressure on the bottom of the well that is enough to exceed the fluid pressure in the rock and therefore stabilize the well and stop the flow of fluid out. Cement can then be pumped into the well to seal the top end. (Or with the flow stopped, another BOP can be put on the well to seal it). The main worry is that the hole in the top of the BOP is small enough to contain the additional flow volumes, and not allow the entire flow to escape upwards rather than being forced down the well. The higher flows might, in addition, if they do exit the riser, further erode the openings. This could increase the oil flow, as it lowers the resistance. (If this happened then the LMRP will be deployed).
There are, however, a number of caveats to this operation. If the pressure in the well gets too high it can cause fractures in the rock at the bottom of the well, and this can cause the mud in the well to flow into the rock, rather than sitting in the well holding the pressure against the oil pressure.
There are also concerns with the condition of the bottom of the well, and whether this will have any impact on the flow of mud back down to the well and in sealing it.
Somebody remind me again why we have to drill underwater when we have all this land in Alaska with HUGE oil reserves under it?
Oh thats right- Juan McLame told us we have to keep it “pristine” ...so we can gaze at its virginal beauty or something, I dunno.
That’s why we bought Alaska, right? so we can look at it?
I don’t see why they are even bothering. Every armchair petroleum engineer knows the only solution is to nuke the well.
Bless you.
--if anyone out there has a reference to any wrap-up of the long term results of the Ixtoc leak in 1979 (went on for seven months, IIRC), I'd sure appreciate it---