Posted on 06/04/2010 9:18:54 PM PDT by GVnana
John Hofmeister and Nick Pozzi tell Fast Company how a possible solution to the Gulf Oil spill is sitting under BP's nose.
Underwater robots, containment domes, top hats, hot taps, junk shots ... the potential fixes to the Gulf Oil Spill sound like they come straight from a cringeworthy disaster flick (or a PR think tank). But what if the solution is right under our noses? What if it's already sitting in the Gulf? John Hofmeister, the former president of Shell Oil, and Nick Pozzi, a former pipeline engineering and operations project manager for Saudi Aramco, think it might be.
According to Hofmeister, oil supertankers could be used to suck up massive amounts of oil--possibly millions of barrels at a time.
In an interview with FastCompany.com, Hofmeister explained that a little-known Saudi oil spill from an offshore platform in the early 1990s dumped more crude into the sea than any spill in U.S. history (think hundreds of millions of gallons). But the government and local press kept it quiet. And that's why one of the big fixes in the Saudi oil spill--the oil-skimming supertanker--hasn't been publicized.
"[They] figured out how to deploy supertankers that had the ability to both intake and discharge liquids in vast quantities with huge pumps," Hofmeister explained. "The supertankers could simply suck in seawater and oil simultaneously--they can hold millions of barrels--and when full, they could discharge oil at a port into tanks where they could separate oil from water. The idea is novel in that you can get massive of oil amounts quickly." Once the supertankers make it to to the port, water can be treated and discharged, and oil can either be used or destroyed.
(Excerpt) Read more at forums.hannity.com ...
So the only thing stopping them from losing billions in a PR nightmare where they have extensive costs being racked up every day in two deepwater drilling rigs working around the clock, most of the deep sea submersibles in the world, plus a literal fleet of support vessels is a couple hundred grand for some magic plug, which they don't want to use, since they'll lose all that oil...
The conspiracy kinda falls apart really quickly, though. Have the oil spill out for a couple days, shut down the pipe with a 20 inch collet and a bolt, and then drill 'emergency relief wells' to suck up the oil. Seems a lot more cost effective and conspiracy friendly than letting the oil continue to spill out.
Odds are the reason why they haven't just 'cap and forget' the well is that it would be most likely that the pressures are so great that it would blow out the well pipe.
Well, I agree that lawyers are the solution. However, I’d still put a plug of cement over them to make sure they don’t get out.
This is what I don’t understand..why weren’t all the experts from all the oil companies from around the world called IMMEDIATELY to come up with fixes. IT MAKES NO FREAKING SENSE.
LOL
According to Michio Kaku, 22,000 lbs. psi.
BP doesn’t want to give up their turf. Understandable. But, the MMS and by extension, prez 0, could and should have consulted real experts, and not just movie directors. He voted ‘Present’ instead.
While Obama's doing everything possible to eclipse Jimmy Carter as the worst president in history, the whole 'Big Oil Is Stopping It' and 'The White House is forbidding it' conspiracy shill only works if you exclude the rest of the world from existing. As I pointed out, Venezuela would absolutely love to show up the United States and demonstrate what a great world citizen it is by cleaning up the mess. Cuba would surely be willing to lend it's flag to vessels, and if the US said a peep about it, they'd crucify Obama for wanting Cuba's beaches to be covered in oil.
It is a deepwater spill. BP's doing everything humanly possible to deal with it as quickly as possible. The White House is demonstrating how ineffective it is by trying to 'manage' this crisis, and instead is demonstrating how little they know, and how much their only real move is to waive their hands around in a panic, while real men and women are doing the hard work to get things fixed.
I guarantee you that if you really do have an instant solution, BP is waiting to take your call right now. Don’t delay, operators are standing by...
I've got a question. Why just BP? I know Obama's position is, "BP is liable, let them fix it," but that works for fender benders. This is a bigger problem.
What on earth could be wrong with opening the gates to every oil producer, major engineering firm, (Flour, etc.), every major engineering school on the planet and saying, "We want help and solutions, what have you got?"
17 countries, right out of the gate, offered help, expertise and equipment - obama turned all but 2 down - Mexico and Norway!!!!
Where is the reporting on this?
Which countries offered what?
We have a right to know what he refused and how much this disaster might have mitigated
“Let Rome burn?”
Early on I had also heard talks of special fire-proof booms that contain the oil, then you burn what you’ve contained. Up to 75,000 gallons a day. Have not heard anymore about it.
I heard this same thing on the radio a few weeks back.
This guy is one of the sharpest guys I know.
Where did you see that? I need to know.
In big situations, bureaucrats use the frozen rabbit technique of not moving and hoping nobody notices.
This situation is compounded by the Bamster, who has never done anything in his life except talk about how somebody else should do something. Remember during the elections when he was talking about how too many Americans didn't speak French? Of course he doesn't, either, but he thinks everyone else should. He sits at his Beatles concerts and plays golf and goes to barbecues and thinks that all he needs to do is go "Ya'll fix this" and it will happen.
This is my more charitable view of the Bamster. My tinfoil hat view is that he wants America destroyed. He has no love for this country.
Ive been saying the same ting!!!...let Free Enterprise loose and every Tom Dick and Harry will be out there with a shop vac and a crude separator!!!...at $70 a barrel...Hell...U do the math!!
Sit in the truck...we’ll get it!
Omoslem proves, every day, that he has 2 goals:
#1 Hurt the USA
#2 Help moslems
By dithering while this oil spill becomes a world-class nightmare, Omoslem accomplishes both goals.
Goal #2 above is accomplished as we gradually shut down domestic production + buy more Saudi oil instead of US/Euro oil from the Gulf.
Whenever Omoslem’s actions don’t seem to make sense, ask yourself, “What would a dirty moslem do?”
(PS. *wink*...Dont tell a down east clam digger he can have the oil for free...He’ll go to Walmart and buy a shop vac and a washing machine with a fast spin cycle and drive back in a Caddalac!
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