At least.
Not to mention the 1 million (and counting)gallons of PCB-laden dispersant.
This is a war crime in the Obama/BP axis war on America.
Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.
Posted on 06/08/2010 11:10:02 AM PDT by mojitojoe
Staring day after day at images of oil billowing from an undersea well in the Gulf of Mexico, many Americans are struggling to make sense of the numbers On Monday, BP said a cap was capturing 11,000 barrels of oil a day from the well. The official government estimate of the flow rate is 12,000 to 19,000 barrels a day, which means the new device should be capturing the bulk of the oil. But is it? With no consensus among experts on how much oil is pouring from the wellhead, it is difficult — if not impossible — to assess the containment cap’s effectiveness. BP has stopped trying to calculate a flow rate on its own, referring all questions on that subject to the government. The company’s liability will ultimately be determined in part by how many barrels of oil are spilled. The immense undersea gusher of oil and gas, seen on live video feed, looks as big as it did last week, or bigger, before the company sliced through the pipe known as a riser to install its new collection device. At least one expert, Ira Leifer, who is part of a government team charged with estimating the flow rate, is convinced that the operation has made the leak worse, perhaps far worse than the 20 percent increase that government officials warned might occur when the riser was cut. Dr. Leifer said in an interview on Monday that judging from the video, cutting the pipe might have led to a several-fold increase in the flow rate from the well. “The well pipe clearly is fluxing way more than it did before,” said Dr. Leifer, a researcher at the University of California, Santa Barbara. “By way more, I don’t mean 20 percent, I mean multiple factors.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Really? How would they know? By looking at the video of the leak? That’s really all anyone had until they started capturing some oil. Oh and who cares anyway? BP is trying to stop the leak regardless of how much is coming out. They spent money to get to this oil, I’m sure they want to stop the leak and pump as much as they can to pay for this venture. That is what they do.
“That is what they do.” Yeah, and they’re so careful about it, too - NOT. They would rather try these half-a$$ed systems designed to “capture” the flow so they can market it, even if it means letting the environment of the Gulf be destroyed. But hey, they don’t care about American beaches - they’re British! (Or are they based in Switzerland now?)
These guys have been lying sacks of it since BEFORE this blow-out - their entire application was studded with more falsehoods than a Christmas ham is studded with cloves.
“Oh and who cares anyway?” Try the residents of every seaboard state from Louisiana to Maine.
At least.
Not to mention the 1 million (and counting)gallons of PCB-laden dispersant.
This is a war crime in the Obama/BP axis war on America.
I understand that many Americans believe that government is the solution to all problems including this oil leak however, we need to leave the plugging of this well to the Private Sector.
Learn to read. The “who cares” comment was directed to the flow of oil in the leak. BP is trying to stop the leak and capture as much of the oil as they can. In their business they would be trying to end this quickly regardless of the flow. That is how they stay in business. In the oil business, greed is the primary motivator and they don’t make money on oil that washes up on beaches. That is a good thing.
You either missed this salient point on purpose or you don’t know enough to continue this conversation.
“It’s BP well, their oil, and their mess to clean up...” which is why they spun off American operations this week, eh? Nothing like planning to declare bankruptcy to make sure you aren’t stuck with the costs. Obama just sent them a bill for $69 billion for cleanup thus far.
It may be “their oil” but it’s OUR country that these criminals are destroying. And by criminals, I mean just that. Or have you forgotten Texas City so soon?
You know the rules. People who have actually made their living in the oil industry are not allowed to post real world facts on these Big Oil conspiracy threads.
RoT, I knew exactly what you were saying. I was telling you that there are people who definitely care about the “flow of oil in the leak” even if it doesn’t matter to you.
Greed must be the primary motivator, because being good neighbors isn’t demonstrated by most oil productions companies. The oil industry around the world has a habit of wastefulness of the resources it is supposed to shepherd. Take a look at what has happened to Nigerian delta - where more than 40% of America’s oil is produced. Networks of rusting pipes and storage tanks, corroding pipelines, semi-derelict pumping stations and old wellheads, as well as tankers and vessels cleaning out tanks- at least 1.5 million tons of oil has been leaked into the delta in the past 50 years. The oil companies don’t care about the leaks - why should they? There’s always more crude, and they don’t live there anyway. They don’t make money from oil that washes up on beaches, but why should they care? They’re making money anyway.
But you can read about this stuff as well as the rest of us can.
The problems in Nigeria are the result of Nigeria’s government. You can’t do a lick of business there without bribing somebody. Of course it would be crazy to expect them to clean up their own country, so we must blame someone else. Someone who isn’t so ethnic, right?
People looking at the video are being deceived by at least two factors when they guess the flow rate.
1) Geometry - with the current arrangement, the “size” the flow appears on the screen makes the flow look greater by at least a square factor ... eg.- if it “looks” half the size compared to earlier, the flow is at best 25% of the earlier flow rate.
2) “Billowing” of the included gas - as “slugs” of gas approach freedom from the confining pressure of the well, they expand explosively. This makes the flow appear much greater than it would otherwise. This aspect was most clearly visible before the current top hat was emplaced. That situation was very similar to a huge naval cannon. As the gas expanded explosively it propelled the oil at a much greater velocity than if oil alone was being released. Most people don’t realize that the gas:oil ratio is on the order of 3000:1, or the velocity increase resulting as gas is released from the pressure drop within the BOP.
There are other effects also, such as lens distortion, but I am not going to cover those here.
Bottom line - as I see this after studying and seriously considering the video available “Before and After” BP drew oil out from under the cap:
1. It is indisputable that the bulk of the oil is being removed now. The “fins” of the hat were hardly visible when it was first emplaced. Now, they are very prominent, and it is even at times possible to view the body of the hat.
2. Over the last several days, as “production” was raised up to the current 15,000 bbl/day, definite change was clear and progressive each day. That will no longer be the case since the DrillShip enterprise production capacity is now reached.
3. I estimate that more than 75% of the release is now being processed - and therefore the “free flow” of the oil from the pipe is currently under 20,ooo bbl/day, far below the huge estimates made by some earlier. My guesstimate from current evidence is that the flow will be found to be 17,500 bbl/day (+/- 1000) . I suspect that when the flow group releases their guesstimates later this week they will say “17 - 22,ooo” though at least that discredited Purdue guy (on the group) will continue to say “much much more”.
I wish that I had access to better video near the top of hat, where the vents are located, but I haven’t been able to locate appropriate feeds, but I must go with what I do have.
The only time we will have perfect flow numbers is when phase three is finally implemented in early July or so with the overshot tool in place, when nearly all the freeflowing crude is captured. (Unfortunately, with erosion of the guts of the BOP, that flow will be higher than it is now)
Uhh...no.
You all will love my guesstimate in post#30
By the way, worst-case: the worst case scenerio here would almost certainly be brought about by what you would like done with this: immediate total welding of some type of cap to stop the flow. That would certainly result in a massive failure of the casing structure, and complete lack of ability to capture the bulk of the release, as is being done now.
No idea what ethnicity you are. And Nigeria is a fetid cesspool of corruption and criminality. Pipelines are sabotaged by rebels constantly.
But that is still no excuse for rotting pipelines, degrading facilities, leaks that flow for weeks and months without any work to stop them. If BP and Pemco and Exxon-Mobil think that they can’t control the situation because of Nigeria’s government or political situation, they still haven’t ceased doing business there. It must be profitable in spite of the oil lost to leaking pipelines and the bribes.
“Of course it would be crazy to expect someone to clean up their own country...” do you mean of politicians, or of oil spills?
Ok, you hate oil companies. I get it. Good luck getting Ben & Jerry to fill up your car.
40%? What math system are you using? 5% is about right.
We currently use about 18.5~19.0 BPD of oil products.
These days, we get average less than 1.0 BPD of oil and oil products from Nigeria.
I would further state that the Federal government has royalty rights on all oil that comes from this well head. For this reason it is important to quantify the amount of oil which is going into the gulf (whether later recovered or not). BP owes us dollars for it.
In addition certain fines are based upon the amount of oil spilled. Another reason to count the amount released.
Also an understanding of how much is coming out and the nature of what is coming out is essential to determining what actions need to be taken to mitigate the environmental impact.
Strawman argument, RoT. No one here is advocating ice-cream-fueled autos.
I hate that BP lied repeatedly, cheaped out on their systems, flouted their own safety regs, pushed for production on this rig, and then blew it and their employees up. Now the American taxpayer is left with this gigantic cock-up.
God forbid that the entire industry operate the way these scumsuckers have.
What I don’t get is why you can’t acknowledge that BP is the bad actor in this fiasco.
My mistake in not proofreading carefully. Nigeria does not account for 40% of our imports. It’s the US that accounts for 40% of Nigeria’s oil exports.
You’re right, in that Nigeria is only the fifth largest provider of oil to the US. The top five importers account for about 65% of all the oil imported into the States. Thanks for the charts.
It might be BP’s job to stop the gusher, but it’s the Presidents duty to try to contain and control the runaway oil.
He has refused the help of many foreign countries and private citizens, and not allowed LA to take preventative measures.
What he has done is mix the oil with the water through the use of Corexit dispersant, manufactured in Chicago.
What positive action has he taken which is of any significance?
In a word....zero.
Very good and quick points about Zero’s responsibility and activity here. Nice work.
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