That is my guess, they dont want them to see how bad it really is. Why else would they turn don free help?
The word over at “the oil drum” (an internet forum for oil workers to discuss various topics) is that BP engineers believe the well casing has been ruptured and is leaking under the sea floor. That means unless the relief wells work we are going to be dealing with one hell of an epic problem. If the well casing is ruptured, there is no way to kill the well from the top down.
Unfortunately none of them could say with any certainty just how much oil is in the reserve in question because, for one thing, the oil industry and secrecy have always been synonymous.
According to BP data from about five years ago, there are four separate reservoirs containing a total of 2.5 billion barrels (barrels not gallons). One of the reservoirs has 1.5 billion barrels. I saw an earlier post here quoting an Anadarko Petroleum report which set the total amount at 2.3 billion barrels.
I think I’ve read enough of this article and enough of the BP relief well plan to conclude the article is exaggerated at best, BS at worst.
Her is a key line from the article:
“They have shifted from stopping or restricting the gusher to opening it up and catching it. This only makes sense if they want to relieve pressure at the leak hidden down below the seabed.....”
No, having failed to stop the well from the top down, they are “catching” the oil now in order to keep it out of the environment until such time as they can kill the well from the bottom via the relief wells.
Attempting to recover the gushing oil in the meantime makes absolute sense and it is not true that this can only be taking place because “they want to relieve pressure at the leak hidden down below the seabed.....”
The article is BS.
Very interesting article, and links. Thanks for posting.
The link at Oil Drum is very depressing information. What a nightmare we are in for.
Praying that God will protect our country
Could the Deepwater Horizon disaster become the “Titanic” of the 21st century?
An unforseen incident that forces man to reassess his limitations?
Remember the Titanic was _more than_ “just another ship”. It represented (and was so stated to be) “unsinkable”. It was touted to be a pinnacle of technological progress, certainly symbolic of man’s [at the time] achievment. The designer of the ship actually told a passenger on board that “God himself could not sink this ship”.
And what happened next?
It was almost as if Divine Providence had intervened to put Man back into his place, to humble him before God and Nature.
And so it goes with the Deepwater Horizon.
Again, an outward symbol of progress and achievement. The hubris that we could drill a mile down, and control events as easily as on a Texas or Saudi plain. All the safety equipment was in place, along with the confidence that it would protect us if needed. And then.....?
We have no idea when this can be stopped with certainty, or, even HOW to stop it. Up to this point, all the logical avenues of action have not only failed, but failed miserably. Currently the only [seemingly] workable option is to limit the ongoing damage.
Say what you will about the sense or nonsense of the Obama administration halting all deepwater exploration, but the events speak for themselves.
Who’s willing to risk ANOTHER Deepwater Horizon?
Looks like it’s back to the drawing boards as far as energy exploration goes.
Perhaps it’s time for a true national discussion as to why we at once obstruct the extraction of “easy energy” at home, while tempting fate offshore.
Looks like fate has the edge, so far!
Were I Obama, I would have been on the phone with Exxon and Shell when the estimate when from 1K to 5K asking for thier best engineeers to be flow in immedately. But Obama had a fund raisers to go to and golf games to play.