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Professor: Low pressure reading may suggest well has lost power, not that it's leaking
The Times-Picayune ^ | Friday, July 16, 2010, 2:04 PM | Jaquetta White, The Times-Picayune Jaquetta White, The Times-Picayune

Posted on 07/16/2010 1:10:44 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach

As a team of scientists works to interpret pressure readings inside the blown-out Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico, a geologist who has been following the gusher said a pressure reading of lower than the 8,000 to 9,000 pounds per square inch target that officials have said they are hoping for does not necessarily indicate bad news.

The 6,700 pound- per-square inch pressure reading logged inside the blown-out Macondo well this morning may suggest that the well has lost power over the almost three-month-long period it has flowed into the Gulf of Mexico and not that the well is leaking somewhere beneath the sea floor, a geologist who has been following the gusher said.

The reservoir could have "deflated" since it began leaking April 20, reducing the amount of pressure it is capable of producing, said Don Van Nieuwenhuise, Director of the Professional Geoscience Programs at the University of Houston.

(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; News/Current Events; US: Louisiana
KEYWORDS: bp; deephorz; deepwaterhorizon; energy; offshore; oil; oilspill
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To: tarheelswamprat

A HOLE lot of makeup....


21 posted on 07/16/2010 1:30:16 PM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously... You'll never live through it.)
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To: csmusaret

I have not heard either but based on the way 0 operates it must be a success. Otherwise you know darn well we would have heard about it.


22 posted on 07/16/2010 1:30:53 PM PDT by Drill Thrawl (Rahm and George at Doe's when the knife came down)
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To: oh8eleven
I think we're gunna need a bigger boat


23 posted on 07/16/2010 1:31:09 PM PDT by Puppage (You may disagree with what I have to say, but I shall defend to your death my right to say it)
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To: Current Occupant
Does that mean they will just abandon it and leave all that oil there?

All indications are that they will PERMANENTLY CLOSE that WELLHEAD.

The Relief wells were planned to (1) siphon off some of the oil/gas and PRESSURE, (2) to do a BOTTOM KILL.

The plan is to siphon the oil/gas off to the surface, after the Integrity/Pressure tests are done, but only until they can do the BOTTOM KILL. Once they do the BOTTOM KILL, it will either be closed, or we will find out how screwed we are.

If it works, then they will remove the WHOLE BOP on top of BOP assembly, right down to the ocean floor, bring it all topside, and tear it apart to see why the SHEAR RAM didn't close.

Now, they CAN drill another WELL to get to the same Reservoir. Except for that 'moratorium' Obama dictated.

IIRC, from all the sources I have read through, once a WELL experiences a BLOWOUT, then BY LAW that WELL must be CLOSED OFF and CANNOT be REUSED.

24 posted on 07/16/2010 1:31:15 PM PDT by UCANSEE2 (The Last Boy Scout)
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To: HushTX

I cannot believe I just watched that ;-)


25 posted on 07/16/2010 1:31:26 PM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously... You'll never live through it.)
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To: J Edgar
Oil spill media blackout hides worse spill from BP’s third ignored oil leak
26 posted on 07/16/2010 1:32:38 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum ("The only stable state is the one in which all men are equal before the law." -- Aristotle)
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To: UCANSEE2

BOP, SHA, BOP, DIDDY, DIDDY, DUM, DIDDY, DOO...


27 posted on 07/16/2010 1:33:53 PM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously... You'll never live through it.)
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To: Vendome
There is a leak and the White House knows it, maybe.

I had read an article that stated The White House was appraised of problems with a 'leak' from the sea floor, back in FEBRUARY.

28 posted on 07/16/2010 1:34:46 PM PDT by UCANSEE2 (The Last Boy Scout)
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To: csmusaret
... Speaking of news, has anyone heard what the “A Whale” is up to?. The last I heard was a couple of weeks ago. Any updates? ...
Good question. The last I heard was just before Alex came through. They where still running tests.
My suspicion is that the gases are so lethal on the surface in the Gulf, that the crew would be in big time danger. Just a wild A$$ guess, however.
29 posted on 07/16/2010 1:37:55 PM PDT by J Edgar
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To: DManA

I’ve always wondered, what fills the hole after the oil is gone?................


30 posted on 07/16/2010 1:38:03 PM PDT by Red Badger (No, Obama's not the Antichrist. But he does have him on speed dial...............)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
Below text from the Oil Drum Thread - BP's Deepwater Oil Spill - Results as the Testing Begins - and Open Thread

If the well pressure at the BOP is measured, however, at just shy of 7,000 psi then there are two possibilities. The first is that there has been so much flow of fluid out of the well that the driving pressure of the fluid in the rock has fallen by the 1,500 psi or so that brings the pressures down to those seen.

While that is a possibility, it may be unlikely because, at the time that the Top Kill was tried and as the Admiral noted just the other day, the well pressure could not be raised above 6,000 psi as they pumped in mud, even though at one stage they stopped the flow of oil out of the well.

31 posted on 07/16/2010 1:39:41 PM PDT by justa-hairyape
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To: J Edgar; E. Pluribus Unum
... This would explain why there is another plume of oil and Obama won’t let anybody get near it. ...

Nobody knows where it is, yet they know they can't get near it.

That makes sense.

On the other hand, if anyone could keep a monstrous plume of oil leaking into the ocean a SECRET, I would put my money on Obama. After all, have you seen his Birth Certificate?

32 posted on 07/16/2010 1:39:57 PM PDT by UCANSEE2 (The Last Boy Scout)
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To: Vendome

I can’t believe you watched it either!

I am here to bring you joy and a special kind of stupid.


33 posted on 07/16/2010 1:41:02 PM PDT by HushTX (quit whining)
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To: Red Badger

They supposedly pump in saltwater to help keep the pressure up as the reservoir is drained.


34 posted on 07/16/2010 1:41:04 PM PDT by justa-hairyape
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To: csmusaret
Speaking of news, has anyone heard what the “A Whale” is up to?. The last I heard was a couple of weeks ago. Any updates?

The "A WHALE" is pulling back into port in New Orleans to take Michelle Obama on a tour of the SPILL, as she returns to the GULF for her second visit.

When asked by the Media, "Why the A WHALE?", a government spokesman (who asked not to be named) said, "It just seemed appropriate."

(/s)

35 posted on 07/16/2010 1:45:17 PM PDT by UCANSEE2 (The Last Boy Scout)
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To: UCANSEE2

I don’t care who you are. That’s funny right there.


36 posted on 07/16/2010 1:47:33 PM PDT by csmusaret (A government that can dictate how much water flows into a toilet is a powerful government indeed.)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

guess we’ll find out when the gusher springs up inside the Astrodome


37 posted on 07/16/2010 1:47:52 PM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
Thank you very much for the link.
38 posted on 07/16/2010 1:47:57 PM PDT by J Edgar
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To: Buckeye McFrog

LOL


39 posted on 07/16/2010 1:49:25 PM PDT by BARLF
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To: NormsRevenge

Seems like a good plan to me.


40 posted on 07/16/2010 1:49:50 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach ( Support Geert Wilders)
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