Dumb question: Why not connect pipe to the well and relieve the pressure by allowing the oil rise to the surface and into waiting ships?
Still a better question:
Why don't they finish the relief wells?
That's what Thad Allen wants. BP management disagrees.
Not a dumb question, it's a question lots of people are asking. There was a lot of discussion over the last few months about sand and other debris flowing up the pipe along with the oil and gasses. Lots of articles talked about the pipe integrity being continually degraded by that constant sand blast. I wonder if there are concerns about continuing pipe degradation and that is part of the reason they don't want flow through the well.
>>Dumb question: Why not connect pipe to the well and >>relieve the pressure by allowing the oil rise to the >>surface and into waiting ships?
Not in line with green-technology. The whole point of this
“project” is to end off-shore (i.e. American) oil sources right after saying We’re For Drilling. Brilliant Psychopathy. For two more years. Oh, and buy a bike and invest in windmills. And move downtown.
“Dumb question: Why not connect pipe to the well and relieve the pressure by allowing the oil rise to the surface and into waiting ships?”
I was thinking the same ‘dumb’ thing. It seems to me that if they carefully extracted the oil (with extreme caution due to concerns over expanding methane), over time the pressure would go down, and whatever leakage is finding it’s way through the seep(s) would diminish as pressure is relieved. In my capitalist mind, the extracted oil could then be used to fund the coastal cleanup and related damages.