Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

BP oil leak: Fallen Deepwater Horizon was tapping second largest oil deposit in the world
Examiner.com/Miami ^ | 5/23/2010 | Maryann Tobin

Posted on 05/24/2010 7:56:01 PM PDT by mojitojoe

BP oil leak: Fallen Deepwater Horizon was tapping second largest oil deposit in the world

If there is a single aspect to the dangers of the BP oil leak, it lies in the question CEO Tony Hayward and other BP executives have been avoiding since the first drop of oil went rogue: How much oil is leaking?

The real answer is - more than anyone wants to admit, because the well holds enough oil to make Saudi Arabian drillers jealous.

The oil field the Deepwater Horizon had tapped is said to be the second largest deposit in the world. Viewzone.com reports, “The site covers an estimated 25,000 square miles, extending from the inlands of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Texas. “

The oil deposit is so large, it could produce 500,000 barrels of a day for more than a decade.

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


TOPICS: Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bp; deephorz; deepwaterhorizon; energy; gulfofmexico; offshore; oil; oilspill
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 381-389 next last
Considering the size of the deposit, if BP loses control of the flow completely, the scope of the disaster would be unfathomable.

The New York Times has reported that scientists suspect the leak is thousands of times larger than what BP has been reporting. Some estimates are as high as one million gallons a day.

Rock particles, gas and oil escaping under pressure are pushing against the capstone on the sea floor that surrounds the actual well. If it collapses, the canyon of oil will escape with a vengeance.

1 posted on 05/24/2010 7:56:01 PM PDT by mojitojoe
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: mojitojoe

Thanks for posting. Interesting and scary.


2 posted on 05/24/2010 7:57:25 PM PDT by conservative cat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mojitojoe

Nuke it. It’s the only way to be sure.


3 posted on 05/24/2010 7:59:11 PM PDT by Travis McGee (---www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com---)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Travis McGee

Nuke something that big? I don’t know...


4 posted on 05/24/2010 8:00:36 PM PDT by virgil
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: virgil

Nuke it??? Im missing something.


5 posted on 05/24/2010 8:01:46 PM PDT by GoCards ("We eat therefore we hunt...")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Travis McGee

Are you serious? I thought Russia tried that and it didn’t work. The thought of that scares the hell out of me.


6 posted on 05/24/2010 8:02:01 PM PDT by mojitojoe (banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Thomas Jefferson)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Travis McGee

7 posted on 05/24/2010 8:02:25 PM PDT by Dallas59 (President Robert Gibbs 2009-2013)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: mojitojoe

Looks like I’ll be “boycotting” the Gulf of Mexico this year. Guess I’ll stay right here in Arizona. We may not have an ocean but we’ve got some awesome sun tea!


8 posted on 05/24/2010 8:02:48 PM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (Kiss my AZ!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mojitojoe

UGH.

Man.... unimaginable.

I have been watching two different live webcams:
http://www.livestream.com/oilspill
http://globalwarming.house.gov/spillcam

On the second link, you can see equipment in front of the Plume. That was not there earlier today. They are moving equipment into place.


9 posted on 05/24/2010 8:02:50 PM PDT by Danae (Don't like the Constitution, try living in a country with out one.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Travis McGee
Nuke it. It’s the only way to be sure.

Let's jam something hotter than the sun into the second largest oil deposit on earth.
10 posted on 05/24/2010 8:04:06 PM PDT by aruanan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: mojitojoe

What slyentists, and how is it possible to hide a leak allegedly that big?

And so what if the capstone is experiencing pressure from beneath. Drilling the well couldn’t increase the pressure from what it was before. How many spontaneous gushers have we seen in the world?


11 posted on 05/24/2010 8:04:11 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (I am in America but not of America (per bible: am in the world but not of it))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: virgil

The leak is 5,000 feet down, but the drilled hole is 17,000 feel below that to the deposit.

THe idea is to crush and fuse the top few 100 feet of sea floor to seal off the drilled hole, despite the pressure of the oil coming up.


12 posted on 05/24/2010 8:04:47 PM PDT by Travis McGee (---www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com---)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: mojitojoe

Obama Admin Gave BP Rig ‘SAFETY AWARD’ Last Year Investigation Not As Claimed

AP investigations have shown that the doomed rig was allowed to operate without safety documentation required by MMS regulations for the exact disaster scenario that occurred; that the cutoff valve which failed has repeatedly broken down at other wells in the years since regulators weakened testing requirements; and that regulation is so lax that some key safety aspects on rigs are decided almost entirely by the companies doing the work.

http://tinyurl.com/25ozv9f


13 posted on 05/24/2010 8:05:14 PM PDT by kcvl
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Travis McGee

The thought of all that all over the Florida coastlines is making me pretty damn nervous. It would crush the state when the tourists stopped coming. Everyone I know is freaking the hell out. That live cam doesn’t help. Everyone is glued to it.


14 posted on 05/24/2010 8:05:35 PM PDT by mojitojoe (banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Thomas Jefferson)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: HiTech RedNeck

I don’t buy that eather. THe deposit is 17,000 feet below the sea floor.


15 posted on 05/24/2010 8:05:36 PM PDT by Travis McGee (---www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com---)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: mojitojoe
Rock particles, gas and oil escaping under pressure are pushing against the capstone on the sea floor that surrounds the actual well. If it collapses, the canyon of oil will escape with a vengeance.

How bad? Do you have some links?

16 posted on 05/24/2010 8:06:01 PM PDT by GOPJ (...man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth-Gilbert K. Chesterton)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mojitojoe

If all of the rube goldberg machines fail, every 2 weeks or so, and we end up in desperation nuking it 3 months from now....

WOuld it not make more sense to nuke it now?


17 posted on 05/24/2010 8:06:37 PM PDT by Travis McGee (---www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com---)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: GoCards
It's been discussed. I have no idea if it would be smart, but some people believe that a nuke really is the only way to seal this off.

But, a "peaceable" use of a nuke would really provide justification for North Korea and Iran to produce these weapons -- they are not for war! Oh no! They are to control environmental hazards!!

I sometimes think that Obama will take the step simply to because it would set a very dangerous precedent.

18 posted on 05/24/2010 8:06:48 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Travis McGee

...My conspiracy theory is a North Korean torpedo was the cause. Don’t trust anyone under 50, and don’t trust the federal government, EVER!!!


19 posted on 05/24/2010 8:07:04 PM PDT by gargoyle (..."I have not yet begun to fight" John Paul Jones...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: aruanan; Smokin' Joe

Not all the Rooskie tests worked as intended, either.

I don’t think we want to deliver a powerful shock wave to that particular capstone. Nobody knows how fragile it is.


20 posted on 05/24/2010 8:07:21 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (I am in America but not of America (per bible: am in the world but not of it))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 381-389 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson